Lit teachers say a character needs to grow, but they can grow in many directions. My dwarf needs to descend. In the first novel, she is somewhat sociopathic, but this prequel needs to show life-changing episodes. I grew up on comic books and they specialize in origin stories. Superheroes often have adopted parents and often provides a “love from a stranger’ overtone. A mother-daughter drama will probably the way I go because a lack of love from someone you expect to love you—is unsettling.
I place one incident in the first book; it could cause a ‘my mother is a whore’ syndrome. A resentment of a parent’s escapades may work well. Peter Dinklage does a great, “I’m a freak, take a look’ moment, in his movie—The Station Agent and I may ode that scene. How evil, I get is the big question. Using the word ‘freak’ is uncomfortable, but even a blind man can see—he is not normal. And speaking of blind men, I need to make sure Ray Charles gets alluded to in one of my books. My blog was supposed to track my allusions, but it is difficult to keep yourself from burning out when re-reading your own stuff.
An Oedipus relationship with the father seems kind of creepy, but I know what happens when he remarries, so I may know that is the way to go. I didn’t describe the step-mother in the first book but I see; now, that she should be leggy. Big Al recruits her cult members in this novel, but he order of recruitment will probably shape out as I write. Some have already been introduced.
A sorority initiation incident seems logical, but I can hear the cries of misogyny already. The cult is a fertility cult, so a Bacchanalia or a Floralia needs to take place. I may do both. A circus scene is another idea. I don’t give a name to the college in the first book and I’m not sure if someone will get upset if I use their college. Sarasota is a great location, so New College of Florida and Ringling College of Art & Design are possibilities. I may use several colleges because the sorority can appear anywhere in my fictional universe. FSU has an interesting history because of the gender separation—opportunity for a flashback scene, I think that research will become a post.
in Sarasota
Dissection of a Misanthrope 