Meet Brian Wagner

He's a Greencastle native. He teaches English at the Greencastle High School. So I suppose at some point I'll be writing a chapter where he and Luke cross paths.
ANYway,
He's one of those laid back 'non-traditional' type teachers. He's not afraid to come to work/school in faded blue jeans and a t-shirt. In fact, he seldom ever wears slacks(dress pants, chinos, whatever you want to call them) He's relatively friendly with his students, encouraging them to do the work they're asked because they'll learn from it, not because they ~have to~.

When we first meet Brian, he's bumming a cigarette from Kenny Overmeyer, a student in his Junior English class. It's suggested that Kenny's mom, Margie, has 'issues' and did something to her husband Randall that was quite drastic, but Randall forgives her still. This is something we can develop later. I'd like Margie Overmeyer to be a 'quirky' or possibly 'neurotic' character, in the way that Nadine Hurley was in Twin Peaks. Only, perhaps not on the domestic front like Nadine.("Completely silent drape runners!") I don't know. But I want to make her odd/unique.

Okay, this is supposed to be about Brian, non? Back to it.
Brian's a naturalist. I'd like to see his behavior and attitude to reflect the ideas in Walden, as this is his favorite book. He's also a Faulkner fan.(A unique breed, indeed) Which will require a lot of reading on my part. But hell, I love to read.
ANYway-- Brian's parents retired and moved to Florida a couple years ago and left Brian the house. The opening scene puts Brian in the High School Parking lot, so we have yet to see him in the home setting. But we'll get there.

Meet Angela Crowley and her Bitchin' Kitchen

Angela is the owner of the yet unnamed diner. It's like the hub of social activity...kinda like Twin Peaks' double R diner. Every town has some version of this. Ours was Country Kitchen.(aka 'Bitchin' Kitchen') You have different types of crowds that show at different times. ie: the old codgers that settle in for a cup of coffee every morning. To discuss the weather, farming, and other such things. Then you get the disgruntled youths that are too young for the bars but old enough to chain smoke and guzzle a bottomless cup of coffee. Then there's the after-bar crowd. Looking for a generous helping of pancakes or eggs that they can consume without yaking it back up. Such is Angela's 'Bitchin' Kitchen'.

Angela herself is a mother-hen type. In her mid thirties, so a young mother-hen. She looks out for the old codgers, and other poor lonely souls who need a place to hang out. Doing what she can. She's an animal lover, and when we meet her, she's taking in another stray kitten and names it Cosette. She's an avid bookworm and would-be writer. Things managed to stay just scattered enough that she never finishes the novel. It's become an ominous organism. It's the only things she's ever written, and it's remained unfinished for 3 years now. She's a Columbo fan--She waits until the exposition has been laid out and sits down to watch it about the time that the Lt. Columbo enters the scene.(Anyone who's watched Columbo knows what I mean--how the first part of the show reveals the crime in its entirety before Columbo gets there)

Still need a name for her diner. And whether or not she'll have a "fling" with Brian Wagner, the High School English teacher. When I designed the two characters, it seemed to make sense given their interests. And they're both about the same age. She's a bookworm/would-be writer, and he's an English teacher. Makes good sense, right? Maybe this book'll have some romance after all......

Meet the Thomas Family

Ellen, her husband Will, and their two kids: Russell and Clint. Russell's the oldest, graduating in the coming year.(we're currently set in November)-- Will named Clint after the actor and Clint is without a doubt Will's Boy. Will clearly favors Clint- They share a lot of interests: Hunting, old westerns, fishing, oh and model building.(mental note to go back and add this to the chapter about the Thomas'.) They build car and plane models together.
ANYway... Russell's the artist. He faces the classic dillema: sure, you've got a talent, but will it bring you a paycheck you can count on? Ellen's 100% behind him. She thinks he's wonderfully gifted, etc. etc.
Ellen runs Ellen's Boutique (Guess where she got the idea for the name?) It's a flower shop on main street. She's had a love of plants for as long as she could remember. When she was just a kid, she'd even go so far as to transplant dandelions into pots and bring them inside. Her friends joke about how Ellen deals with a house full of boys. And she always answers: "That's what my greenhouse is for". And it has become a sort of sanctuary for her. Russell's the only other person who's ever been inside the greenhouse for tete-a-tete's with his mom.
What does Will do for a living? A basic day-job of some sort.

We'll see more of the Thomas' later as the book progresses.

Meet Lucas Weems

Luke is our reluctant hero and the first character we meet. He's a janitor at the Greencastle High School. He's single. Runs a little 'farm'--(Produces just for himself) He's got a small flock of chickens, a pair of cows, and and a well-developed garden. A dog? It would make sense, I suppose. I just haven't yet decided the dog's personality, breed, etc. Actually, only one chapter has been written on Luke so far and his farmette isn't described. What we're told about him is that he's a janitor, he was raised Catholic, his mother, Helen Weems had a list of virtues she worked hard to teach her kids: Humility, cleanliness, patience, generosity, honor, courage, and tradition/family. In a nutshell, Luke's about as down-to-earth as you can get. He's very much a pragmatist. Likes to keep things simple.

He was engaged once. But Barb was killed... At the moment, I've got it down as a horrible car crash. But I wonder if I change the circumstances of his fiance's death if it could turn out a more complex or more desireable angle to Luke's character.
In the opening chapter, Luke's deer hunting and it makes mention of Barb and how she'd teased him about spending so much time in the woods. Does Luke trap? Possibly. Haven't decided yet. But for sure and for certain, Luke's an outdoorsman. He prefers the simplicity of nature.

I worry that he's too much like Jim. But only with certain things.(Raised Catholic, janitor day job, and his affinity for nature) There are a great number of things about Luke that are different. I know when Jim read Lunatic Lounge, he pointed out to me how much the main character Walter was like him. I apologiezed for it at the time, but Jim said he didn't mind, he was just teasing. If it inspires me to write, he said he'd make a recording of himself for me.(basically saying that whatvever gets me to put out a story, go for it.) He is my muse. Very much so.

Welcome to Greencastle

This is a tentative name for the small town that this novel is set in. If I can think of a better town name, I'll change it. But for the sake of being able to continue, we'll call it Greencastle.(I've discovered that there's already a Greencastle, IN and I'm not sure on the rules of using city names)

Aztec is yet another novel I'm futzing with. It's a small town setting, with a cannibalistic serial killer lurking about. What I haven't yet figured out is if this cannibal will be just plain mentally ill with a fixation on murder? Or will the cannibalism hold deeper meaning. There's lots of research to be had on cannibalism. It's religious/spiritual purposes among those who practice it. Aztecs come to mind because, well, it's the title of the book. And Aztec's the title of the book because the Aztec Indians were cannibals... (I think you see where this is going). It's just a question of how this cannibal picks their victims. And do they see it as a murder? Or do they see it as a religious/spiritual act?

Since it does make heavy use of the small town setting, there will be quite a few characters to create and develop. Including the sherrif. And don't forget the busy-bodies! No small town is complete without a gossip machine. I look to spend a fair amount of time on them all. Try to get the reader to really care about them. Then BAM! The killing starts. Oh but I can't tell you who gets killed. Otherwise you won't buy my book if you already know how it ends. (Truth be known, I don't even know who all the victims are OR how it will end)

But this blog space will be home to the brain storms. Much like the 6 Degrees blog for my other novel.