lisa rabey writes stuff issue #16 snowed in in Michigan
Dear Internet,
The smut writing class is going well! For a current lesson, we were asked to answer the following questions for our sex scene:
Where does the scene take place?
Who is in the scene?
Why is the scene important?
Why is this scene important to the characters?
How will the story change because of the scene?
What happens just prior to the scene?
What happens immediately after?
As a pantster, someone who writes without an outline, this really gave me room to think! I’m three chapters in Aubrey Jones Gets a Life so this was helpful. Here is my answer to one of the questions:
Why is the scene important?
Aubrey has anxiety and she’s struggled with it for most of her adult life. She’s close with family, especially her brother, and she has a few friends from college she’s in touch with but she lives a solo life. She’s friendly enough that people want to hang with her but she’s afraid of losing friendships due to her anxiety she tends to ghost them. She’s also sexually active in that she gets on dating apps but it’s more for the experiences rather than a connection. If the relationship starts getting beyond friends with benefits, she dumps them. She also works in tech (programmer) so she is highly stressed. She quit her job, packed up her apartment, and drove to N. Michigan within a few days. (She somehow gets a bookstore. Trying to not do the dead relative reason yet. Maybe buys it?) She feels an honest connection to Jake and that she wants more scares her.
Jake has his own issues (not sure what yet) and even though he can’t stand her and thinks she’s too assertive, the more he works with her, he gets her. He thinks maybe there is something there but he’s not sure how to approach her. The snowy bookstore helps!
This summary is super rough but now I have an idea where their first sexy times will happen (snowed in at a bookstore), why the scene is important to the characters, and what happens after the scene.
The prof also gave me an idea how to get Aubrey to the bookstore. Instead of having someone die (a beloved aunt or some such; a cliche), someone wants Aubrey to watch the bookstore for a year or whatever. I figured her parents go on a world cruise; not so cliche. That gets Aubrey to N. Michigan for a length of time and to start over. While the book will have the sex in it, the big plot is about Aubrey getting in touch with who she is. I haven’t figured out Jake’s angle yet and how close he plays into the story but he’s the definite love interest. When I described what kind of relationship they have, I said enemies to lovers with close proximity. Close proximity means the two love birds are in a spot that enhances the sex. In this case, it’s Aubrey and Jake stuck in the bookstore during a freak snowstorm.
Now you may be wondering, if Jake lives in N. Michigan and Aubrey is from the area, wouldn’t they know enough to get to home before the storm hits? Good question! Anyone whose lived in a snowy climate knows these storms can come on strong and suddenly. There are always people who think they know better. It could also be Aubrey’s insistence she’s fine and Jake is making sure she’s not being stupid. Guess Aubrey will never learn, now, will she?
In my homework I said I wasn’t going to have them lose power because I’m not that cruel, HOWEVER, if they lose power for an hour or two, it’ll help with the close proximity. The bookstore is cozy; it’ll have blankets.
I cannot believe how far I am getting with this story! With all the new revelations, I’ll have to rewrite the beginning again but that’s totally okay! No one writes perfect coming out of the gate. Austen used pins to note edits in her work when she was writing.
Saturday, I met with a local writing group in the city. They’re the local chapter for NaNoWriMo the writing competition takes place every November. If you’re not familiar with National Novel Writing Month, every November the goal is to write 50K words in that month which is essentially a novel. Lots of authors have gone on to get their work traditionally published! Many were unknowns. During NaNoWriMo, anything can happen. I’ve been participating, half-heartedly, since the early 2000s and have yet to complete it. I really hope this year I will!
NaNoWriMo sponsors other writing inducements through the year such as Camp NaNoWriMo where in July you set your own writing goals. You “win” by finishing your goals! I’ve never done the Camp before but this year I’m going to set a goal to write 10K words on Aubrey.
Everyone at the group was really nice. They spent the hour brainstorming and walking through their own stories and what they have planned for the upcoming months. Since it really wasn’t a write-in, I didn’t get any writing done so I headed to a coffee shop down the road where I worked for an hour or so. I’ve set goals to head into the city once a week to write. (All the local coffee places near me close at 2 p.m. or 3 p.m. and I get out of work at 5 p.m.) On Saturdays, my local library is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. so I’ve committed to go to a yoga class at 9 a.m. that is next to the library and then write after. I’m committing to writing at least two days a week.
That I can handle.
Media
What to Know About the Rise and Fall of the Theory That the Smurfs Are Communists I’m linking to this because it gave me a seed for a story and I wanted to show that inspiration is everywhere.
What I’m Reading
This year I’ve committed to read 75 books via the Good Reads Reading Challenge.
Glenarvon Byron’s ex-lover was so distraught about their breakup; she wrote a roman à clef about their relationship.
Murder in Postscript (Lady of Letters #1) “When one of her readers asks for advice following a suspected murder, Victorian countess Amelia Amesbury, who secretly pens the popular Lady Agony column, has no choice but to investigate in this first book in a charming new historical mystery series.”
Someone Else’s Shoes “story of mix-ups, mess-ups and making the most of second chances”
Adelaide “When love asks too much of us, how do we find the strength to put ourselves first?
Murder in Westminster (Lady Worthing Mysteries #1) A darker twist of Bridgerton.
Shadows in Bronze (Marcus Didius Falco #2) “Ancient Roman gumshoe” is on the case again.
Galatea “reimagines the myth of Galatea and Pygmalion.”
Weather Girl Local weatherwoman Ari Abrams needs to get her bosses back together before a storm hits.
Trespasses “Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a shattering novel about a young woman caught between allegiance to community and a dangerous passion.”
This Bird Has Flown Steamy debut about music, fate, and love.
Scot Free (Last Ditch Mystery #1) Lexy Campbell is divorced, broke, and heading back to Scotland until a murder falls into her lap.
Scot Soda (Last Ditch Mystery #2)Lexy Campbell found her life, now she needs to keep it from the murderer
Exes and O’s (The Influencer #2) “A romance-novel obsessed social media influencer revisits her exes to find true love.”
Back in a Spell (The Witches of Thistle Grove #3) Powerful witch falls in love
Love at First Sixteen years ago he heard the girl of his dreams, can he find her? (Audio)
Book of Night (Book of Night #1) “A modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies.” (Audio)
Submission update
45 submissions including 32 rejections, 2 acceptances, and 1 withdrawal.
Publication
chapbook: commercial breaks
Snippet
As I’m going to re-write the beginning of Aubrey Jones Gets a Life, here is a rough outtake out of the current version:
After showering and getting dressed, I turn the gas stove down low, make sure everything is in its place, and leave.
I’m bundled in sweater and jeans and wearing a pair of Chucks. I bring my jacket and purse and throw those in the passenger seat.
My first stop is Epilogue Books.
I turn on to a favorite local radio station and hum along to the music. An early ‘90s classic, it reminded me of high school, first kisses, and the aborted time I tried to have sex with Steve Hinkle in the back of his mother’s car. I reached for my coffee mug and found its missing and cursing myself for not grabbing a travel mug on my way out. For all its smallness, Cedar Falls has its own coffee shop that does brisk business in the tourist seasons.
A teenager I don’t recognize waits on me and I look around the shop. Pictures of locals grace a wall, a map with pins stuck from countries and cities people who stopped at the coffee shop takes up part of a wall. I pick up my drink, throw a few bucks in the tip jar, and head over to the bookshop.
lisa x