The Story Idea from 2019
The Nanowrimo Prep email arrived in my inbox last week or maybe earlier. I opened it up to find I have access to an entire workbook and a weekly schedule to get ready. I've been going through the document. Sadly many of the links were eight broken or not even inside the pdf. Nevertheless, there's enough there to get started.
I haven't been able to write the story of Ronnie Camberwell arriving in the Magic Lands and how she got stuck there. Perhaps it is one of those stories that can eluded to but never written. I remember that Rumpole had such a story.. Eventually John Mortimer wrote it and it was so disappointing. It worked so much better when Rumpole referenced it but kept the details foggy.
Working under this idea, I have decided to write a different story while Ronnie is confined.
Here's my outline so far.
Initial Idea
- The novel is called Mulberry Bend, A Ronnie Camberwell Novel
- It takes place after The Three Laws of Magic
- It takes place in the capital city of the Magic Lands.
- To the uninitiated, the city appears to be a medieval city. To Ronnie, it is a city with very extremes of well-being.
- In a very poor area called Five Points, there is a winding street called Mulberry Bend.
- The mystery centers in this area and on this street.
I read a prompt recently about a lost girl.
The lost girl ends up in this section of the city. (This is based on the 19th century area of New York City.) Tripp and Ronnie set out to find her. Explores the relationship between Tripp and Ronnie and is Ronnie's first trip outside of the wizard compound. Ronnie is restricted to the city. Tripp is still sexually attracted to Ronnie. Ronnie is conflicted, wanting Tripp but also tied to the absent Captain Star Runner.
Some ideas about the lost girl:
- a Tigerfu
- Not from the capital city
- Grand Mistress Luna is very anxious that the girl be found so the wizards reputation does not suffer but she is not invested in the girl at all. Ronnie is appalled. Tripp is philosophical.
- The leader of the field trip is anxious that her reputation will suffer if the lost girl is not found, but she is not really invested in the girl either. Ronnie presses her to understand. The girl is mute and her guardian merely wants the girl off her hands. It seems everyone has this attitude. With four hands, Ronnie can't figure out why the girl cannot sign and make herself understood.
- Tripp explains the Tigerfu in this part of the Confederacy is not particularly sympathetic to disabilities. It's a very frontier mentality and everyone has to pull their own weight.
- Ronnie has to rethink her idea about the Tigerfu and their openness. Why doesn't this girl get any help. Can her disability be mitigated? The Tigerfu are very advanced with surgery and psychology. Can the girl speak and chooses not to because of trauma or is she physically unable to speak?
- Ronnie checks the library catalog. Muteness is covered in the catalog. From the entry, Ronnie believes the ancient wizards knew something about it but she has not delved deeply enough into reading the library volumes on these subjects to be fluent enough to read the texts easily.
The Rest of the Story
So I have the opening of the story but not what Tripp and Ronnie find in Five Points. I don't know what becomes of the lost girl. Stay tuned!
Where is Ronnie in Her Life When All is Said and Done
I don't know how Ronnie grows in this story and how her relationship with the Tribunal of Wizards is changed. I've had a sense for some time that Ronnie will eventually become the Grand Mistress and will choose to stay, providing leadership for this collections of worlds within the Tigerfu Confederacy. Her travel ban will be lifted so that future adventures may occur elsewhere. But that is in the future and will not be realized in this novel.