As I reflect upon the last few weeks, I can’t help think about what I can do to incorporate my experiences into a book. Granted, I’ve barely written 2500 words these past weeks and I haven’t given much thought to the story-lines I’m working on. However, now that I am in the short rows of the move, my mind is beginning to return to the scene of the crimes.
The good news is, I can apply my experience to the new book that I am writing, called ‘Lucky Bitch’. Mona Bendarova’s third book is the perfect opportunity to incorporate my experience. At the end of the second book in the series, ‘Broken Steele’, Mona is given the opportunity to become the Mistress of her own House. ‘Lucky Bitch’ opens with her move to her new home and the struggles she faces in taking over the care and management of her home and their occupants.
She is excited and nervous now that she is responsible for the care and feeding of hundreds of people. Think of the medieval age of feudalism in Europe and you’ll get a sense of what she is up against. While she has access to technological advances we enjoy now, they are just a resource. People don’t live their lives in their devices, preferring to interact with each other directly, face to face.
Her new responsibilities aside, she faces challenges of moving in, organizing the house, and setting up her private personal spaces. Her dedication to her house is so great that she puts off her own personal comforts in favor of meeting the needs of the people living under her roof. Sure, she has help and many of them do their best to help her. However, Mona is uncomfortable with delegating responsibilities. Until now, her only responsibilities were to her own Master, Master Charles. She looked to him for guidance and performed to his expectations. Now, Mona is the one her house is looking to for direction and guidance and Mona feels like a fish out of water, not that she knows what a fish is, being they have all been extinct for over a millennium.
Mona works tirelessly, barely getting 3 hours of sleep each day. Her world is exploding in storm and fire. She is working so hard to take care of her home that she is failing to take care of herself. Her staff and household members see this but their pleas fall upon deaf ears.
Additionally, there are many in her community as well as within her own house that do not accept that a woman now has ownership and Mastery of her own estate. They resent her and try to discredit her. She’s earned her position but like the sexual disparity of today’s workforce, she’s broken through the glass ceiling, only find that she fights prejudice and resentment. Both emotions are something foreign to her. The nice and friendly community she grew up in is quickly becoming a community of distrust. Factions are lining up on either side of the blurred issues. Things will only get worse before they get better.
How does this relate to my recent move, you ask?
My own fatigue and abuse I’ve done to my body gives me a frame of reference that I can apply to Mona. I’ve ravaged my body in coordinating my move. I suspect it will take many months before I recover. In the meantime, I can write into ‘Lucky Bitch’ much of my own experiences. I can feel for Mona and in turn, include those feelings into Mona so that you, the reader, can feel the aches and pains that we each go through.
Time to get back to work and finish the book. My initial draft is still not finished, though it is close. As I rewrite the draft, I plan to insert my aching back into her experiences and hopefully make it more real. Wish me luck.