JENN McKINLAY: I finished a manuscript and page proofs, took a few days off to regroup (clean my office) and now I'm back at my desk working on proposals.
What am I proposing? I'm working on an outline for the second cozy fantasy in the Books of Dubious Origin series. The first in the series Witches of Dubious Origin comes out on October 28th and the manuscript for the second (no title as yet) is due on August 1st, so I need to get cracking!
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What do I have so far in my proposal? The opening scene. I want to open the story at the Museum of Literature, where the Books of Dubious Origin collection is housed, during a booklover's ball where everyone in attendance is dressed as a character of fiction. I think the hardest part will be to keep the descriptions to a minimum.
What happens after that...I have no idea. I should. I wrote a proposal for it last year but there were some issues. I wanted to set it in London, my editor wants it in New York. I had many story lines for the supporting cast, my editor encouraged me to whittle it down to the strongest few. My version of the love interests is them hooking up in book two (it's only a two book contract), my editor would like to drag out the romance into later volumes in the series (so I guess it's going to be more than two books--yay!)!
I wish I could share the new outline but it's definitely in the pupa stage of development so we'll just have to see what comes out of the chrysalis when I turn it in on Tuesday.
Since I'm also going to start writing that first scene on Tuesday, tell me Reds and Readers, if you were going to a Met Gala level ball for booklovers, what character of fiction would you dress as? Inspire me, please.
About WITCHES OF DUBIOUS ORIGIN:
When a librarian discovers she’s descended from a long line of powerful witches, she’ll need all of her bookish knowledge to harness her family’s magic, in this enchanting cozy fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay.
Zoe Ziakas enjoys a quiet life, working as a librarian in her quaint New England town. When a mysterious black book with an unbreakable latch is delivered to the library, Zoe has a strange feeling the tome is somehow calling to her. She decides to consult the Museum of Literature, home to volumes of indecipherable secrets, some possessing dark magic that must be guarded.
Here, among their most dangerous collection, the Books of Dubious Origin, Zoe discovers that she is the last descendant of a family of witches and this little black book is their grimoire. Zoe knows she must decode the family’s spell book and solve the mystery of what happened to her mother and her grandmother. However, the book’s potential power draws all things magical to it, and Zoe finds herself under the constant watch of a pesky raven, while being chased by undead Vikings, ghost pirates, and assorted ghouls.
With assistance from the eccentric staff of the Books of Dubious Origin department—including their annoyingly smart and handsome containment specialist, Jasper Griffin—Zoe must confront her past and the legacy of her family. But as their adventure unfolds, she’ll have to decide whether or not she’s ready to embrace her destiny.
If I were dressing as a character of fiction, I think Id choose to dress as Nancy Drew . . . .
ReplyDeleteWhere did my comment go? The gala sounds fabulous. I went as Miss Marple to Crime Bake one year, but that's a frumpy look. I'd rather go as Molly Murphy, or my lady PI Dot Henderson from 1926, or maybe put on a suit and a paste-on mustache and go as Poirot!
ReplyDelete(By the way, Jenn, I'm halfway through I Can't Even, and goodness, can you write a hot scene! I was having flashbacks to my past...)
Edith, I loved I Can't Even! Yes, Jenn definitely can bring the spice! I have read all of her romances and woen's literature, and appreciate the research that must go into such creativity;>)
DeleteIf I was dressing up as a character, it would be Wonder Woman. Do comic books count? If not, then Miss Marple or Tuppence.
ReplyDelete(Diana)
Jenn, your prodigious inventiveness and speed never fail to astonish. Wow! I'm afraid if I were going to such a ball dressed as a character, it might have to be Jane Marple, Marilla Cuthbert, or Ma Joad. However, if the question is what characters would I like to SEE there, I'd include Mr. Darcy, Holden Caulfield, Scarlett O'Hara, Hermione Granger and.or Harry Potter, Huck Finn, Atticus and/or Scout Finch, Gandalf... the list is long. (Selden)
ReplyDeleteNot fiction, but fictionalized: The women in WWII who worked breaking codes at Bletchley Park. Unassuming secretarial type clothes inhabited by super smart women helping the war effort. Maybe not really Gala-level wardrobes, but so intriguing!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes, Jenn, for great ideas that arrive fully formed via your fingers on the keyboard and your brain on fire!
Barbara Havers might be fun, but she would have trouble cleaning up enough for a gala and I couldn't pull off the accent. For a character who could dress for a party, Galadriel or Arwen Evenstar from Lord of the Rings.
ReplyDeleteGillian, yes, Barbara Havers! I have her wardrobe and maybe her haircut! (Selden)
DeleteNo idea how it could be pulled off but I'd like to go as the Little Red Hen! I know that you will come up with all sorts of amazing things, a word I don't use lightly!
ReplyDeleteAnne of Green Gables. Hermione Granger. Maggie Hope. Lady Georgie.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Hester Prynne, in an amazing black dress with a scarlet A on the bodice. I could swan about, pointing at random men. (Actually I detested the book.)
ReplyDeleteThat I would love to see, Pat! LOL
DeleteThat I would love to see! LOL
DeletePat, I was trying to think about characters who would absolutely be identifiable from their clothing alone, and Hester Prynne did come to mind. Not exactly appropriate dress for a Gala, but we'd recognize her.
DeleteScarlett O'Hara or Daisy Buchanan (Great Gatsby)
ReplyDeleteJasper is such a great name, Jenn. Perfect for that particular story. And Zoe Ziakis sounds as if she could have Romany roots!
ReplyDeletePresumably, a gala requires formal dress, so I would choose to go as Anna Karenina, adding much fancier hair to my own. AK, as she would look if she had not died so tragically young.
Right, Karen! The character names are fantastic! Jenn, you are such a rock star!
DeleteHmmm, a Met Gala style event implies over-the-top formal wear.
ReplyDeleteKAREN beat me to Anna Karenina.
But for a mystery fiction character, how about a extravagantly dressed version of Gigi Pandian's Tempest Raj from her performing days?
That would be a great costume, Grace!
DeleteSince Jenn's writing fantasy, I'd go (in my younger days) as Harimad-sol from The Blue Sword.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jenn, you got this! Can't even imagine what new ideas will pop out of that fertile brain of yours!
Hermione Granger or Igmar Bergman (in her hat and trench coat) from Casablanca
ReplyDeleteJENN: Did your editor want the story set in New York because the publishing house is in NYC?
ReplyDeleteI think it will be difficult to tell a female character by her dress alone. Of course, we all know about the dress Scarlet O'Hara made from drapes, but Carol Burnette's interpretation of the scene really upstages the film version.
ReplyDeleteI'd go as Gemma James, but a short brunette will have a tough time pulling off the tall redhead, and my coloring is all wrong. Hermione Granger was 11 when we met her, so perhaps, at my age, Professor McGonagall would be a better choice.
Harriet Vane which solves how her date for the gala would dress…let’s hope that date can keep a monocle in place! Keep on writing, Jenn. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, Harriet Vane is a great character! Diana
DeleteI would go as Cassandra Raines from Tracy Clark's Chicago mystery series.
ReplyDeleteWhat a super character, Dru. I love that series!
DeleteFirst off, having seen the abomination that is that actual Met Gala and the sycophantic media coverage it gets for no apparent logical reason, I would never EVER want to find myself at any version of such a horrific event.
ReplyDeleteBut if I abandoned common sense and decency, the answer to Jenn's question would be Sherlock Holmes. There is no other option for me.
The advantage of going as Sherlock Holmes: if you buy the costume, you get a very warm woolen coat to wear all winter!
DeleteI love that we keep meeting at the Museum of Literature. It must be immense. Going to Met Level gala is a terrifying thought. I'd probably send my regrets and not attend. (I just finished I Can't Even-WOW!)
ReplyDeleteAlice in Wonderland and all my entourage would be other characters like Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter etc.
ReplyDeleteor all The Wizard of Oz characters
Ooo, Brenda, I'll come with you as the Queen of Hearts!
DeleteFrom Celia: oh Jenn what a great challenge this is and a distraction from My current situation. Let's see now. For Trinidad's carnival in 1950 my mother dressed me as Alice in Wonderland and at about the same time laps 20 years later I dressed Olivia at 4 as the queen of hearts. I found hot pink and silver lurex. I made a poodle skirt with construing quarters of pink and silver decorated with yet again contrasting ❤️❤️ hearts applicated all over. Bib top over leotard but for the Met I would layer and ruffle the dress. My queen would be carried in by guys dressed as flamingos. I could go on but you probably guessed I loved building costumes.
ReplyDeleteCelia, reading from bottom up so saw Julia’s post first. You ladies of Maine have brought me joy this afternoon. Love those flamingos! Elisabeth
DeleteSo, thinking about my age and size (unlike the Met, I assume all book-loving attendees don't have model-like figures) I'm going to turn to Charles Dickens, and either come as Mrs. Bardell (from the Pickwick Papers) or the better-known Mrs. Fezziwig from A Christmas Carol.
ReplyDeleteJulia, oh, surely Mrs Fezziwig! I’m smiling as I see you dancing to all those reels and jigs. Elisabeth
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of size and age, too, Julia, although I'm still going to be older than the characters I've picked. So, I would choose either Ann Cleeves' Vera Stanhope (I think I could pull this one off the best) or Agatha Raisin from M.C. Beaton's series. They are two completely different personalities, but I think I could pull off either one.
ReplyDelete