Yes, too long has passed since last I posted! I think working on a computer all day gave me an aversion for working on a computer in the evening, even in the context of writing. I've been writing a bit of fanfiction for a friend of mine and doing that in a notebook. It's much easier on my weary eyes.
But I have been thinking over the legal fiction story, and it's developing nicely in several areas except arguably the most important - plot. Normally I like to focus more on characters, but for the short story I'm imagining, the plot needs to hook the reader from the start and speed along from there. I'm planning to write this the way that my writers group suggested I revise Jemma.
The MC is named Elorna Mynee, an IP lawyer who specializes in magic stuff. Of course, I need a more official name for magic stuff - writers group suggested thauma- as a prefix, which I'll probably use. She's been in touch on and off with Jemma, and Jemma's supervisor (whose name I've forgotten) contacts Elorna the day after Jemma disappears to ask what Elorna knew about Jemma's work. Elorna has other things on her mind, namely a huge Supreme Court magic IP case, the outcome of which will be announced on the day the story dawns.
But she's a true professional, so she takes on the work and conducts some serious investigation. While she's working hard and trying not to think about the case, a pair of National Security lawyers come in and warn her off the case in a very genteel-like way. They end up chatting about the case, and Elorna brushes it off. I'm not sure what should happen during the afternoon - the Supreme Court case comes down then - but during the evening she contacts a friend of hers from undergrad, a conspiracy nut, who meets with her at a vast, dusty library.
Elorna records their conversation with her futuristic blackberry, and when her friend wanders off for a moment to use the restroom (or something), she absently leaves it laying around somewhere conveniently nearby but not clearly visible - perhaps inside a stack of scientific journals. When friend doesn't return, she heaves an irritated sigh and goes to look for her. On the other hand, maybe she leaves it in the shelves near the journals she's reading.
And doesn't return before the janitor or library intern comes to re-shelve all the stuff she's taken out. JanIntern finds the blackberry and takes it. What shall be revealed from its contents??
This is classic sort of open-ended ending I love and a lot of readers hate. Alas. Now I have a week to write the story and post it for a flensing!
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This may not help you much in the plot department, but what if it turns out that Elorna uses magic as part of her legal strategy (e.g. truth-telling hexes that make perjury impossible, or methods for divining the authenticity of documents)? Maybe in that world the quality of one's lawyer is partially dependent on the strength of their magic, and maybe Elorna can find alternative uses for these skills during the course of her investigation...
ReplyDeleteAnyways, it's just a thought. Good luck with this! I hope you have a lot of fun writing it.
Thanks! That reminded me, I do have a little of Elorna's backstory in magic in mind - she has enough that she went to a training program to use it but not enough to ever have gone anywhere with it. I didn't get as far as thinking about how it could help (or even hinder, depending on what it is) her investigation. Yay new train of thought!
ReplyDeleteHmm. It appears that Elorna gets disappeared in the same conspiracy? Love how the government lurks in it. Write a third story and build an Eerie Triangle around it. 8)
ReplyDeleteYou might find her breaking point, too. Maybe her magic shows a new ability in the trouble of the moment... though transformations are sort of really old traditions, they're entertaining.
Lawyer transformation sequence?
"Hyper Ultimate Elorna." 8D
Hmm. Or something a little more subtle. ^^;