Bridal Shop
As a bride-to-be, I decided to set the first scene of DEAD MAN’S CAY in a bridal shop. The ideas just started flowing and I actually got seven pages done at lunch today. Ta da! Take that, Book in a Week.
OK, so I’d have to move a bit faster to actually finish a “book” in one week, but anything that will get me closer to the finish line of my first single title is helpful. My heroine Sonya is slowly revealing herself and I’m trying to make sure the beginning of her journey from mild-mannered and unloved heiress to wild adventuress isn’t too mild. I want to ensure that she starts the story with less confidence than she ends with, but I also don’t want her to be completely steam-rolled by her rotten fiance Nikolas.
In my imagination, Nikolas is a little like Stavros Niarchos (yes, the one who dated Paris Hilton). He’s a self-centered heir to a Greek shipping fortune and Sonya falls for him immediately because:
- She’s an heiress, but he’s an heir, so he can’t be after her money.
- She is desperate for love, as she’s completely ignored by her parents and is an only child.
- She is no Paris Hilton and yet Nikolas professes to love her, even though he’s a gorgeous heir to a fortune.
So far, so good. I even like the name I chose for Sonya’s mother. Evangeline Tansing. The cold bitch. Yes, a thanks goes out to LOST actress, Evangeline Lilly. What can I say, it’s a good name!
June 22nd, 2006 at 4:41 pm
So is the fiance bad or good? I can’t quite figure it out from your info. Also, an aside, I used to live in N. Hollywood. Not sure where the Arts district is, but I used to live off Laurel Grove.
June 22nd, 2006 at 6:33 pm
Sonya’s fiance is definitely not very good. He’s a gambler who has blown the bulk of his fortune, and is marrying Sonya for her money, but she doesn’t know that yet. A few debt collectors show up to give her a hard time even after she breaks it off with Nikolas.
At this point in the story, Sonya doesn’t know any of this yet. So from her POV, he’s good-as-gold.
The Arts District is some swanky marketing lingo for an area surrounding the intersection of Lankershim and Magnolia, right near me!
They hold a little arts festival every summer with painters and craftmakers and such, but there are lots of theatres around the area, too. Thus, the name. 
June 22nd, 2006 at 8:47 pm
LOL! I’m very familiar with that area. Cut across to the west and you’re near Four and Twenty. Yum!