Hi friends--It's been roughly *grumbling under my breath* weeks, months since my last posting. I have gotten quite into the Cluttered Brain blog if you hadn't noticed. But I have also been reading. I recently finished Band Of Sisters by Annette Lyon. My review of her book can be found here. And whenever I read I get inspired to write some more. I swear reading is good for the writer's soul. It is true what they say you know. Every good writer needs to read. And not just romance or just fantasy, but a variety of books. You have to embrace all genres of writing to be able to develop your own style, in my opinion.
With that being said, I have some ideas for my next novel I would like to pursue. I know, who says I have time to write a novel when I have a 2 year old loose in the house? Well, I'm gonna give it a try.
However I have a list of questions that I need some help with. I hope you can help me.
- How much information if any can a husband who works for the FBI disclose to his wife? Or should he disclose anything to his wife?
- How long should one wait when a loved one, say their husband, wait before contacting authority?
- Is it bad that most of the characters you create tend to resemble your own characteristics and hobbies?
- What are some habits and flaws that you find interesting in people? (That would you would like to see in a story.)
Setting: Present day New York.
Main character is 34 year old Rachel White-Marshall who does not get along with her mother-in-law at all. Her husband's mother never liked her from the beginning even when they were dating. Anyway, Rachel's husband Mark age 36, is a FBI agent currently involved in a high profile case. The problem comes up when Mark was supposed to be home at a certain time and never showed. He is not answering his cell phone (we find out why later) and Rachel cannot get a hold of him. It has been about 12 hours since Rachel has spoken to her husband. She does not know what to do.
The couple has three children, Tracey age 11, Shane age 9, and Betsy Rose age 2.
The plot thickens as she tries to get answers to where her husband is locates and no one will tell her. Mark's mother does not help at all and keeps criticizing Rachel for being so full of worry and thinks she should just drop the whole problem. Linda Vance-Marshall, Mark's mom, believes Rachel is trying to get media attention and Mark is just doing his job. However, she still works in the FBI and knows some information about the whereabouts of her son. She refuses to discuss with her daughter-in-law because she wants their relationship to end.
Does this sound like a story you would want to read? Does this sound like something you have read before in the past? (I hope NOT!)
Anything you contribute to the working of my novel will be credited in the publishing if the book of course!
Thank YOU in advance for helping a fellow writer out. You are too kind.
If you have any place websites and suggestions of people I can go to for research about the inner-workings of the FBI please let me know. Thanks!
5 comments:
I would say in theory, he isn't supposed to tell her anything while it is still a pending case/investigation-but what people actually do always depends on the person.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,588689,00.html <---news article
http://www.princetonreview.com/Careers.aspx?cid=64 <----small job description (makes point about having partners, potential extra character situation for you)
http://www.amazon.com/FBI-Wife-Special-Agent-Charge/dp/1412004780 <----potentially interesting book that deals with a different time period, but could still be useful (maybe)
I would say that he shouldn't tell her anything...also, since he has family in the "business" I think he would be more likely to follow the rules (esp since he has someone he can talk to about his cases, who also works there. Makes him less likely to feel the need to confide in his wife - interesting way to create a unintended (on his part) divide in their relationship)
I don't know what flaws I want to see....but I kind of know the ones I don't like. I don't like it when the wife of a police officer, fbi agent, etc (in a book) are whiney and non-supportive of his job, it makes them seem weak and annoys me. It doesn't sound like you are going to make her this way (as a reader I say thank you!)
I think at twelve hours it would be appropriate for her to call someone at the fbi to check in on him. (is he still in the field, has he checked in with them...it makes sense to me that this might even be a somewhat common thing, although I don't have any knowledge of that for sure) in her case, maybe the m-i-l has gotten her kind of "frozen out" on info.
It sounds totally original and interesting...in fact my mind is already running trying to come up with an answer as to where he is!!
...so, where is he? ;-)
Definitely getting my interest. And I don't think that the hubs would share any info. (Unless of course, you decide to develop the story around the fact that he does, and the effect of doing such a thing.
The MIL sounds AWFUL!!! (which is why she would be perfect in the book)
Good luck coming up with ideas.
Wow, I'm so impressed you are writing a book! Best of luck to you!
As far as suggestions go... I always find people with OCD kinda interesting! I'm pretty laid back, so I wonder why the heck they are like that!
There are just some jobs that wives learn not to worry too much when husbands don't show up on time: police, fire fighters, bus drivers... anyone who works a job that isn't governed by the clock. If something happens that needs attention right now, they have to deal with it regardless of the time. If you're arresting someone, you don't stop what you're doing because your shift is supposed to be over. If a bus is in a traffic jam, the driver can't just walk off the bus and leave it in the middle of the road because his shift is over. If she's been married to him for any length of time, she'd be used to it by now. (spoken from experience)
I think it would have to be a matter of days before she went looking.
He would also have a direct supervisor that she would need to call, who could at least tell her he was on a case and whether he was alive and well. It would also be his job to inform her if anything went wrong, like her husband was killed. No news is good news in a case like that.
No, you're not bad if your characters are like you. I do it all the time, I think there's a little bit of me in every person I put on paper, even the villains. Or maybe that should say especially the villains... LOL
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