Hitting the Books

Okay Bernita, so your comment got me thinking…and that’s not always a bad thing.

It would make perfect sense for Caleb to be feeling out British sympathizers and then passing their info up to Halifax (ooo! I needed to get him to Halifax somehow, to harass the hero, so that might be a good enough reason). Caleb was born near his mother’s hometown of Newport, RI, but his father was one of the occupying British soldiers. His father was killed during the Revolutionary War (or the War of the American Rebellion, if you prefer). Caleb’s mother instilled in him a deep hatred for the “rebels”, but he hides it extremely well.

As for nothing happening in Newport during the war, that too could be useful. Andrea is from Virginia, but moves to Newport when she marries a wealthy shipping merchant. He disappears at sea during the war. So poor Andie is all alone in a “foreign” land, with almost no friends. Since Newport is a dying seaport, she struggles to keep her husband’s business–and herself–from falling apart. She would be especially vulnerable to Caleb’s charms.

Hmmm, this has possiblities, at least for a first draft of the storyline. Who knows where the story will eventually end up.

It’s a start. Thanks Bernita! May the Goddess of Great Plots smile graciously upon you.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 12th, 2006 at 10:24 pm and is filed under Thoughts on Writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.