A2Z Meme: Spectacular Falls

Wow! This blogging through the alphabet is winding down. I’ve had fun with this, and today the letter is “S.”

I thought today I’d share a little about my WIP, my fiction work in progress, SPECTACULAR Falls. It’s a contemporary romance based on the real SPECULATOR, New York, in the Adirondack Mountains.

I’m still working on many facets of the STORY–from editing the manuscript to polishing what is called the elevator pitch.

Here’s a SNIPPET:

SPECTACULAR Falls, an Adirondack based contemporary romance. SHE’S a rustbelt bred SENIOR center director producing a lot of change for the rustic loving grocer.

How the STORY STARTED:

I first visited Speculator after college, my first memorable trip to the Adirondacks. (When I was little, our parents took us to Lake Placid but it wasn’t a trip I really remember.) Love at first SIGHT? Absolutely. It is the one place in the world I feel peace. It’s hard to explain, but SPECULATOR has a chunk of my heart and always will.

As I looked past the Lake Pleasant waters, I imagined a couple. It didn’t take long before they had names–Jenna Anderson and Ben Regan. Their backgrounds and personalities evolved over the years as I learned more about the writing craft. SECONDARY characters not only came to life, but they too have their own STORY.

About Jenna: Jenna is loyal, responsible and a tad bit SPONTANEOUS. She leaves everything and everyone she knows back in Youngstown, Ohio after receiving a job offer to become the new SENIOR center director in Speculator Falls. The job comes after one phone interview with village matriarch, SARA Bivins.

What Jenna doesn’t know is that the center has been SHUT down for months, on order from the village council. The former director left for New York City and greener pastures, and Ben Regan, village grocer and councilman, thinks the center is a waste and needs to be closed. Forever.

Oh, right. Ben used to date the former director who left for the big city.

He’s also SARA’S grandson. In my mind, he looks a little like Ben Affleck.

Jenna has SASS and heart, and immediately falls in love with the SENIORS. SHIRLEY is her volunteer administrative assistant and a woman with glasses so thick and lenses so magnified that SHIRLEY’S eyes SPOOK Jenna every time SHIRLEY looks her way.

Howard is the curmudgeon, and as much as he bellows, Jenna and he SHARE a friendship. He STARTS each morning at the center by unSTACKING chairs and allowing Jenna to watch The Today Show.

Roxy is the SPRY senior who persuades Jenna to have a variety show. After all, as Roxy keeps reminding everyone, she used to be a Rockette.

Dora Parks is a regular who lets Jenna know STRAIGHT up SENIORS don’t like change. Dora is so attached to the past she wears tattered shawls and faded prairie skirts. Even the Historical SOCIETY asked Dora to step down as an officer so the club could  move forward.

Fred and Janice Beebe are regulars and often a SOURCE of help for both Jenna and Ben. Fred is a retired bank president and offers to look over Ben’s business plans when he finally has the courage to admit he wants to expand the grocery store his grandfather STARTED, JB’s.

Jenna wants the best for the center, and that means a lot of tangles with Ben. When he SEES the center, it represents a place of great grief and loss, and he’s made a vow never to go through those doors unless there is an emergency. No matter how much the SASSY director with chocolate and red lowlights intrigues him, he can’t SUPPORT the center.

Every STORY needs a villain, right? Kyle SWARTHMORE fits the bill. Like Ben, he grew up summers in SPECULATOR FALLS, but that is where their SIMILARITIES end. Oh, except Kyle dated Ben’s ex-girlfriend before she SKIPPED town. Kyle is a real estate mogul who SEEMS eager to help Jenna meet financial needs for the center. He’s under pressure from his father to add to the SWARTHMORE portfolio and start buying up the hottest property in New York State–Adirondack businesses.

There is also the best friend. Carla Rowlings isn’t just the SHERIFF, she’s a SINGLE mom who wants to style hair on the SIDE. When Jenna meets Carla, it’s on the SIDE of the  highway where Jenna accidentally hits a village flowerbox. Jenna isn’t so sure about Carla’s hair dreams, she’s used to high-end STYLES back in Ohio, not the ponytail Jenna constantly sees Carla wear.

Will Marshall delivers food to the center each day and is the affable handyman. He has eyes for Carla, but she’s not so sure she wants to put her son at risk having a man around who might not stay. After all, she’s a SINGLE parent for a reason.

I think the biggest character of all is the SETTING. Jenna falls in love with the hunting cabin deep in the woods where each visitor SIGNS the guest book. The Lake Pleasant waters where Jenna shows her city girl face after a boat ride. JB’s grocery, in the middle of the Four Corners, is a tip of the hat to Chas. John’s the real grocery STORE in the real SPECULATOR.

I’m not giving way too many plot points or a lot about Jenna and Ben because it is a contemporary romance that one day, I’d love to see in print and available to you. For non writers, you have no idea what a process it is. I know I didn’t. I’ve learned so much taking courses, joining writing memberships, and this year focusing on taking it through critique groups. It’s a SHELL of a STORY from those days after college when I day dreamed about Jenna and Ben.  I’d like to think it is a lot better. SPECTACULAR FALLS has some early favor, and my prayer is the publication process is only beginning.

What’s your “S” word?

By the way, the title is Spectacular Falls because within the story, people keep saying Speculator Falls wrong. The real Speculator deals with the “spectacular” slip all the time. However, I know when this story advances, the title might have to change.

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