Algonkian Retreats and Workshops - Assignments 2024 and 2025

[Erica]

1-      Story Statement:

Bellini Rose has finally left her miserable, toxic life in North Carolina behind, but must succeed now in making a successful and satisfying new life for herself in LA before her life savings is depleted.

 

2-      Rob Marquez is a 38-year-old Wilmington, NC police officer, currently on leave while being investigated for misconduct. He’s been accused of brutality and sexual misconduct and there is suspicion that he has an addiction issue. About five years ago he suffered a knee injury at work and thereafter became addicted to painkillers. Due to pent up frustration and an altered mindset, he started serial killing women in North Carolina, with blunt force trauma to the head with his police baton. After his wife Bellini Rose leaves him and goes to California, he follows her there against her wishes and continues killing in the area. By way of background, he had been severely abused by his mother when growing up. His goal is to convince his wife to give up on the divorce and return home with him. He feels lost without her.

 

3-      On Stilts

 

4-      COMPS: Finlay Donovan is Killing It (by Elle Cosimand)- it’s also a light thriller, with a humorous protagonist. Similar tone.

How to Kill Your Family (by Bella Mackie) – it’s also a light thriller/dark comedy with a similar voice.

 

5-      HOOK LINE:

Bellini Rose, previously estranged from her abusive mother and tied to a toxic husband, needs to escape so she flees a miserable life to help her sister take care of their mother in LA, with only about six months’ worth of living expenses to her name, and must craft a successful situation for herself before her life savings is depleted and she needs to return home.

 

6-      Bellini Rose’s inner conflict revolves around whether she’s a strong enough person to make her new life work, and not have to return to North Carolina with her tail between her legs, out of hope and money. She’s in turmoil about the fact that her husband followed her to LA and is unwilling to sign divorce papers. He’s begging her to return home.

a.       A scenario is where Bellini Rose contacts an old friend from law school who works in family law in North Carolina and asks her to prepare the divorce papers and serve her husband Rob (before he leaves for California to follow her). After being served, Rob calls her and advises her that he will not accept that she’s moving on with her life and starting something new for herself, and he will not sign the papers. He begs her to rip up the pages and give him another chance. He tries to appeal to her weaknesses by telling her they will still be able to help her mother with money from North Carolina, and that she could find a new job there, and that he needs her. She questions her inner strength and perseverance and wonders if her husband is right. She fights with herself in order to keep afloat in LA, and keep her plan moving forward.

 

b.       A secondary conflict would take place while Bellini Rose is trying to start anew and get a job in LA. She has difficulty finding a job at first, despite her qualifications. She passes a phone screening and is invited to an in person interview with the managing partner of a firm, and things are going extremely well but she ends up putting her foot in her mouth by telling him that she got demoted at her old cruddy job, and then had to explain why she was demoted. Her employer didn’t feel she handled a client’s case with the proper care and oversight. She didn’t get the job. She is depressed and feels like she’s either going to have to take a crummy job that’s not in her field, or return to North Carolina. She’s scared she won’t make it in LA.

 

7-      There are two main places the story takes place at, though there are several other settings where various scenes take place. The first is the apartment building owned and managed by Bellini Rose’s sister Brandi Dawn, who also lives in a unit in the building. Bellini Rose has just moved in after trekking across the country from North Carolina. Several of the other characters in the story live in the building as well. The groundskeeper is murdered by the stairs and thrown into the maid’s cart trashcan. Then Bellini Rose’s friend and coworker disappears from the building and is later found dead in a storage unit.

 

Another setting that much of the story takes place at is the law office that Bellini Rose works at, Marks and Baum. The receptionist there is also murdered, out in the parking lot, and thrown into a building dumpster. Several of the story’s more minor character work there. The office’s managing attorney is dating lead police investigator Lex Callahan. Bellini Rose struggles in this setting (industrially and emotionally) and it is there where the sketch of Rob (serial killer) is first disseminated.

[Phyllis Jordan]

1. Story statement:

Survive a wartime lockdown without betraying country or principles

Or more simply….

Maintain civility amid chaos and cruelty

2. Antagonist

The protagonist, Klara, is a German banker working in the United States who is essentially imprisoned in a luxury hotel after Pearl Harbor with her new husband Hans, a diplomat. She is caught between two antagonists. One is Fritz Grossmayer, a fellow German intent on debauching every woman he meets and promoting the Nazi cause. Her revulsion for him mirrors her growing awareness of what is happening in her homeland. The second antagonist is Sam Cooper, an FBI agent intent on exposing her as a German spy or turning her into an informant for the Americans.

3. Breakout title

Taking the Waters (European phrase for visiting a spa)

A Season at the Greenbrier (name of the resort where they’re staying)

Greenbrier

4. Comparables

Bel Canto: Ann Padgett’s glorious 2001 novel follows the fate of a group held hostage at an embassy taken over by Peruvian terrorists. Loosely based on an actual historical event, the book explores the unexpected interactions among the guests themselves and with their captors. Like Bel Canto, my book brings characters face to face with people and situations they wouldn’t typically encounter—and prompts them to re-evaluate past assumptions.

A Gentleman in Moscow: Amor Towles’ 2016 novel tells the story of a Russian aristocrat imprisoned in the finest hotel in Moscow after the Russian revolution. The lead character works to preserve his own values and dignity while making a life for himself in his limited circumstances. Like Towle’s hero, my heroine is encased in luxury and forced to find new ways to spend her time and to think deeply about what she values.

5. Primary conflict

In the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbor, a young German woman is interned by U.S. officials and must navigate a new marriage, Nazi politics, and her growing concern about the direction of the war back home. 

6. Inner conflict

A loyal German, Klara has nonetheless come to doubt the morality of Nazi policies and the progress of the war in Russia.  She questions whether her new husband is enabling a morally bankrupt system. 

This comes to a head when a witty journalist who’s critical of Hitler files a petition with U.S. authorities to remain in the States. Klara expects her husband, Hans, to support their friend’s request. Instead, Hans remains silent as Nazi leaders insist that the journalist return to Germany. Klara’s anger creates a rift in their marriage, especially after the journalist attempts suicide. It also emboldens her to defy German officials. When a young German nanny falls in love with an American bellhop, Klara orchestrates a plan to help her stay behind--a plan that has tragic consequences.

7. Secondary conflict

A secondary conflict is the state of Klara’s marriage. What began as a marriage of convenience—to ensure her safe passage back to Germany—has now become something more. She has fallen in love with her husband but is not sure he feels the same, especially when an old girlfriend turns up at the hotel where they are interned. She also worries that he is too weak to resist the worst of what the Nazis are asking him to do.

8. Setting

The setting is an extraordinary spa resort in the mountains of West Virginia. Less than a decade after hosting such luminaries as the Prince of Wales and Bing Crosby, The Greenbrier hotel has suddenly become an internment camp for Axis diplomats, who are waiting there until they can be traded for U.S. diplomats abroad. The well-manicured grounds are surrounded by spotlights, with Border Patrol officers guarding the gates. Inside the bright white hotel, though, the diplomats are treated as guests. Gourmet meals are served under Polish crystal chandeliers in the elegant dining room. Diplomats drink brandy and beer at the polished wood bar in the lobby, while other play chess at built-in tables. A giant ballroom is used to host weekly movie showings and an occasional dance. A smaller room beyond that features a grand piano and a sweeping view of the resort grounds. Children swim in an indoor pool set with Italian tiles, while bored wives soak in the sulphur-scented water of the spa. Elegant suites are assigned based on status at each embassy, and diplomats often host cocktail parties to show off their quarters. Even the chambermaids and nannies have their own hotel rooms with their beds turned down at night. Beneath all this luxury runs a basement corridor where the Greenbrier staff store their supplies, move laundry bins and, on occasion, spy on the guests.

[Meg Beeler]

Algonkian assignments submitted.docx

[Erica]

This is a redo on the homework using the new book I'm going to work on, Sleuthing on Set.

 

STORY STATEMENT: Sydney Lang must make a go of segueing into a writing career within the next few months or have to move to an unwanted city and job. A murder on set occurs and she feels she needs to solve it.

 

ANTAGONIST: My story has 2 antagonists. One is Willow Weston, the new PA who is the model daughter of a superproducer. Her goal is to get her script finished and to the showrunner before Sydney, and be selected to work in the writing department. The other antagonist is the murderer, but we don’t know who it is until the end. It’s someone who stabbed the showrunner’s assistant Olivia in the neck with a pen in the writers’ room.

 

TITLE: Sleuthing on Set

COMPS: Shock and Paw by Cate Conte

Murder Buys a One Way Ticket by Laura Levine

Both stories are fun, light cozy mysteries with strong female protagonist sleuths. There is whimsy and humor in the stories.

 

CORE WOUND: Sleuthing on Set is Sydney Lang’s journey from office temp to possible TV writer. When she encounters writers’ block, the only thing that helps her creativity flow is sleuthing around the murder of the showunner’s assistant on set.

 

INNER CONFLICT: Sydney is fighting to get her script finished in time to present it to Tina Tieri’s assistant with the goal of getting a job in writing. She encounters writers’ block and feels stuck, while her rival continues to get ahead. This makes her extremely nervous and worried that she will have to leave LA and move to another state to take a job in HR so she can support her son. She discovers that trying to solve the murder is a way to get her creating juices flowing again.

 

SECONDARY CONFLICT: Sydney’s 5-year-old son has behavioral and learning issues. She is worried about being able to properly parent him and get him the help he needs. In one scene he has to go to a psyche hospital after threatening to “murder” someone (a term he learned while his mother has been sleuthing). Sydney feels challenged to rise to the occasion and help him get better.

 

SETTING: The majority of the story takes place on the Brighton Network lot, a television studio in Los Angeles, both in the production office and on set. It adds an interesting element to the story, with the murder suspects being Brighton employees.

[Emlen]

 

[Dana]

ASSIGNMENT 1––STORY STATEMENT

                  Destroy blood tie loyalty to save two generations of innocent families. 

ASSIGNMENT 2 ––MAIN ANTAGANIST

A beautiful, strapping boy, little Cesar Ixtle believed he deserved more; his motto, ends justify means, a notion he never outgrows. From the first act of killing his ½ brother’s madre to create his dream family, his actions tend to bring pain. With no-one to watch over his equally beautiful and strapping ½ brother, when the rainy season comes to their jungle village, the river rises carrying the polio virus which infects his ½ brother. Remorseless, yet protective of his now, less than sibling, his own sense of worth grows. As young men, they migrate to California, where Cesar Ixtle creates a persona as a suave man of business, seductive and ruthless, manipulating weaknesses to enhance his position and power with a sociopathic flair. Regardless of how, his goal is to become more. 

 

ASSIGNMENT 3 ––BREAKOUT TITLE

Signal Hill–––––––––––––––China Town (screenplay, setting as character)

Camp Stories––––––––––––The Hive (creation myth informs real life, story within a story)

The Lesser Half––––––––––Missing Parts (1/2 truths are still ½ lies)

 

ASSIGNMENT 4 ––COMP TITLES 

The Guest Book by Sarah Blake. 3 generations coming to terms with what it means to inherit the past. 1930-present day.

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters. A story about separation, intuition, and the search for truth in the shadow of trauma. 1962 period

The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards. Twins separated at birth; secrets kept until wrongs of the past catch up with the present. 1964 period 

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins (migration, family saga, gangs, murder, sacrifice, revenge).

Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson (non-fiction inspiration for TV series about the rise and fall of a Atlantic City)

 

 

ASSIGNMENT 5––Hook Line

A brilliant man deformed by polio must either stay loyal to his sociopathic ½ brother or reveal secrets that will implicate them both to save one innocent man and set free two families snarled in a web of drug deals, kidnapping and murder. 

ASSIGNMENT 6––Protagonist Inner Conflict

Ignacio Morales, a brilliant, kind and handsome boy loves his ½ brother Cesar Ixtle. Only weeks apart in age, their bond is unbreakable; brothers first and forever against all others who make due in shacks skirting the jungle river in central Mexico. Unfortunately for Ignacio, Cesar is impulsive and not right in the head. When Cesar decides he wants to have their shared papa more, he kills Ignacio’s mother believing that he’s creating his dream family, his own mamma, Ignacio and their papa. Without his mamma to watch out for him, when the seasonal torrential rains flood the river, the Polio virus infects Ignacio, altering his physical development. Ridiculed and bullied because of his deformities, Ignacio relies on his brain and his compassion to navigate life as a visual monster alongside his perfectly formed yet sociopathic ½ brother who believes he is Ignacio’s champion. How can Ignacio love and trust his brother when buried deep inside he fears seeing the truth, that Cesar killed his mother. 

 

ASSIGNMENT 6–– Secondary Conflict, Social Environment

 

*Ignacio was beginning to think he spent too much time waiting in his car. The seat was molded to his shape, a guarantee that no other driver would ever feel comfortable. He rubbed his thumb on the cracked leather at the top of his worn crutch. The skin of his armpit was an elephant’s heel in its years of chafing and wear. 

A woman crossed the street from the gas station toward The Copper Penny, pushing a baby in a pram. She was dressed casually in denim pants that stopped at her mid-calf, with a man’s button-down shirt that fell to her knees. She wore a fishing cap pulled down over her ears. The epitome of casual grace. Of normalcy. Of thoughtless expectation. 

He wondered what it felt like to have that kind of life.

Ignacio grabbed the leather strap of his brace to adjust his leg. He leaned an elbow against the car door, resting his cheek on his fist. The young lady with the pram was going into the diner where he was to meet Cesar for breakfast. 

Ignacio hoped she would sit along the row of booths on the ocean side of the diner. Most wouldn’t choose to sit and look at the gas station. 

When people saw Ignacio moving about, he was always bothered by the upset and concern in their eyes, or more often the case, their conscious efforts to disregard him like one does an ugly stray animal hobbling on the street. He spent his whole life trying to move as gracefully as he could, despite those overdeveloped arms and chest, leg braces, crutches, and one foot clad in a platform shoe as tall as a brick. 

Appearing as normal was a lifelong effort. He wore a suit; his pants matched his jacket, and he always wore a tie. His shirts were laundered, collars and cuffs starched. Intelligent men were to dress appropriately. And he wasn’t some throwaway lazy, stupid, low-life mug. 

Ignacio rolled down the window, letting the air in to conceal the stale tobacco smell of his driver seat.

The world often judged in the most superficial of ways. 

People were so blind to substance, and there certainly was no getting around that his book had the ugliest cover; and throughout life it was so difficult for him to not reflexively judge every pretty cover as just a mask to hide warped and rotted pages. But in those such cases, of one’s idolatry of cosmetic value, Ignacio relied on unfeeling stoicism, discerning the ignorance and miscalculations from others as a weapon unto himself—especially from those who deemed him some lifeless puppet.   

Ignacio was mostly a cautionary tale of bad luck, ill deeds, and the slovenly countenance of several lost decades to the void. Upon the pitiful glances that reach him, no more than as brief a moment can be, he could tell that in their minds, they could rest easier as the lucky ones. 

Perhaps they were, but that pity, as well, was a blindness, to which whole realities could be constructed. 

The childhood he shared with Cesar was checkered black and tan; no one ever seemed to escape without being touched by some tragedy or another. But they had made it to America, where they had created many businesses. They were still the lucky ones.

He appreciated how his brother didn’t have pity for him. Ignacio found the human condition worthy of contemplation. He didn’t believe in God, but he believed that a man’s actions told a temporary truth. And that was the kicker: truth seemed to be something that a man landed on, like a penny hitting pegs in a carnival game; the landing was telling, while the journey seemed random. People often did wrong because they didn’t have the capacity to analyze their position into reality. Always taken in by the whimsy of wants, living in a make-believe world. 

 

FINAL ASSIGNMENT––Setting as Character

There are multiple, important settings in this novel. For ease of explanation, I’ll share them in chronological order as the story stands at this point in book 1. 

1.Julie Marsh’s unremarkable clapboard home fronts a fissured blacktop road so long it disappears on the lip of the horizon. Surrounded by acres and acres of corn fields which in July are a high tide sea of green with white caps of corn tassels where Julie seeks refuge, hiding in the depths of those stalks, untouchable by anything but the earworms and red rat snakes that squirmed around her, anything to avoid going home. 

Her home is bland, dry as if the juice of existence has been drained from every surface. The kitchen table is scared, the four chairs unmatched and a clock hangs on the wall with hands shaped like corn on the cob. Julie spends a great deal of time avoiding that table, and the holding of hands in prayer at mealtime, and her bed, instead favoring the window inside her room where she kneels looking down the road, wondering how long it takes to get to the horizon. 

 

*A girl’s bed should be a haven, but Julies isn’t even though it has a chenille bedspread chalk white, like powdered snow; the pattern a repeat of flower bouquets, wide ribbons held in the short beaks of clever birds, draping them gracefully around the long stems. It didn’t snow much in Davenport, but when it did, it reminded her of the top layer of a root beer float, airy at first glance; but as she stared and the bubbles popped, unwanted memories rose from every crevasse sullied with an oily particulate—filth was filth especially when it hid within the threads of her bedspread. 

She had to dream that it was snow.

She splayed her fingers wide on the bedspread, feeling the edge of a bird beneath her right hand, and the ribbon beneath her left. 

Her bedspread was a field of pure Alaskan snow, stark white, her room a cavern of ice blue, and her father was a black tree on the edge of her awareness. 

Now, an approaching shade. 

In his right hand a camera. From behind his back, his left hand emerged, cloaked within the fabric of the bear puppet. 

 

                  2. Julies Dodge Wayfarer a winning after being crowned Miss Iowa is another setting/character as she speeds along Route 66 from Davenport Iowa to Long Beach California to escape life with her parents. The Dodge is her chariot to freedom, a prize for being the most beautiful. It shines, the color cornflower blue like Julie’s eyes heats jealously in her mother and pride within her father who believes it’s his gene pool that has brought her fame and he has a right to it, and her. 

 

                  * After being interviewed by the local and state newspapers, Julie felt as though she were floating and wouldn’t be surprised if it was written all over her face this time. What mattered to her was that Little Miss Prairie Bush Clover was now Miss Iowa, and Miss Iowa had won this spanking new Dodge Wayfarer and some money. 

After the event finally ran its course, they were now on their way home on wheels that Julie could call her own—just not yet. 

Her father pulled the car onto the worn dirt ruts that marked their driveway at the side of their one story, clapboard home. 

Her mother grazed her hand over the dash, as if petting a long-haired kitten. “Let’s just sit in the car a little bit longer,” she said, sinking back against the plush fabric seats. She turned her head to smell the seat. “Can you smell that? That’s first run. Fresh. Untouched.” Her mother’s laugh sounded young, and vivacious. “We won’t need to rely on Bobby for our rides, now, will we? No-we-won’t.” With a tickled voice, she seemed to be baby-talking to the car itself.

Julie’s father stared at Julie in the rear-view mirror, as her mother continued to rub her hands all over the interior.

“Yup, there’s a smell to success,” he said, keeping his eyes locked on Julie.

“Oh, I could just die!” her mother shot him a delirious glance. “I could just die! If my heart stopped, bury me in this car!” 

His eyes were still locked on Julie. 

Julie’s dad placed the car key on the middle of the kitchen table. “Get me a beer. I’d say it’s time to celebrate our little windfall here,” he said. Julie’s mom danced over to the fridge, grabbed a bottle of beer, and then fetched the bourbon bottle from under the sink. With the distinctive pop of the beer cap, was the sound of her mom’s proud giggles as the foam spewed from the bottle. Her mom licked the bubbles from her hand before handing the beer to her father. He took a long sip with a smirk on his lips, appraising and measuring. He nodded without saying a word, as if formulating something to himself. “Baby girl, you done good. We spawned us a real winner.” Her mom held up the tumbler as she flopped down on the sofa next to him, and instead of paying either one of them attention, her eyes were gazing out the window at the new car parked in front. 

That car does take Julie across the country for her American Dream, but she ultimately arrives at a place where freedoms go to die. 

 

                  3. The River is a key setting character for both protag and antag in their early life. Each one lives in a ‘dwelling’ denoted mostly because they have roofs, other than that, the walls are made of found materials. Flocks of black birds surf the drafts over lush craggy mountains and river, through plumes of grey/brown smoke from burning trash and cooking fires.

The air in the jungle is heavy with mist and the howls of monkeys, barking dogs, braying donkeys, rise above the constant zing of insects and occasional rumbles of thunder. Ignacio’s shack sits closest to the river which becomes vicious, ugly and deadly when it swells. There's a pronounced water mark along crumbling dirt bricks and rusted siding of his shack. It is shaded by a giant Ficus tree; its sculptural trunk looks like fingers reaching into the earth holding on for dear life. 

                   

*Ignacio was weary of the river; it had a mind of its own, and he didn’t think it was filled with good thoughts, especially when it rose to overflowing. When it burst free, it screamed by the opening of his home, gobbling up everything that was in its path. He and his mamma would scramble out the one window that had a wooden frame—the other was just a gash in the corrugated siding, looking like it was cut with the hooked finger of a can piercer. It was no small feat for his mamma to balance on the splintered ledge of the window; she had a baby inside, a big baby; regardless, she boosted Ignacio up, then handed him their squawking chickens, followed by their bible (which was a dry holder for her floral wedding lasso), then their fattest candle, the matches, and then the machete. 

He asked Cesar what his mamma did when the rains came, when the river flooded the land. He wanted to know what she took with her, what she didn’t want to lose. Cesar just stared at him like he was crazy. “Take? Why would she take anything? We live up where the river can’t touch us. We have a real door and windows on our house. They even keep the animals out. The river? Es nada.”

It had been Ignacio’s experience that the river was never nada. His mother was afraid of it, so he was too. She urged his papa to do something, because to her the river was a hungry monster, eating everything in its way. Papa solved the problem by tying jute ropes to a sturdy arm of the ancient Ficus tree that shaded their porch, so they could climb to the roof and wouldn’t be washed away when the river rose.  

He and Cesar had climbed and swung from the ropes their entire lives. With his eyes closed he could tell by feel where he was on the rope, because its twines had gotten frayed over the years, rubbing against the metal siding of their house. 

He’d told Cesar it scared him; the river, the weakening rope, and the rains that sent he and his mamma scrambling for the roof. Cesar had never been at his house when the storms came, so he didn’t know what it was like. He’d never seen how Ignacio’s mom tied ropes around their waists. Never seen the look in her eyes, nor felt her fingers push beyond the give of skin and muscle of his scrawny shoulders to grip his boney arms, willing her words into every fiber of his being. “Do not take the rope off, ever.” Neither of them knew how to swim. 

On the next morning, Ignacio woke up to the thwack, thwack, thwack of Cesar’s heels banging on a loose piece of siding. Ignacio saw that the river was receding, and he tried to get more comfortable on his spot on the roof. 

“Hombre, callate! No despertar a mi mama,” Ignacio called while resting his eyes.

Cesar didn’t stop. 

Ignacio rubbed his eyes and rolled over to see Cesar balancing the machete in the palm of his hand. Ignacio shut his eyes again. 

Bang. Bang. Bang. Cesar and his noise. A shiver rolled through Ignacio. He stretched and then peered beneath the emerald green fingers of the palm fronds and Ficus leaves that had sheltered he and his mamma as they slept. 

Cesar was still sitting on the edge of the roof. His thwack of his heels was loud, but the birds wouldn’t let his noise overshadow their morning greetings. He was happy to hear them all. He was lucky to have a brother like Cesar, always around, willing to play. 

The rain started again. Cesar began to bang his heels louder on the loose siding. 

“Cesar, ven. Esta lloviendo, You’re gonna get all wet.” 

Cesar got up slowly. 

Ignacio rolled onto his side away from Cesar. 

With the machete still in his hand, Cesar looked downriver and smiled. 

 

4.Long Beach Ca is a character, a backdrop for the decades of change from being a navy town with its own prison on Terminal Island, to a lost city, to a thriving port city. The downtown is like a hooker, a little too dolled up, eyes furtive in search of something better. Better is the Peninsula, and Belmont Heights, where the affluent live and the kids of those affluent families are driven to Signal Hill, the main setting character of the story, to take their driver training classes.

                  5. Signal Hill, known as Porcupine Hill, looks like a slowly shivering rodent; the nodding donkey’s another name for the oil derricks are constantly dipping down and rearing up filling the air with a whine of rusted wheels, of cables clanging, and engines moaning. The air is heavy, the ground is wet, thick with sludge, chemicals and secrets. 

 

* He fished out another cigarillo, before lighting it with a match—and he puffed it hard. He heard Romero cursing, so he rolled down the window. 

“Keep your voice low.”

“I slipped,” Romero said begrudgingly, putting a cigarette to his lips, fumbling his hand into his pocket for a match. Ignacio then glanced over at the scattered oil derricks: the nodding donkeys that squeaked and clanged—eternally nosing down and braying up.

The sound was like a kid’s swing lulling empty near a graveyard. 

On the northeast slope of Signal Hill, the squeak and groan from the derricks coupled the toilet plunger sound of Romero’s boots, sucking away from the slimy surface of the weepy, oozing ground. Feliz became antsy along the backseat, peeking his head past Ignacio and near the crack of the slightly open window, watching Romero as he clambered out of a hole he just finished digging. 

Ignacio snuffed his latest cigarillo in the ashtray on the dash, crushing it against the narrow grate until the tip of his finger touched the metal. 

Romero smacked against the hood, and Feliz’s ears shot forward, lurching toward the window again. Ignacio watched Romero grab the Buick’s gunsight ornament to keep from slipping under the front end of the vehicle. 

“Ah, por el amor de Dios,” Romero said, now wrestling what was inside the trunk, before losing his footing again. Ignacio heard the distinctive gushing swack! of a heavy load landing in the oily mud. Romero gripped the body under the arms, and dragged it over to the hole, before dumping it. 

Feliz started to whine and swipe at the car window with his paws. 

“Calmate perro,” whispered Ignacio, pulling Feliz down onto the seat. He pressed his crutch against the passenger door and leaned way over to reach and turn the key in the ignition, so they would be ready to leave as soon as the hole was filled.

 

6. Signal Hill is where Cesar Ixtle puts The Brother’s Club; his least forward-facing business, it’s a whorehouse where he is king and anything is possible. (Historically Signal Hill has been the highest point on the California coast used by the Indians to signal tribes up and down the coast. When oil was discovered, a seedier element moved in as the various oil companies staked their claims. It’s been a tinder box, derricks exploding, catching fire, maiming, killing workers and innocents a like. In 1954 even an Air Force fighter jet crashed into Signal Hill, killing the pilot and 6 on the ground.) But back to our tale, Signal Hill is where everything bad happens. Signal Hill is where Cesar’s office is. Signal Hill is where Brother’s Club is. Signal Hill is where Cesar eventually houses Julie. Signal Hill is where Ignacio hides Pepper Cherry (Book 2) and Signal Hill is where all the bodies are buried. 

 

*Romero parked his car across from Brother’s Club, staring at that neon sign above the low pink cinderblockbuilding. The place hadn’t changed at all in the seven years he’d been employed. 

Conscripted was a better way to put it. 

“Indentured,” he murmured, settling it with that. He leaned onto the steering wheel with tense shoulders and a stiffness in his neck.  

Romero Aguilar’s life of crime started after he lost his virginity, just shy of his eighteenth birthday. His father, Benito, took him to a whorehouse on the outskirts of Signal Hill—rather the lowest hem of it.  

The full moon was rolling west that midnight, as Romero and his father drank tequila and warm Modelos, watching men scurry in and out of Brother’s Club. After Romero’s forth beer and third shot of tequila, he remarked how much the splotchy pink paint of the door reminded him of a spread pussy; he’d seen plenty of photos, but this was finally an entrance to the real thing. Voluptuously rosada profundo—deep and silky warm, tantalizing, and mysterious. His father sniggered, too, muttering, “See, this is how you get your balls to drop off, for real.” He went ruddy faced, keeling from his laughter like a kick to the gut—and Romero felt infected by the same energy, letting laughter claw its way up through his parched throat. 

“No, it’s true!” his father wheezed in laughter. “It’s true!”   

Out of the car, his father pushed him up the walkway, and together they stumbled through those doors.

Romero was intercepted by a few women. One brought him a beer. Romero remembered at one point, his father turning his back away, going over to talk to a man wearing a light green Mexican wedding shirt, the ones with the bone buttons that were like mini juggling pins. The get-up looked comical, out of place, since they were usually worn at celebrations. But was this not also a big celebration? He took another sip of his beer, closing his eyes, to envision a birthday party of sorts, where he was the guest of honor—a piñata of a naked woman, candy falling from between her legs. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, trying not to be too unsettled by the serious look of the man who went on to usher him from that reception area down a hallway to a closed door. The serious man opened it, and then casually snapped his finger before making a pointing gesture into the room. He left Romero without saying a word.

The room was painted red, a sort of deep red that crept toward Romero, wrapping around him like a cat. Heading over toward the bed, his cock felt erect enough that he had to adjust it in his dress pants away from the harsh metal of the zipper. From his head on down, was a heaviness, an ache in that virile region. 

The bed was right there—smelling of musk, of sweat, and of Palo Santo.

The alcohol now made him feel as though he were floating over to the bed, a mattress that groaned under the weight of his knee, the tight noise of flimsy metal springs rubbing into themselves—the florid rattan headboard scraping the wall, as he crawled toward it. 

The door opened with a spectacular silhouette: An hourglass figure, not just one hour, curvy enough to last at least eight. This was it. 

The door closed…(skipping ahead)

As he followed the man, Romero dragged his tongue through his mouth; he could still taste her and recall in a broken snapshot memory of her lying on the bed, pillows under her head and shoulders, legs open, and the feel of her large breasts in his hands, and her dainty fingers around his stiff carajo. 

The man with the botas stopped in front of another door and knocked. As the door opened, white light cut into the hallway, making Romero shield his eyes, as he stepped through.  

The room was too white, and in the quiet he became aware of the ringing in his ears. He wasn’t sure if the other man in the room was moving, or if it was the shifting black spots behind his lids. He pushed his palms against his eyes and the darkness became tinged with a hazy red. 

The room wavered then stilled, allowing him a second to glance at the man who trembled in the corner. The man was weeping inconsolably. 

Romero rubbed his eyes, now dry and aching from the thickness of the air, and the oppressiveness of the light. He looked at the floor near the man’s two-toned shoes, untied. Something about the shoes made Romero look higher up the man’s leg, how his pants were improperly buttoned below a silver oval buckle with an A in the center—the belt his mother bought for his father’s birthday present, when Romero was eight years old. 

Now, his father’s face was pale, tears profusely streaming down his cheeks; his bloodshot eyes held Romero’s for the slimmest of moments. The air was like a fist in Romero’s lungs. He stared at the two high windows that were painted shut, craving immensely the fresh air that was kept outside.

The door opened again, and a figure tilted in headfirst, before hurling its lower body into the room. Romero couldn’t tell what he was looking at, until it became clear that it wasn’t a creature, but some deformed man on crutches, who continued swinging in and across the room in a twisted, but skillful manner—mechanically clicking and clacking, before taking up his spot beside the upholstered chair in the corner opposite to Romero’s father. The deformed man seemed to perpetually adjust himself, as though never finding a comfortable enough way to get situated. Then following in was a man whose face had a doped-up calm to it. 

Romero’s father whimpered loud like a child, causing a shiver to straighten Romero’s spine. 

The man who had just entered, lowered himself onto the upholstered chair, having a noxious air about him that somehow claimed ownership upon everything.  

The twisted man beside him stared at Romero; the irises of his eyes were so brown that they were almost black, giving a depthless, almost inhuman quality; his eyes then seemed to assess Romero like how a butcher appraises a cut of beef. 

Romero gave a slight questioning utterance from his throat, and it seemed clear that none of them even heard it, or at the very least gave mind to it. 

In the hallway, doors opened and shut. 

On the street, a car backfired with two pops. Romero held his breath, as the man in the chair opened the one drawer in the utility stand.            

“Hey,” the voice was soft, yet also somehow sharp at the same time. “Do you know what this is?” he asked,holding a gun in the palm of his hand.

Romero stared at it, and then his throat felt like sandpaper when he swallowed whatever vestige of saliva he had left. 

His eyes trailed over to the corner where his father was slumped, and the room felt like it was tilting more askew than before. He couldn’t bring himself to look at his father’s face, so he kept his eyes trained on the A of the silver belt buckle. 

“…Hello?” asked the man, in a drowsy, even tone, before making a loud click from his mouth, as if to a pet.

“It’s a… gun, sir,” Romero said. 

Romero watched the man pop the magazine out then shove it in. The man polished the pistol with a crisp light blue handkerchief, holding it out toward Romero, with the handkerchief slotted between his palm and the steel. 

“Hey.” He waved Romero in with the gun. “Come here.”

Romero glanced at his father; the fabric of his father’s trousers began to darken from peeing himself. 

“Mm-m,” the man quickly shook his head. “Everything is nice and fine.” The sharp glare the man gave seemed to order Romero not to look at his father.

Romero stepped closer to the upholstered seat.  

“This,” he sniffled “is for you. Hardly been broken in.” His voice had a breathy put-on friendliness to it. “Hey,” he waved the gun again, twitching his eyebrows into a sudden frown, before softening again. “Here take it.” He laughed and again waved him in. “Come on, take it.” As he handed it over to Romero, he then gave a laugh while he was biting his tongue, short little puffs of air escaping through the thin gaps of teeth. 

The gun felt heavy in Romero’s hand. 

The man sniffled and wiped the back of his hand over his nose. “Ignacio… Door.” He nodded at the twisted man. “Guzman should be there now.” Romero stared as the twisted man made his way.

“I know you thinking… Why order a cripple around like that, hm?”

Romero couldn’t even tell if he shook his own head in response.

“You thinking… what kind of cold, uh, guy would do that. Well, you see Ignacio there…” The man smacked his own chest before pointing at Ignacio. “Nacio got better hands than a palliata. And most of all, he’s my brother—we are…” He looked up at the ceiling. “As equal as it gets. Si?” He loudly asked, jutting his hand forward, and when Ignacio didn’t reply, Romero could only assume the man was simply talking to hear his own voice.  

The man with the crutches kept his attention at the door, before backing up.

Romero’s right wrist started to ache from the weight in his hand. 

Another man entered and shifted from his shoulder a woman onto the floor, whose face was pulverized, open wounds on her enormous breasts—bite marks—and her inner thighs were glistening a slimy red. 

Splotches of blood started flowering on the floor, leaving a bouquet near Romero’s father’s feet, who then doubled over; snot discharged onto his shoes before the pitter pattering of tears. Romero looked from the mess over to the man in the chair. 

The man’s face now looked like it was cut from a tan granite block, and the whites of his eyes were more visible, as he looked over at Romero’s father. Romero could see the fine branches of red veins in one of his eyes.

“Benito… Your father…” he glanced back at Romero and rubbed the bristly hair on his square chin, “…he had a little accident. Apparently Lilia, that’s her name right?” he asked. Ignacio nodded. “…Well, she couldn’t get him going.” The man then allowed a slant on the side of his lips. “Or should I say, couldn’t keep him going. You see, niñito,it’s harder for the pregnant ones. But no worry, she’s not pregnant no more, as you can plainly see.” He gave a toothy smile, and this time a silent laugh, shoulders and chest bouncing, before veiling his face with one palm.

The woman was dumped on the floor next to Benito. Benito fell to his knees, keening like a wild animal.

“Oh, ah Benito, calmate hombre, it happens. It’s what we call… occupational hazard.” He laughed through his teeth again, and then flicked his wrist. “You’ll be fine… You’ll probably be just fine.” He nodded and got up from the chair to crouch on Benito’s level. “See, I like you, Benito,” came the friendly voice again, “And I know… the people will like you. I like you, no te preocupes, hombre. So!” he patted Romero’s father on the shoulder. He stood up and stared down at Romero. “Niñito, you have a choice to make. You can fix this whole problem with that Colt. You get to pick—because I’m in a very-generous-mood. Yeah, you pick… who you kill. You kill her… you’re mine for the duration. If you kill your father…” His lips puckered out in consideration, before he nodded. “You’ll never hear from me again. All that you need to do is pull the trigger. It ain’t that tough; it’s… it is like losing your virginity, ya know?”  

Romero couldn’t breathe. His skull felt hollow, yet his arm and his feet felt chained to the floor. He couldn’t run, nor could he lift his arms from his sides. His fingers gripped the butt of the gun, shaking as he tilted his wrist, aiming at her.

“I know it’s heavy. I know it’s…” the man stared at nothing until he stared intently at Romero again. “…a dose of reality, right?” 

“So, I’ll coach you through it, niñito. You’re so close. Just curl your finger… squeeze it like a big snake curling tight, around…” 

Romero lost himself in thought—instead of seeing her, he envisioned the snake curling tighter.

“More than that!” He gave a dry chuckle. “Ah, this is something else, like… teaching a baby how to walk, eh? You brain her, yeah. You brain her and I be your new tio. Tio Cesar Ixtli. Feliz cumpleaños, sobrino.” His whispers sounded so loud in that room. “Happy birthday, ne-phew! Squeezing tight is all you need to…”

Bang!

And then the sequence of events proceeded just like they had when he’d left the first room, disjointed and dreamlike; and Romero wondered if the broken sequence would ever play out normal again.

Now in his car, he wasn’t sure how long he waited there watching the neon light sizzle on and off. 

[Mark Goldberg]

1. STORY STATEMENT:

 As an institutionalized woman fights against forced sterilization, three other women across different time periods pursue parallel journeys involving disability, heredity, and reproductive freedom:

• In 1927, Lily must break away from her sanitarium and gain agency over her own life.
   
• In 1973, Bev must save her abortion clinic and protect the rights of a young woman with Down syndrome.
   
• In 2011, Hana must come to terms with family secrets and her genetic heritage to decide her future as a wife and mother.

 

2. ANTAGONISTS:

• 1927:  Lily’s mother-in-law, Mother Stark, who has stolen Lily’s dowry and imprisoned her in a sanitarium after giving birth to a Mongoloid child. Mother Stark is cold, calculating, and Machiavellian. She thinks she is on the side of righteousness, doing whatever it takes to protect her family’s standing and fortune. She recognizes Lily as both a financial savior to her family and its biggest threat.
   
• 1973:  Nicholas, a rich and cocky doctor advocating that a young woman with Down syndrome receive an abortion and sterilization. He and fellow doctor Bev clash on how best to support this woman, as well as on funding and management of the clinic and how to protect it against violent threats from the anti-abortion movement.
    
• 2011:  Hana’s fiancée-to-be, Scott, whose preoccupation with his own needs prevents Hana from moving their relationship forward and forging a future together. While Scott is the hero of his own story -- and his challenges caring for two developmentally disabled brothers are both laudable and engrossing -- he nevertheless serves as a roadblock to Hana in her journey of growth. In addition, a second but no less important antagonist for Hana is her father, whose steadfast secrecy about their history in Japan blocks her from understanding their past and her own genetic heritage. These two men continually thwart Hana as she seeks to discover and come to terms with her status as a Japanese outcaste and the risk of having developmentally disabled children with Scott.

 

3. TITLES:

• Preferred title: “Three Generations,” taken from a famous Supreme Court quote that is key to the book’s surprise ending, that “three generations of imbeciles are enough.” It is also a play on the structure of the novel, which follows three parallel stories from three different generations of women.
    
• Other potential titles: “Times of Strength” or “The Times of Ascent” (from a recurring phrase in the book: “savor the ascent”)

 

4. GENRE & COMPARABLES:

• Genre: Historical fiction and multigenerational fiction with parallel narratives
   
• Most relevant comparable: “The Hours” by Michael Cunningham (1998)
    
• Other potential comparable: "North Woods" by Daniel Mason (2023), “a sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries”

 

 

5. HOOK LINE / LOGLINE (core wound and primary conflict)

 

In the shadow of a seminal Supreme Court case about eugenics and forced sterilization, a new mother in 1927 flees a sanitarium after being locked away for delivering a Mongoloid baby; a doctor in 1979 fights to protect a young woman with Down syndrome brought to her abortion clinic; and a graduate student in 2011 navigates the complexities of love, heritage, and genetic testing.

 

6. OTHER MATTERS FOR CONFLICT:

Protagonist’s Inner Conflict:

• 1927:  Lily must come to terms with the loss of her baby and how to rebuild her life. Also, about her relationship with the husband who appears to have abandoned her, but whom she relentlessly gives the benefit of the doubt.
    
• 1979:  Bev must come to terms with her biased view of abortion (that she supports the right, but is personally against it), and learn to understand that some cases are so nuanced as to defy clear answers.
    
• 2011:  Hana must decide whether she is really ready to start a life with Scott, or whether she has been using him to help fill the void of her mother’s absence.

 

Secondary Conflict Involving the Social Environment:

• 1927:  Lily battles the mores of the times in which a mother is blamed for giving birth to a disabled child, as well as the Eugenics Movement, which would sterilize a woman for such circumstances.
    
• 1979:  In the recent aftermath of Roe v. Wade, Bev must deal with the heightened turmoil around abortion and the increasingly violent anti-abortion movement.
    
• 2011:  Hana must come to terms with outdated views about the Japanese outcaste class and their surprising effect on contemporary society.

 

7. SETTING:

 

• 1927:  Most of the action takes place at the U.S. Supreme Court, which at the time was housed in the Old Senate Chambers of the U.S. Capitol. The hallway, the courtroom, and an administrative office in the back provide fertile ground for action. The other major setting is St. Michael’s, a high-end public sanitarium with an exquisite and sprawling rural campus overlooking the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers in Washington, D.C. This college campus-like facility is truly one of a kind, and is based on the historic and revered St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. Other settings that play major roles to catalyze scenes include a strict boarding house with a colorful proprietress; the National Press Club; the upper-class home of the Marshal of the Supreme Court, complete with a garden and small cemetery; and Mount Ashford, a grand southern estate in Alexandria, Virginia.
     
• 1979:  The two key settings are a twice-bombed abortion clinic in northern Manhattan, and it’s “pretty older sister,” the Northern Manhattan Medical Center (based on Columbia Presbyterian Hospital), a well-funded research hospital a few blocks away. Other important settings include Mayfair, a high-end institution for the developmentally disabled on the bequeathed estate of a deceased shipping magnate, and its polar opposite, a run-down shithole of a mental institution located on an old abandoned lot on Long Island. Several important scenes also take place at a seedy bar in downtown Manhattan.
     
• 2011:  The majority of the action takes place at various locations across Cornell University, right after the devastating 2011 Tokyo earthquake and tsunami. A few flashbacks occur in Tokyo, while action toward the end of the story shifts to a suburban home in Northern Virginia, which used to be part of the 1927 estate of the Marshal of the U.S. Supreme Court (the current suburban home is close to the Marshal’s private cemetery, which is of significance)

 

[tlanzo]

Assignment One 

Story Statement 

 

In a vibrant New York City, Reese navigates the tumultuous journey from childhood to adulthood, where her quest for genuine and pure love is both a guiding light and unstable storm. As she grapples with the complexities of her relationships, and the echoes of her upbringing, she finds herself caught in a never ending cycle of familiar patterns that challenge her understanding of love and self-worth. Through heartache and self-discovery, Reese learns that true growth comes not from escaping her past, but embracing it, ultimately forging her own path towards the authentic connection she longs for. 

 

Assignment Two

The Antagonist 

 

The antagonist can represent the protagonist's tumultuous relationships, particularly with men like Dylan and Ken who convey toxic behaviors and emotional manipulation. 

 

Dylan seeks control in the relationship and wants to dominate the protagonist’s life anyway he can. He feels having a successful relationship is about gaining power and keeping it maintained throughout using manipulation and jealousy to keep Reese stuck without independence or security. He tries to tell her who to interact with and deficits by projecting his insecurities onto her, making her feel guilty for his behavior which in reality, is his fault. 

 

Dylan’s background lacks emotional maturity and tends to be possessive which comes from his own insecurities. His controlling ways show deeper issues within himself related to his upbringing and past relationships. He struggles with trusting Reese and projects his feelings on to her constantly. He is quick to anger because of this issue and resorts to threatening her when he feels his power over her slipping away. Dylan also struggles to take responsibility for his actions and wants Reese to pay the consequences instead making him possess characteristics of an antagonist. 

 

Ken represents the past that Reese is trying to move on from but finds it difficult because he keeps re-entering her life. His goals are only around reconnecting in a sexual relationship while ignoring the emotional baggage they share. Ken has a habit of being emotionally unavailable and irresponsible when it comes to other’s feelings. His irresponsibility is also shown in his involvement with criminal activities which have impacted his relationships. 

 

Ken’s approach to relationships shows how selfish he can be. He seeks physical connections with no regard for the emotional consequences that can come from them. Especially for the protagonist. His actions and how he deals with her is seen as opportunistic, as he always re-enters her life when it’s beneficial to him. 

 

Both of these characters have antagonistic tactics, making the protagonist’s journey of self-discovery and independence a challenging one. Their behaviors and how they treat her creates conflict internally for Reese while she is still trying to learn who she is while wanting healthier relationships in love. Her struggling against their actions delays her growth and she eventually realizes that she deserves better than what they’re offering her. 

 

Assignment Three 

Breakout Title 

 

“The Merry-Go-Round” 

Meaning: A continuous cycle of activities or events, especially when perceived as having no purpose or producing no result.

 

“The Merry-Go-Round” represents the cyclical nature of Reese’s relationships and emotional patterns. Just as the ride goes round and round, she finds herself drawn to the same man in different bodies. It symbolizes her tendency to revisit the same mistakes and lessons she needs to confront. Reese feels like she’s on a never ending ride that while it can be a fun and joyous experience, it signifies the illusion of movement without making real progress. Every time she gets close in her pursuit of love, she gets stuck in the same emotional patterns, going in circles rather than moving forward in her journey. 

 

 A merry-go-round can also convey nostalgia for Reese’s childhood, a time where understanding of love and relationships were innocent and more simple. The connection to her past can serve as a reminder of what she longs for, contrasting with the complications of her adult relationships. It symbolizes her desire to reclaim that innocence and find true love. It also embodies moments of joy and escapism. In the midst of the hard times, it represents a sense of happiness and the need to escape the harsh realities of her life. But it's only a temporary solution and prevents her from facing her issues head on. 

 

In conclusion, “The Merry-Go-Round” serves as a complicated symbol in Reese’s story that outlines her struggles with repetition, illusion of progress, nostalgia, and the search for joy amidst the difficulty growing up. 

 

Assignment Four 

Genre and Comparables 

 

“The Merry-Go-Round is portrayed as a Bildungsroman better known as a coming of age novel. It explains changes the protagonist goes through as she grows from adolescent to adult and how what she goes through makes her who she is in the present day. Two comparables that can be similar to my novel are “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” by Hannah Tinti and “Sex and the City” by Candace Bushnell. 

 

Why those compare: 

While “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” is not exactly a coming of age story, it explores the deep history of relationships and the impact of the past and personal growth. The novel shows elements of a Bildungsroman with a narrative that combines the protagonist’s life’s lessons with his daughter’s coming of age journey.  Reese’s story processes the themes of love, sacrifice, wounds of the past, making both stories similar because they both emphasize the complications of relationships and the lessons learned from them, making them relatable to young women paving their own paths. 

 

The second comparable, “Sex and the City” by Candace Bushnell focuses on the complexities of relationships, friendships, sex and personal growth within an urban setting. Both novels are set in New York City which serves as a backdrop for both protagonists and influences choices and lifestyles. Both works are also character driven, portraying the lives of not only the main characters but their girlfriends as well. They show different perspectives on love and life from each character. They also both have a personal narrative tone to them which can create a deeper connection to readers. What can set this novel apart from Bushnell’s work is Reese breaks the fourth wall by directly addressing the audience which creates an intimacy and makes the readers feel more invested in her journey. 

 

Assignment Five 

Hookline 

 

In a world where love feels like a relentless roller coaster, a young woman grapples with the ghosts of her past. Constantly torn between past relationships where some of them pull her back in, and the future where she sees herself finding her dream man,  she must embark on a journey of self-discovery and true healing so that she can finally get off the ride she’s been on for half of her life. 

 

Assignment Six

Conflicts

 

The Protagonist experiences a range of external and internal conflicts throughout the story. Here are examples of primary, secondary, and inner conflicts Reese faces. 

 

Primary Conflicts: 

Her romantic relationships and struggling with her feelings for different men including three main staple relationships in her life. Each relationship presents  different challenges and emotional baggage. Reese also struggles with self-identity as she navigates these relationships and is trying to find who she truly is outside of her romantic connections. 

 

Secondary Conflicts: 

The protagonist’s family dynamics plays a part as she has to deal with the complex relationships with her sisters and the death of her mother which adds to the weight of her emotions because she feels neglected and misunderstood by them at times. While her emotions weigh heavy,  her career aspirations come into play when she faces disappointment with her educational and career goals especially when she doesn’t get into art school, making her question her adequacy. 

 

Inner Conflicts:

Reese deals with having trust issues after having rocky experiences with certain men which causes her to have a hard time trusting others and herself in relationships. This leads her to have fears of being vulnerable, another inner conflict. She is anxious about opening up to someone new in the fear of getting hurt again and the ride not being able to stop. Reese’s fear is she won’t be able to find someone with whom she can stand still with. 

 

Hypothetical Scenario:

 

Reese receives a text from Ken whom she thought would never see again. He recently got out of prison and he wants to meet up. The text from him is a trigger for her because of the work she put in to move on from him after years of mixed signals. Now, all of the feelings she thought were gone have been drugged up all over again. In receiving this text from him, Reese feels a mixture of excitement and dread. The excitement comes from the thrill of reconnecting with an old flame but dread because she knows the trouble it comes with. 

 

Secondary Conflict Scenario: 

A secondary conflict involving a social environment can be sketched around the protagonist’s relationships with friends and family. Specifically in the context around her love life and pressures of societal expectations. 

 

In this scenario, the protagonist is trying to balance her friendships and family while dealing with the turmoil of being in a tumultuous relationship with Dylan which she doesn’t really want them to know about. Reese doesn’t do a great job at hiding it and her friends and family notice a change in her. They start to express their concerns telling her she deserves better and to reconsider her relationship as it has become emotionally manipulating and controlling. Conflict arises when the protagonist feels torn between her loyalty to her boyfriend and her friends and family who only want the best for her. While she appreciates them looking out for her well-being, it only makes her alienate herself further from them so they don’t know how miserable she has been in her relationship. Soon, Reese must face the reality of the situation and see that it’s never going to change and her friends and family's opinions will soon cloud her mind while making the decision she knows she has to make but has to come to the realization on her own. This scenario shows the struggles of balancing personal choices with influence of loved ones creating a foundation for character development and the impact of dynamics on personal decisions. 

 

Assignment Seven

Setting

 

The setting of the narrative unfolds across various locations that are significant, each contributing to the emotional and character development. Below is a detailed breakdown highlighting unique views making these settings cinematic and engaging. 

 

Amusement Park: The story begins with a metaphor of an amusement park, which represents the thrill and excitement along with the anxiety of dating. This setting is colorful, filled with the sounds of laughter and screams from the ride, colorful bright lights which captures the excitement and fear of new relationships. As the protagonist gets on the metaphorical ride of dating, the ups and downs imitates the physical feeling of a carousel, making this a dynamic opening scene. 

 

Central Park: A typical first date location, Central Park is represented as an escape in a city that is constantly bustling. The distinction between the concealed bench where deep and intimate conversations take place and the park surrounding it creates a connection that is private. The imagery of nature mixed with the narrator’s nervousness adds emotion to the scene. Also,  when she goes to prom at a restaurant located in the park with the same person she shares these same memories with, it serves as a sense of symbolism in their relationship. 

 

Home Environment: With each move the protagonist makes in her life, the apartment she lives in at certain points in her life, whether it’s the apartment she shared with her sisters in Harlem, the off campus apartment she shared with her roommates in college, the basement apartment she lived in with her father in Brooklyn, the project apartment she shared with her sister’s mother, and the Bronx apartment she now shares with her highschool best friend, it serves as a background of comfort as well as tension. Whether it’s the familiar details such as the comfort of being in bed with someone she has feelings for or arguments and conflicts that take place, in this personal space, the narrator’s feelings are intensified. 

 

Graduation Day: Graduation represents a transition in the protagonist's life as she ends one journey and starts another. Each graduation particularly highschool brings an celebratory atmosphere and is filled with proud families embracing other graduates. The joy of graduating mixed with the sadness of missing her mother adds a bittersweet cinematic moment to the scene. 

 

Herkimer County Community College: The college setting is depicted as both exciting but scary as the protagonist navigates the campus which is filled with new faces creates a sense of confusion. The setting can be captured through classrooms of diverse individuals, noisy hallways and the cafeteria. The struggle of trying to fit in portraying her self-discovery journey. 

 

Prom Night: This setting is glamorous depicting the protagonist beautifully dressed in her light purple dress. The place where the prom is held is vibrant, beautifully decorated while music is playing loudly. Everyone is expressing their happiness through laughter and dance in this scene and shows an expected joy for the protagonist while she deals with internal struggles, highlighting her insecurities. 

 

Train Ride to Utica: The ride up to college shows a transition physically and mentally for the protagonist. The changing of landscape outside of the window of the train shows a shift in her life. The quiet train ride gives her room to have self-reflections allowing the audience to connect with her on her new journey. 

 

William’s Apartment: The intimate setting of his apartment symbolizes a new start. The decor, the view of the bridge from the window and the cozy atmosphere creates a safe space for her and him to explore their relationship further. The setting shows romantic moments blooming while also taking risks with emotions. 

 

Cafe and Restaurants: Various dining experiences are portrayed throughout the novel and serve as backgrounds for connections. The lively ambience, with laughter and conversations throughout each restaurant is shown while the protagonist deals with struggles within herself is described in rich detail. 

 

Each of these settings shows different emotions and themes while providing backgrounds for the character’s journey. The locations, character development, and emotions felt in these moments creates a page to screen moment that deepens the novel's deepness and impact.

[Carly Diaz]

Assignment 1: Story Statement

Celine must figure out who killed her best friend and avenge her death. 

Assignment 2: Antagonist

The antagonist in this story is an introverted 19 year-old named Martin Peters. He is pale and lanky, with jet-black hair and dark brown eyes. He rarely sleeps, and is distrustful of technology, the government, and society as a whole. We first meet him in the main character’s bedroom, drinking cheap beer and smoking cigarettes out the window with her as she mourns the death of her best friend, Alyssa. At this point, Martin and the main character, Celine, are lovers, and he seems to be the only person in the world that can understand the complex feelings of grief, anger, and loneliness that she is experiencing. Martin’s role in the novel is to constantly push Celine past her boundaries and make her embrace the dark truths about herself that she’s tried hard to ignore (ie. the fact that she is secretly happy that Alyssa is dead and that she may have played a larger role in her death than initially realized). Martin  sees Celine as being the “same” as him– dark and misunderstood in a world of phonies, and he wants her to accept this part of herself. His unwavering devotion to Celine, even as he kills and maims others, prompts sympathy from the readers.

Assignment 3: Breakout Title

My Alyssa

Killing Alyssa

Death in the City of Angels

Assignment 4: Smart Comparables

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten - Extremely similar premise and themes. A girl is investigating the suspicious death of her best friend, whom she’d had a recent falling out with. Told in first-person, using flashbacks to reveal more about the characters, and the narrator has her own dark secrets, too. Close examination of female friendship.

The End of Everything by Megan Abbot - Similar premise and themes, although the MC is slightly younger (13 y/o vs 18 y/o), the target audience is still adult. A girl is investigating the disappearance of her best friend, and unravels secrets that make her wonder how well they really knew each other. Exploration of girlhood, friendship.

Assignment 5: Hook

Alyssa Woods is on the verge of becoming one of Hollywood’s biggest stars when she’s found lying dead at the bottom of a staircase just weeks before her eighteenth birthday. Her childhood best friend, a total nobody, will do whatever it takes to uncover the secrets surrounding her death and avenge her murder.

Assignment 6: Inner Conflict & Secondary Conflict

Inner Conflict: Celine struggles to move past Alyssa’s death, partly because of the fact that their friendship was in shambles when she died. Celine loved Alyssa more than anyone, and her whole life revolved around supporting her. But once Alyssa got a taste of fame, she essentially dropped Celine for her new Hollywood friends. This abandonment led to Celine trying to take her own life, inadvertently triggering a series of events that would end with Alyssa’s death. Now, with Alyssa gone, Celine must grapple with grief, resentment, jealousy, and most of all, guilt.

Secondary Conflict: Celine has always hated Alyssa’s ex-boyfriend, Jack, because he treated her like garbage. That anger intensifies when she learns that Alyssa and Jack had made a sex-tape earlier in their relationship, and that Jack had blackmailed her with it in the weeks before she died. Jack may not be the killer, but he sure is guilty as hell, and deserves to be punished.

Assignment 7: Setting

Set in Hollywood, CA, the novel takes us to beaches, boardwalks, marinas, L.A. nightclubs, a Halloween festival in Calabasas, ritzy mansions in Hollywood Hills, dingy pubs on the outskirts of town, and even to the set of Alyssa’s TV show, Prom Queen. 

“Rhea’s house was a work of modern art nestled deep in Hollywood Hills. She whipped through the neighborhood streets far faster than she should’ve, flying by perfectly green grass, manicured yards with palm-trees lining the roads, and mansion after mansion, most of them behind big remote access gates made of iron or wood.”

Flashbacks to Alyssa and Celine’s highschool years, primarily set in the suburbs or on the beach, create a strong contrast to Alyssa’s stardom, where we have scenes depicting elaborate parties in clubs with ice-luges, cocaine, and dancers hanging from hoops in the ceiling. 

“Alyssa and I laid in the sand.

Alyssa laid flat, arms and legs spread out like a starfish. The top string of her bikini was untied, tucked into her boobs. Alyssa wanted no inch of her skin untouched by the sun. I laid beside her on my side, knees tucked up to my stomach, tracing shapes on my towel. I figured I was getting burnt. I wrapped one arm around my waist. I curled my knees in closer.”

“I turned my attention back to the pink hoop girl. Her arms and legs spread to every corner of the hoop, and she threw her head back, spinning slowly and soaking in the lights, the eyes of the audience, the thumping bass. She dropped down so she was sitting on the bottom of the hoop like a swing. She spun faster, arched her back, and I saw every inch of her body. Her strong legs and arms, her flexed back muscles, her waist –small but sturdy, with washboard abs. Then she dropped again, hanging from the bottom of the hoop by her hands. People in the audience clapped and whistled over the music. It lasted just one rotation. Then she swung herself back up with some-what of a pull-up, throwing her stomach over the bottom rung, and then grabbing the sides of the hoop and pulling herself up further so she was once again sitting on the rung. I tried to imagine myself up there. I was thin, like her, but ghoulishly so, with no athleticism. I imagined myself, hanging onto the bottom of the hoop with my scrawny arms, trying to pull myself up, but it was too hard, and my hands were clammy, and then I slipped. I imagined the freefall, I savored it. I saw my head crash into the stage floor, my skull cratered, blood gushing out of my eyes, mouth, nose, and ears. The lights dancing over my skinny dead waist, the neon thigh-high socks with the cutesy bow at the top, legs unmoving beneath it. What a show.”

The season plays a big role as well, with most of the novel taking place in Fall, and one major scene happening on Halloween (costumes, Halloween decorations, leaves changing color, etc).

“At the entrance, Jack buys my ticket even though I half-heartedly offer to pay my own way, and then we officially enter Haunted Nights.

A Ferris wheel lit up red spins sinisterly in the distance. Six-foot long ghosts hang from lamp posts and blow in the wind. I smell a petting zoo I cannot yet see. A child runs blindly in front of us, holding a stick of pink cotton candy bigger than her face. After passing us, she turns and scans the crowd, looking for her parents. Pink crusts of cotton candy are stuck around the corners of her lips, and her mouth. Her eyes look so solemn, I almost suggest we stop to make sure she’s alright. But I’m still gripping Jack’s arm, and he pulls us past her. I hear a woman call out, “Piper!” and turn back to look again at the girl just in time to see her running into her mothers’ arms, her wild blonde hair flying behind her. The swirl of cotton candy lays face down in the dirt beside them.”

Lastly, the novel contains several scenes set by the ocean; in sailboats, swimming, or just walking along the beach. The ocean is, for the most part, a serene place and its beauty and vastness reminds Celine of some of the more savory memories with her dead friend, Alyssa. 

“I feel closest to Alyssa here. Maybe because she always reminded me so much of the sun. Shining and bright, inescapable, but at the same time, always out of reach. I pick up a shell and toss it into the water. It skips twice, and then sinks. I keep walking the shoreline, I walk all morning and into the early afternoon.”

 

[Renée Ryan]

A1 – Story Statement:

A sixteen-year-old runs away to find her estranged father at the iconic music festival in her last hope for a family after her mother’s sudden death.

A2 – Antagonist:

The antagonist in my novel is multi-layered, a combination of forces that stand in opposition to Emma Joy's goals and growth. Here’s how the antagonistic forces play out:

1. Chase (Her Father)

• While Chase isn’t a villain, his absence and inability to fulfill the role of a stable parent represent one of Emma Joy’s greatest emotional struggles. He symbolizes her longing for connection, and his elusiveness challenges her idealized view of family.

• His charm and promises create hope but also threaten to let her down, forcing Emma Joy to grapple with whether he can truly be the father she needs.

2. Sheriff Mosby

• Although Mosby cares for Emma Joy and ultimately becomes a source of support, he acts as an obstacle to her freedom and quest to find her father. His relentless pursuit forces her to navigate challenges and confront truths about safety, loyalty, and love.

• His presence complicates Emma Joy’s journey, representing the structure and rules she’s trying to escape.

3. Emma Joy Herself

• Emma Joy’s internal struggles, including her anger, guilt, and idealized perceptions of her father, act as an internal antagonist. Her impulsive decisions and lies often create additional hurdles, making her own growth the ultimate battle.

4. The Journey and Circumstances

• The physical journey itself—limited time, lack of resources, and encounters with dangerous or unsettling people—creates external antagonistic forces that challenge Emma Joy’s resolve and resilience.

• The realities of navigating 1969 as a vulnerable young girl add tension and stakes to her quest.

5. The Passage of Time

• The ticking clock of the five-day timeline is an ever-present antagonist, heightening the stakes of her journey. It pressures Emma Joy to act impulsively, increasing the risk of failure.

The antagonistic forces in my novel are layered, with external and internal struggles blending to shape Emma Joy’s path to self-discovery and redefine her understanding of family.

A3 – Title Options

Road to Woodstock

Chasing the Last Note

Notes in the Mud

A4 – Comparable Novels

Other Birds: A Novel by Sarah Addison Allen

Other Birds resonates with stories about loss, family, and finding unexpected connections, much like Emma Joy’s journey.

The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods

It focuses on rediscovering the past and finding one’s place in the world, paralleling Emma Joy’s search for her father and her own identity.

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

Hoffman's signature blend of magical realism, strong female protagonists, and exploration of family ties mirrors the essence of Emma Joy’s journey.

A5 – Hook Line/Summary:

Set in August 1969, sixteen-year-old Emma Joy Ryder sets out from Woodstock, Georgia, to Woodstock, New York, to find her estranged father at the iconic music festival, her last hope for a family after her mother’s sudden death.

Summary:

In the sweltering summer of 1969, amidst the echoes of a nation in turmoil, sixteen-year-old Emma Joy Ryder embarks on a journey of self-discovery that will lead her from the dusty roads of Woodstock, Georgia to the legendary fields of Woodstock, New York.

After the sudden death of her mother, Emma Joy finds herself alone in the world. Determined to avoid the fate of foster care, she sets out on a quest to find her long-lost father, who abandoned his family ten years ago. With only five days to cover the daunting 925-mile journey, Emma Joy faces not only the physical challenges of the road but also the relentless pursuit of Sheriff Mosby, a family friend and love interest of her mother, who is determined to bring her back to safety. Adding to the complexity is the unexpected presence of her mother's apparition, who materializes out of thin air whenever the notion strikes her.

As Emma Joy makes her way north, she lies easily and with conviction to garner sympathy and rides. Along the way, she meets a diverse cast of characters, from a grieving peach farmer struggling under the remnants of the Jim Crow laws of the South to a young man named Stephen who’s headed to Woodstock for what he’s convinced will be his final hurrah before dying in Vietnam. Thus begins a poignant but brief love story between the two set against the free love backdrop of the festival.

Then Emma Joy stumbles upon her long-lost father, and he pledges to be the daddy she wants. Yet, despite his promises and pledges, she realizes that paternal love and responsibility cannot be bestowed upon command. Instead, it is forged through shared experiences, unconditional support, and genuine connection. And though her journey may have begun with a desperate search for her Daddy, it ultimately leads her to a deeper understanding of the enduring power of love and belonging, both chosen and found within the muddy grace of Woodstock.

A6 – Inner Conflict

Emma Joy's inner conflict revolves around her longing for connection and stability versus her fear of rejection and abandonment. At the core of this struggle is her idealized belief that finding her estranged father, Chase, will fill the void left by her mother’s death and give her the family she desperately craves. However, she grapples with doubts about whether Chase can be the father she needs—or if he even wants to be.

This conflict is further complicated by her internalized fear that she is unworthy of love and belonging, which stems from the pain of being left behind by her father and the uncertainty of her place in the world after her mother’s death. As she journeys north, Emma Joy’s self-doubt manifests in her impulsiveness, lies, and the need to prove her independence, all while she struggles to reconcile the idealized version of family with the reality of human imperfection.

Ultimately, Emma Joy’s inner conflict drives her toward a deeper understanding of herself and the realization that the love and stability she seeks may not come from the person she expected—but from the family she chooses to embrace.

Inner Conflict Scene:

We perched on top of an old school bus, the metal radiating heat beneath us as Santana's electric performance filled the summer air. Daddy leaned toward me, his voice low and reverent as he explained the chords, why they worked together, and how the fusion of the Congas was something rock and roll had never seen before.

I didn’t know much about music, not like he did, but I listened anyway. I watched him more than I listened, really. The way his face transformed with every swell of melody fascinated me. His expressions weren’t guarded or careful—they were wide open like the music had stripped something raw inside him.

My gaze drifted to his hands, resting lightly on his knees. His left fingertips were thick and rough, callused from years of chasing melodies across strings. They told a story of late nights in smoky bars, of a life he’d chosen over us. Over me.

He must have felt me staring because he squeezed my hand, and for a moment, the resentment I carried softened just a little. I forced myself to stay in the moment, to hold on to what was right here beside me: his hand in mine, the music weaving its way between us like it could stitch up all the wounds he’d left behind. Maybe this time, it would be different. Maybe now that he’d had a chance to know me—to see me for who I was and what I needed—he wouldn’t leave again.

But then I looked at his face, really looked. His eyes weren’t here. They were somewhere far away, somewhere the music had taken him. Somewhere I couldn’t follow.

Secondary Conflict:

Emma Joy’s journey takes her from the safety and simplicity of her small-town 1960s upbringing—defined by traditional values, racial segregation, and limited opportunities for women—to the chaotic, boundary-pushing world of Woodstock, civil rights movements, and the looming shadow of Vietnam.

Each encounter exposes her to new ideas, cultures, and conflicts that challenge the sheltered perspective she didn’t even realize she held.

Secondary Conflict Scenario: Vietnam and the Fragility of Life: Through Stephen, the young man she falls for, Emma Joy directly faces the specter of Vietnam and the loss it promises. Stephen shares with her that he has a premonition that he will die in Vietnam, and Emma Joy’s acquaintance with sacrifice deepens her understanding of the world’s harsh realities.

Secondary Conflict Scene:

“I keep having this dream, and it’s as real as you and me sitting here,” Stephen said, his voice low, almost reverent. I leaned in closer, the faint glow of the lantern between us painting his face in flickering shadows. “More like a premonition. I had one like it before my parents were killed, but no one believed me. Said I was too young to know anything. But I did. I sensed it coming.”

The weight of his words pulled at me, and I shifted closer, my knees brushing against his. His eyes, usually steady, flickered with something I couldn’t name—fear, maybe. Resignation.

“In the dream,” he continued, his voice dropping lower, “I walk into our little church back home. It’s packed, but no one’s talking. Just crying. People I know. Teachers I’ve had, friends from high school, Janice from the post office, even Bill Parsons, my old swim coach. Girls I’ve dated. Girls I wanted to.”

The lantern hissed, threatening to go out, but the light steadied again as he paused. I held my breath, afraid to break whatever fragile thread he was spinning between us.

“There’s bagpipe music playing,” he said, his voice tightening. “And Poppy is sitting in the front row next to the preacher. He’s all slumped over with grief, his hands shaking. The preacher keeps glancing at this flag-draped coffin. My coffin.”

I flinched, the air between us suddenly sharp and cold.

“There’s this huge red and white funeral wreath propped up on a stand,” Stephen went on, “with a sash says, ‘Beloved Grandson.’”

His words chilled me to my core. The light from the lantern flickered and threatened to go out but hissed back into a full circle of flame. We sat in silence and the shadows as I constructed a hundred different arguments in my head as to how he couldn’t humanly know this. In the end, though, all I came up with was, “Don’t say that. You might jinx yourself.”

Stephen’s eyes met mine, steady but distant, as if he were already walking through that church, hearing the bagpipes play. “Don’t say anything to the others,” he said. “They wouldn’t understand.”

“Why did you tell me?”

“I thought you’d understand,” he said.

I did understand. I just didn’t know that it showed on me. “You’re coming back from Vietnam,” I said, the words strong and slow with a surety that God himself could hear and honor. “You’re not going to die.”

He smiled faintly, a shadow of the grin I knew so well. “Not today.”

“Not for a long time,” I insisted, my voice steady, a quiet prayer disguised as a promise.

We sat there in the dim light, the lantern hissing softly between us. The night pressed close, heavy with the weight of unspoken fears, but I clung to the sound of my own words, willing them to be enough.

A7 – Setting:

In the sweltering summer of 1969, Emma Joy Ryder begins her journey in the Deep South, where the air hangs thick with humidity and tradition. Her hometown of Woodstock, Georgia, is a sleepy, close-knit community cloaked in the rhythms of small-town life—screen doors creak on their hinges, cicadas hum in the dense heat, and narrow streets are bordered by cotton fields and magnolia trees. The town’s slow pace and conservative values mirror the sheltered life Emma Joy is eager to leave behind.

As she ventures north, the journey takes her through the heart of a transforming America. Along the winding two-lane highways, she passes through towns where the scars of civil rights struggles linger; roadside diners hum with the chatter of travelers, and coal trucks lumber through Appalachian backroads, leaving trails of diesel fumes. The land itself changes with her progress—from the red clay of Georgia to the rolling green hills of the Mid-Atlantic, and finally, to the muddy fields and kaleidoscopic chaos of Woodstock, New York.

[tlanzo]

On 11/30/2024 at 12:17 AM, tlanzo said:

Assignment One 

Story Statement 

 

In a vibrant New York City, Reese navigates the tumultuous journey from childhood to adulthood, where her quest for genuine and pure love is both a guiding light and unstable storm. As she grapples with the complexities of her relationships, and the echoes of her upbringing, she finds herself caught in a never ending cycle of familiar patterns that challenge her understanding of love and self-worth. Through heartache and self-discovery, Reese learns that true growth comes not from escaping her past, but embracing it, ultimately forging her own path towards the authentic connection she longs for. 

 

Assignment Two

The Antagonist 

 

The antagonist can represent the protagonist's tumultuous relationships, particularly with men like Dylan and Ken who convey toxic behaviors and emotional manipulation. 

 

Dylan seeks control in the relationship and wants to dominate the protagonist’s life anyway he can. He feels having a successful relationship is about gaining power and keeping it maintained throughout using manipulation and jealousy to keep Reese stuck without independence or security. He tries to tell her who to interact with and deficits by projecting his insecurities onto her, making her feel guilty for his behavior which in reality, is his fault. 

 

Dylan’s background lacks emotional maturity and tends to be possessive which comes from his own insecurities. His controlling ways show deeper issues within himself related to his upbringing and past relationships. He struggles with trusting Reese and projects his feelings on to her constantly. He is quick to anger because of this issue and resorts to threatening her when he feels his power over her slipping away. Dylan also struggles to take responsibility for his actions and wants Reese to pay the consequences instead making him possess characteristics of an antagonist. 

 

Ken represents the past that Reese is trying to move on from but finds it difficult because he keeps re-entering her life. His goals are only around reconnecting in a sexual relationship while ignoring the emotional baggage they share. Ken has a habit of being emotionally unavailable and irresponsible when it comes to other’s feelings. His irresponsibility is also shown in his involvement with criminal activities which have impacted his relationships. 

 

Ken’s approach to relationships shows how selfish he can be. He seeks physical connections with no regard for the emotional consequences that can come from them. Especially for the protagonist. His actions and how he deals with her is seen as opportunistic, as he always re-enters her life when it’s beneficial to him. 

 

Both of these characters have antagonistic tactics, making the protagonist’s journey of self-discovery and independence a challenging one. Their behaviors and how they treat her creates conflict internally for Reese while she is still trying to learn who she is while wanting healthier relationships in love. Her struggling against their actions delays her growth and she eventually realizes that she deserves better than what they’re offering her. 

 

Assignment Three 

Breakout Title 

 

“The Merry-Go-Round” 

Meaning: A continuous cycle of activities or events, especially when perceived as having no purpose or producing no result.

 

“The Merry-Go-Round” represents the cyclical nature of Reese’s relationships and emotional patterns. Just as the ride goes round and round, she finds herself drawn to the same man in different bodies. It symbolizes her tendency to revisit the same mistakes and lessons she needs to confront. Reese feels like she’s on a never ending ride that while it can be a fun and joyous experience, it signifies the illusion of movement without making real progress. Every time she gets close in her pursuit of love, she gets stuck in the same emotional patterns, going in circles rather than moving forward in her journey. 

 

 A merry-go-round can also convey nostalgia for Reese’s childhood, a time where understanding of love and relationships were innocent and more simple. The connection to her past can serve as a reminder of what she longs for, contrasting with the complications of her adult relationships. It symbolizes her desire to reclaim that innocence and find true love. It also embodies moments of joy and escapism. In the midst of the hard times, it represents a sense of happiness and the need to escape the harsh realities of her life. But it's only a temporary solution and prevents her from facing her issues head on. 

 

In conclusion, “The Merry-Go-Round” serves as a complicated symbol in Reese’s story that outlines her struggles with repetition, illusion of progress, nostalgia, and the search for joy amidst the difficulty growing up. 

 

Assignment Four 

Genre and Comparables 

 

“The Merry-Go-Round is portrayed as a Bildungsroman better known as a coming of age novel. It explains changes the protagonist goes through as she grows from adolescent to adult and how what she goes through makes her who she is in the present day. Two comparables that can be similar to my novel are “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” by Hannah Tinti and “Sex and the City” by Candace Bushnell. 

 

Why those compare: 

While “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley” is not exactly a coming of age story, it explores the deep history of relationships and the impact of the past and personal growth. The novel shows elements of a Bildungsroman with a narrative that combines the protagonist’s life’s lessons with his daughter’s coming of age journey.  Reese’s story processes the themes of love, sacrifice, wounds of the past, making both stories similar because they both emphasize the complications of relationships and the lessons learned from them, making them relatable to young women paving their own paths. 

 

The second comparable, “Sex and the City” by Candace Bushnell focuses on the complexities of relationships, friendships, sex and personal growth within an urban setting. Both novels are set in New York City which serves as a backdrop for both protagonists and influences choices and lifestyles. Both works are also character driven, portraying the lives of not only the main characters but their girlfriends as well. They show different perspectives on love and life from each character. They also both have a personal narrative tone to them which can create a deeper connection to readers. What can set this novel apart from Bushnell’s work is Reese breaks the fourth wall by directly addressing the audience which creates an intimacy and makes the readers feel more invested in her journey. 

 

Assignment Five 

Hookline 

 

In a world where love feels like a relentless roller coaster, a young woman grapples with the ghosts of her past. Constantly torn between past relationships where some of them pull her back in, and the future where she sees herself finding her dream man,  she must embark on a journey of self-discovery and true healing so that she can finally get off the ride she’s been on for half of her life. 

 

Assignment Six

Conflicts

 

The Protagonist experiences a range of external and internal conflicts throughout the story. Here are examples of primary, secondary, and inner conflicts Reese faces. 

 

Primary Conflicts: 

Her romantic relationships and struggling with her feelings for different men including three main staple relationships in her life. Each relationship presents  different challenges and emotional baggage. Reese also struggles with self-identity as she navigates these relationships and is trying to find who she truly is outside of her romantic connections. 

 

Secondary Conflicts: 

The protagonist’s family dynamics plays a part as she has to deal with the complex relationships with her sisters and the death of her mother which adds to the weight of her emotions because she feels neglected and misunderstood by them at times. While her emotions weigh heavy,  her career aspirations come into play when she faces disappointment with her educational and career goals especially when she doesn’t get into art school, making her question her adequacy. 

 

Inner Conflicts:

Reese deals with having trust issues after having rocky experiences with certain men which causes her to have a hard time trusting others and herself in relationships. This leads her to have fears of being vulnerable, another inner conflict. She is anxious about opening up to someone new in the fear of getting hurt again and the ride not being able to stop. Reese’s fear is she won’t be able to find someone with whom she can stand still with. 

 

Hypothetical Scenario:

 

Reese receives a text from Ken whom she thought would never see again. He recently got out of prison and he wants to meet up. The text from him is a trigger for her because of the work she put in to move on from him after years of mixed signals. Now, all of the feelings she thought were gone have been drugged up all over again. In receiving this text from him, Reese feels a mixture of excitement and dread. The excitement comes from the thrill of reconnecting with an old flame but dread because she knows the trouble it comes with. 

 

Secondary Conflict Scenario: 

A secondary conflict involving a social environment can be sketched around the protagonist’s relationships with friends and family. Specifically in the context around her love life and pressures of societal expectations. 

 

In this scenario, the protagonist is trying to balance her friendships and family while dealing with the turmoil of being in a tumultuous relationship with Dylan which she doesn’t really want them to know about. Reese doesn’t do a great job at hiding it and her friends and family notice a change in her. They start to express their concerns telling her she deserves better and to reconsider her relationship as it has become emotionally manipulating and controlling. Conflict arises when the protagonist feels torn between her loyalty to her boyfriend and her friends and family who only want the best for her. While she appreciates them looking out for her well-being, it only makes her alienate herself further from them so they don’t know how miserable she has been in her relationship. Soon, Reese must face the reality of the situation and see that it’s never going to change and her friends and family's opinions will soon cloud her mind while making the decision she knows she has to make but has to come to the realization on her own. This scenario shows the struggles of balancing personal choices with influence of loved ones creating a foundation for character development and the impact of dynamics on personal decisions. 

 

Assignment Seven

Setting

 

The setting of the narrative unfolds across various locations that are significant, each contributing to the emotional and character development. Below is a detailed breakdown highlighting unique views making these settings cinematic and engaging. 

 

Amusement Park: The story begins with a metaphor of an amusement park, which represents the thrill and excitement along with the anxiety of dating. This setting is colorful, filled with the sounds of laughter and screams from the ride, colorful bright lights which captures the excitement and fear of new relationships. As the protagonist gets on the metaphorical ride of dating, the ups and downs imitates the physical feeling of a carousel, making this a dynamic opening scene. 

 

Central Park: A typical first date location, Central Park is represented as an escape in a city that is constantly bustling. The distinction between the concealed bench where deep and intimate conversations take place and the park surrounding it creates a connection that is private. The imagery of nature mixed with the narrator’s nervousness adds emotion to the scene. Also,  when she goes to prom at a restaurant located in the park with the same person she shares these same memories with, it serves as a sense of symbolism in their relationship. 

 

Home Environment: With each move the protagonist makes in her life, the apartment she lives in at certain points in her life, whether it’s the apartment she shared with her sisters in Harlem, the off campus apartment she shared with her roommates in college, the basement apartment she lived in with her father in Brooklyn, the project apartment she shared with her sister’s mother, and the Bronx apartment she now shares with her highschool best friend, it serves as a background of comfort as well as tension. Whether it’s the familiar details such as the comfort of being in bed with someone she has feelings for or arguments and conflicts that take place, in this personal space, the narrator’s feelings are intensified. 

 

Graduation Day: Graduation represents a transition in the protagonist's life as she ends one journey and starts another. Each graduation particularly highschool brings an celebratory atmosphere and is filled with proud families embracing other graduates. The joy of graduating mixed with the sadness of missing her mother adds a bittersweet cinematic moment to the scene. 

 

Herkimer County Community College: The college setting is depicted as both exciting but scary as the protagonist navigates the campus which is filled with new faces creates a sense of confusion. The setting can be captured through classrooms of diverse individuals, noisy hallways and the cafeteria. The struggle of trying to fit in portraying her self-discovery journey. 

 

Prom Night: This setting is glamorous depicting the protagonist beautifully dressed in her light purple dress. The place where the prom is held is vibrant, beautifully decorated while music is playing loudly. Everyone is expressing their happiness through laughter and dance in this scene and shows an expected joy for the protagonist while she deals with internal struggles, highlighting her insecurities. 

 

Train Ride to Utica: The ride up to college shows a transition physically and mentally for the protagonist. The changing of landscape outside of the window of the train shows a shift in her life. The quiet train ride gives her room to have self-reflections allowing the audience to connect with her on her new journey. 

 

William’s Apartment: The intimate setting of his apartment symbolizes a new start. The decor, the view of the bridge from the window and the cozy atmosphere creates a safe space for her and him to explore their relationship further. The setting shows romantic moments blooming while also taking risks with emotions. 

 

Cafe and Restaurants: Various dining experiences are portrayed throughout the novel and serve as backgrounds for connections. The lively ambience, with laughter and conversations throughout each restaurant is shown while the protagonist deals with struggles within herself is described in rich detail. 

The Streets and Subways of New York: These two settings are a backdrop for different encounters that occur in the narrative to the protagonist. The energy of the city impacts Reese’s emotions as she navigates these situations. 

Each of these settings shows different emotions and themes while providing backgrounds for the character’s journey. The locations, character development, and emotions felt in these moments creates a page to screen moment that deepens the novel's deepness and impact.

 

[obiobi]

STORY STATEMENT

 

“Haunted by fractured relationships, buried secrets, and a dangerous mystery, Alice must confront her tangled past and unravel the lies that bind her to her estranged sister, Amy—only to discover that the truth may cost her everything she’s fought to protect, including her own sanity.”

 

 

The antagonist in my story isn’t just one person—it’s a mix of outside forces and the internal mess between the sisters. On the surface, there’s the investigation into Robyn’s disappearance. Langley is dangerous, a hunter, and wants answers after failing to save someone in a previous investigation.  That’s the obvious threat. Then there’s people like Doug, throwing out accusations, and dragging Alice and Amy into the spotlight.

 

But the real problem is Alice herself. She’s constantly trying to stay in control, to live above her traumas and the PTSD, and to create a false sense of self that doesn’t ever really work. even though she’s not good at it.

 

 

TITLES:

 

ALICE IN THE CITY OF ASHES

ALICE IN CHICAGO

FRACTURED PIECES OF HER

 

COMPARABLES:

 

Gone Girl

Girl on the Train

 

HOOK LINE:

“Days after returning to Chicago to sell her late mother’s house, Alice’s childhood friend Robyn vanishes without a trace, plunging her into a spiraling mystery that forces her to confront the guilt of her fractured family, the lies she’s told herself, and a fragile bond with her distant sister, Amy.”

 

Alice’s inner turmoil really comes from all the guilt that she’s hidden, and the carefully constructed image she has of herself and her life. She’s spent years burying the past, convincing herself that moving on means cutting off emotional ties—to Robyn, to Amy, even to their mother. I would describe her as a dismissive avoidant, created due to the caregiver not being supportive enough in their rearing stages. Yet, returning to Chicago and confronting her fractured relationship with Amy, along with the mystery surrounding Robyn, unravels this carefully managed control. It’s interesting that one can live in this state of ignorance for so many years, and being a psychiatrist, I’ve seen how when this happens, it creates for an even grander fallout when it all comes out.

 

The setting of the story revolves around a dim, aging condominium in Chicago, specifically a a place called Kenwood that was chosen due to it’s history it’s affluence, much suited for the types of people that come from these sorts of environments if left left to their own devices,  a space that feels frozen in time, much like the sisters’ unresolved past. The condo belonged to Janice, their late mother, and every corner of it carries her presence in a ll of its spaces. This isn’t just a house—it’s a mausoleum of memories, a place where every object is loaded with meaning.

[Nicki Nance]

Seven Assignments NIcki Nance.docxNicki Nance: Pre-event Assignments 

STORY STATEMENT  

Magically gifted foster child Jack Morelli grows up searching for his brother, Michael, who was taken by demons that dwell in a labyrinth of tunnels under New Orleans. He keeps his dark secrets until he falls in love with psychic Emmie Borell, who has the magical resources to help in his quest. Bringing the truth to light casts a shadow on everything he believes about his purpose, magic, and himself.

ANTAGONIST

Ma’gador is the damaged son of the demon king, K’hal, and the witch Malinda. He was five years old when K’hal became enthralled with Sheila, a younger, more powerful witch, pregnant with his child. Malinda left Ma’gador with K’hal, fearing he was too unruly for the human realm. Ma’gador hated K’hal for driving her away, Malinda for deserting him, and himself for being unlovable.

Sheila, a drug addict, left K’hal the day their son, Ka’pel, was born. Ma’gador resented K’hal for grieving Sheila and tormented Ka’pel mercilessly despite harsh punishment.

On Ma’gador’s twentieth birthday, he learned from K’hal that although hybrids could not take souls, they could procure magic to power up their soul-snatching.  K’hal assigned Ma’gador to learn how to extract and transfer magic by observing a witch, Coletta, transfer magic to her son and then steal magic from Coletta and her son. Ma’gador adored Coletta, and she cared for him. He chose her well-being over K’hal’s approval. Forbidden from being with her, Ma’gador secretly protects Coletta from the demons who still want her magic.

BREAKOUT TITLE LIST

1. Tunnel Demons of New Orleans, Book 1: Under the Crescent Moon

2. Tunnel Demons of New Orleans, Book 1: Demons and Other Brothers

3. Tunnel Demons of New Orleans, Book 1: Labyrinth of Love and Lies

COMPARABLES

1. JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood is a series of contemporary characters with a dangerous enemy. Dry humor and snappy dialogue contrast with tragic, complex backstories. Sibling relationships are troubled. Romantic relationships are wrought with self-doubt. Tropes include found families, coming of age, and another realm.

2. Sherilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series is set in New Orleans. The overarching theme is brothers at odds. Tropes in common are family secrets, a protected space, human characters with magical gifts, and a comedic non-human entity attached to a protagonist.  The actions of antagonists threaten romantic relationships.   

HOOK LINE

Tunnel Demons of New Orleans Book 1 Under the Crescent Moon by Nicki Nance

The older of two magically gifted brothers is taken from foster care by demons who harvest his magic for years while his tormented younger brother grows up secretly planning his rescue as he is menaced by a demon with secrets of his own.

THE INNER CONFLICT:

From age ten, Jack Morelli kept the dark secrets of his telepathic communication with his missing brother. By age thirteen, he had begun the quest to find Michael and rescue him from the demons who took him. He was pleasant and accommodating to his community, a brilliant student, and a hard worker who courageously coped with his brother’s disappearance. Inside, he seethed with anger at the demons, his brother, and himself. He felt guilt for deceiving people who cared for him and shame for being “less than” the hero Michael needed.

SECONDARY CONFLICT

Jack has become skilled at withholding the truth from people he loves deeply, but when he meets Emmie, his fated mate, the fabric of his woven persona begins to shred. If he does not tell her everything, he can’t accept the love she is offering him. If he tells her everything, he will betray his brother’s confidence.

SETTING

The night the Jack and Michael Morelli brothers, sons of a powerful New Orleans witch, escape their abusive father, they are taken to Affinity House, an old mansion serving as a foster home for children in need of protection from supernatural predators. Demons watched the brothers’ arrival from an ancient courtyard, the remains of a mansion destroyed by Hurricane George in 1947. The same hurricane flooded the entire neighborhood, washing out the only barrier to a maze of forgotten mine shafts and opening a portal between hell and the neighborhood above.

Demons occupied seven mine shafts, lining them with whatever they could find to create an inhabitable space. They planned wisely, employing witches to create illusions, bespell mirrors, and create more portals. An explosion of demon-witch hybrid births was not part of the plan.

Demons have no natural magic beyond dematerializing and taking souls. Hybrids cannot take souls, but they can take magic. K’hal, king of the Louisiana demons, relegated hybrids to the labyrinth of tunnels that snaked below the neighborhood and above hell. His son, Ma’gador, was the only hybrid permitted to extract the pink swirling magic, while the rest of the hybrids served as brokers who found the magic and made the deals. Once extracted, the magic was stored in a vessel protected by a cistern located in a cave behind the landing where the seven tunnels converged. Demons then retrieved it to power up their soul-snatching with clairvoyance, mind control, and illusions.

The hybrid, Ka’pel, brought Michael to live in the marble tunnel lined with authentic Greco-Roman statues and columns. Despite being windowless, the apartment was bright, with walls that glowed from backlights. The apartment's interior seemed too large to fit in the space between tunnels because a gravitational illusion disguised its placement on an incline that dipped below the next tunnel. Though Ka’pel and Ma’gador lived two tunnels apart, a bridge above K’hal’s hell chamber swung between their dwellings.

Michael explored the tunnels often, seeking a way out. In one of the two brick tunnels, groupings of mirrors, empty frames, and paintings hung in spaces between niches covered in trompe l’oeil gardens. The last of four brick niches was a passageway to the aromatic garden portal to the courtyard.

The last brick tunnel ended in a faux foyer that opened to an alley near Jackson Square. The number 333 hung outside the entrance to nowhere, creating a space for deliveries. A painting in the foyer that depicted Jack’s room at Affinity House turned into a portal to the room.

The Shoppes on Royal were across from Affinity House and the courtyard. Magique, at the corner of Royale and Affinity, carried magic supplies. The owner gave psychic readings. The rest of the establishments were on Affinity. Marty’s Cajun Cuisine and Spirits was a family restaurant by day and a trendy hot spot at night. The locals called it Spirits, in deference to the ghosts rumored to linger there. CC’s Confectionary and Café, Riff’s Guitar Shop, and the leather goods store Satchell’s Secrets went to the end of the block.

The vendors and the residents of the apartments above them were a backdoor community. They shared hot coffee on cool mornings and cold beer in the alley behind the Shoppes on steaming afternoons. Most of the inhabitants were magic-bearing descendants of the Sicilian witches who remained after the Sicilian immigrants spread throughout New Orleans.

The apartments above the Shoppes are constantly being remodeled and repurposed to contextualize changes in character arcs.

New Orleans is more than a backdrop for the stories. Searches for Jack’s mother take him via streetcar to the gatehouse of a mansion in the Historical District. His mother inherited the house after it was gifted to her grandmother, who worked in the mansion. It is the house his brother carried him from the night they escaped. In the surrounding neighborhood, he gets clues at Pitstop Pizza, Bar None, Igor’s, and several hotels on St. Charles Street. Jackson Square is another center of focus. Jack meets his uncle at Café’ Du Monde. The Cabildo art museum is dear to several characters, and later in the series, the demons are connected to past fires at the Cabildo.  

 

 

 

[gemwriter]

Algonkian Pre-event Assignments

 

“Time is a Ribbon” is a dual-timeline historical mystery that explores the concepts of genetic memory and transgenerational trauma.

It was inspired by the 15^th C. Flemish painting by Jan van Eyck, “The Wedding Portrait.”

 

The Seven Assignments:

 

One: Act of Story Statement: the protagonist… must discover the unidentified trauma from her past causing her crippling sexual aversion disorder.

Note: This book is a dual timeline story. The present-day character has unexplained sexual aversion disorder and an obsession with medieval art. The other character lived in 15^th C. Flanders, and her tragic story unfolds in tandem with the present-day character’s, converging at the end. The overarching theme: the vulnerability of motherhood.

Two: Antagonist: Eric Dresden is a museum curator by day and an art thief by night. As head curator at the Groeninge museum in Bruges, Belgium, he handles all incoming rare artifacts, without supervision. He is the gatekeeper. Although he once recognized the value of these artifacts, he is now middle-aged and alone, finding solace only in augmenting his power and material possessions.

  Dresden runs an undercover art theft ring, coveting obscure manuscripts and destroying them for his own profit. His latest gig: Dismantling rare manuscripts, cutting them into multiple leaves (pages) and selling individually to private collectors around the world, yielding a veritable fortune.

   Dresden presents a colossal threat to Ren. He not only has the sole power to her access to the manuscript leaves, but he also pursues her romantically, eventually making sexual advances (which repulses Ren).

   When Dresden learns of Ren’s unique abilities to identify and trace the provenance of individual manuscript leaves (her powers are borderline supernatural), he realizes she is a huge threat to his business. He decides he must either convince her to join forces with him, or she must be neutralized—by whatever means possible.

 

Three: Breakout Title:

-       Time is a Ribbon

-       Illumination: The Language of the Leaves

-       The Drolleries Speak

 

Four: Genre: Historical Mystery

Comps & Why:

1.     “The Echo of Old Books” (Barbara Davis, Lake Union, 2023): Davis writes in multiple perspectives and timelines, with a main character who is obsessed with old books (manuscripts), fervently seeking the secrets and mysteries they hold.

2.     “The Lost Bookshop” (Evie Woods, One More Chapter, 2023): Woods captures the readers’ imaginations with visceral details about antique books—“’If you tilt your head… you can hear the older books whispering their secrets.’”

 

What Jonah Knows meets The Lost Bookshop.

The Echo of Old Books meets What Jonah Knows

The Glassmaker meets The Midnight Library

 

From the film world:

1.     The Mill and the Cross (2011): Set in 16^th C. Flanders— “… literally revives the past and cements itself as one of the best movies about art history ever made” (Michael Francis Gibson). This movie, although slow moving and without a “plot,” was inspired by and dives deep into the symbolism behind a painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Much of the artwork in the late middle ages is rich with symbolism and metaphor. “Time is A Ribbon” does much of the same, inspired by a painting by the 15^th C. Dutch painter, Jan Van Eyck—only utilizing a rich and multilayered plot.

2.     Dr. Strange (yes, oddly enough…) (2016): topic of death and eternal life,… “spiritual awakening, metaphysical abilities to transcend time, space, and dimensions” (https://whatnerd.com/movies-with-hidden-meanings-deeper-metaphors/.

 

Five: Logline: In her quest to solve the mystery of her phobias, an obsessed graduate student uncovers an art theft ring, placing her life—and her sanity—in grave danger.

 

Core Wound—Serenity Devin is anything but serene. Orphaned as a small child, Ren was placed with her aunt, Lilith, who is a nun, and raised in a convent. Although she has been seeing a psychologist since she was five, no one has ever been able to identify the cause of her extreme phobia of physical contact.

 

Six: Inner Conflict: Ren suffers from sexual aversion disorder, repulsed by any intimate physical contact.

Sample:

The crackly paper covering the exam table stuck to Ren’s sweaty buttocks. When the doorknob clicked, she jumped. Dr. Anasta’s expression matched her crisply pressed coat.

            “How have you been, Ren? Donna told me the big news!”

            As she spoke, the good doctor nonchalantly pulled on a pair of gloves—the thin, stretchy kind that reveal shadows of the skin underneath. Ren stared as Dr. Anasta’s creased knuckles and the outlines of her neatly trimmed fingernails appeared like ghosts beneath the casing.

            Ren almost forgot to reply.

            “I’ve been fine, Doc. Yeah, I’m headed out of town at the end of the week. Pretty excited.”

            The ordeal lasted only minutes, though to Ren it seemed hours. As she stood at the front desk writing the check, her hand trembled so she found it difficult to make her signature look familiar, even to herself. The receptionist’s plastic smile was suffocating.

            On the way out, as she always did after this annual ordeal, Ren ducked into the hallway restroom and vomited convulsively.

*(At present, this is the opening scene of the novel.)

 

External (secondary) Conflict: The relationship between Ren and Eric Dresden (antagonist) represents the major external conflict.

Sample:

            I shifted from one foot to the other and glanced over my shoulder to the abandoned lobby. What was the point of all this?

            “It’s true I’m here to assist Professor Van Reichen, and the students, in any way I can. But the primary reason for this trip is to study the manuscript.” I cleared my throat and checked my watch. “Now, what is it you wanted, Mr. Dresden? It’s been a very long day. I’d like to get settled into my quarters.”

            “Well,” he began, “The Groeninge has need for someone with your experience in this specialty. I was wondering if you ever considered working for a museum such as ours.”

            This is unbelievable, I thought. The man hasn’t known me more than two hours and he’s offering me a job?

            “I think it’s a little premature for you to be judging my capabilities, don’t you think?” I blurted out what was meant to remain an interior thought, as Dresden’s smile had returned and was setting my meal to churning in my stomach. But as nervous as I was, my curiosity had peaked. I folded my arms across my chest as I continued, “What else has Professor Van Reichen told you about me?”

            “Oh, nothing except that he was intrigued by your interest in the illuminations from the slides I sent him.”

            “Come to think of it, Mr. Dresden, none of the leaves in your display we saw tonight have much in the way of that page decoration. Is there a reason for this? Where are the illuminated pages?”

            I saw Dresden’s expression flicker again, only this time I detected a flash of anger.

            “I should think you’d know the reason. You certainly realize how delicate the pigments on ancient manuscripts are. How sensitive to light they can be. Of course, the highly decorated leaves will be reserved for examination by only the most skilled of your group.” He paused, his glare a silent dare. “And that will be determined at some point later in the weeks to come.”

            I took a deep breath and checked my watch again. “Yes, well I’ll certainly be looking forward to that ‘later point.’  But right now, Mr. Dresden, if you’ll excuse me, I’d really like to retire.”

            He continued staring at me, his eyes seeming to flit now from my face down my body and then back up again. A wave of panic soaked my skin.

           

 

Seven: Setting:

a.     University libraries, where Ren learns to decipher old Latin manuscript texts and identify their provenance based on the artwork on the pages: manuscript illuminations. I know, I know, boring, quiet places, right? But not so for one able to “time travel” by delving into historical documents.

Sample: The Special Collections Room of the University Library was seldom busy. South Florida’s specialty was biotechnology, medicine, and computer science. For most, this room did not even exist. But for those who knew it was there, it was not unlike an Egyptian tomb, filled with undecipherable knowledge inscribed in a dead language.

To Ren, it was as alive and necessary as the rhythmic pulsation of a beating heart.

Tonight, the silence was particularly oppressive. The only sounds came from an occasional page turning, or the tapping of Ren’s fingers on her keyboard. The air was heavy with the scents of musty leather bookbinding. She handled the ancient parchment leaves carefully between cotton-gloved fingers, studying the twisted lines of black ink through the protective sleeve. When a tall figure appeared across the table from her, she lurched back into the present.

 

b.     Museums: again, quiet places. But there is an aura of mystery in a museum that teases even the most pragmatic of us about untold mysteries. Secret passages. Untold stories of the dead.

Sample: The Groeninge was housed in another quaint brick complex of connected buildings that looked like old army barracks, although the exterior was softened with hanging baskets of fuchsia near the entrance.

…

I felt unusually comfortable. For one thing, I was in a museum. For me, this was synonymous to home. There were few places in my world I relaxed as much as I did when surrounded by artifacts, pieces of a past long dead. The present, at least to this point in my life, had held little for me.

c.     Bruges, Belgium: This city is where the majority of the plot takes place. There is nothing in America as old as in Europe. The mystique infuses everything with an air of mystery. Note: Since the story is told in dual timelines, the Bruges setting will be described in both this century and that of 500 years ago.

 

Sample (from present day timeline): Crossing the bridge that spanned the scenic Dijvers river canal, I paused to lean over the ancient green, metal railing as a boat tour was just leaving the dock. The gondola was filled to capacity and hung low in the water as it made its way up the canal, following the watery path to where it curved lazily out of sight beneath an oddly shaped skyline. It was like a scene from a travel brochure, those that had characterized Bruges so accurately: the city’s ambiance could make you feel as though you’d stepped back in time.

The steep spires of the narrow buildings lining the canal sliced the horizon sporadically, forming a jagged, many-peaked wall that rose up from softly undulating green water. Long rays of sunlight cast deep shadows onto the houses lining the opposite side, even as it reflected the rays off the windows of their upper floors.

Although I knew the views from that gondola must surely be spectacular, I also knew there was no way I could tolerate being jammed into that cigar-shaped floating package of people. It made me a little sad. Sometimes my claustrophobic tics really did, ironically, imprison me. The phobias themselves confined me to live within sharply defined parameters.

The clopping of horseshoes on cobblestone echoed somewhere up the street. Perhaps a carriage tour, I thought. I moved closer to the ticket booth, a freestanding cubicle at one end of the bridge where a small group of elderly women and a young family waited. The children were clutching small rectangles of pink paper in their hands and peering up the street toward the oncoming carriage, vibrating with excitement.

 

Algonkian Pre.FS Brown.docx