Boy, Have I Been Here Before
Book in Thirty Days. (Yes, I’ve been here before. I’m back, baby!) So, if I am going to make a go of this, I need to get into this system of a book or a publication every thirty days. If I can not make it in thirty days, then I need to find out what I can do.
Screw Yoda, Do not Do, Try, for first, you must find the limits of your abilities.
Book In A Month
Victoria Lynn Schmidt, Ph.D. (she did indeed pile it higher and deeper) wrote her “fool-proof system.” Well, she’s never met this fool. And though they do say, “Fool Me Once, Shame On You. Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me!” I have deiced to go for that second fool.
Step 1: Read the Necessary Material
Having read the material, I am now at a critical juncture, beginning. Today there are two things that I must do., one sentence summary and a map of the story idea.
Okay, okay, three things. In the past, I thought of this system as another outlining system, but it is not. Today, I have to start writing a stripped down version of the story with no subplots and minimal characters. It is “The first Draft in a Month, not a complete epic novel in a month.”
Day 1: One-sentence story summary
Pilot Pat Hand wins a Starship in a game of poker with one caveat that she will take the former owner outside the sector and finds herself at the center of a war between criminal organizations for an artifact that will change the course of history, forever.
Day 1: Story Idea Map
Plot
Main Story Idea
Massive Criminal Organizations capable of corrupting entire planets seek a secret so devastating that it can change the course of human history.
Hook/Catalyst/Inciting Incident
When a strange woman sits down at Pat Hand’s poker table, she does not know the woman will let her win a space ship as long as Pat agrees to take her where she wants to go, or that rival criminal cartels are chasing the woman known as “Red” and will kill anyone to get her.
Act 1 Turning Point
Jumping into hyperspace with no computer is akin to madness, a massive bluff against all of space and time is more likely to end in disaster than reaching a destination. After a short battle in outer space above the planet, Pat must jump to Hyperspace before mercenary pilots hunt them down and kill them.
CHARACTERS
Major Characters
Pat Hand: Pilot and gambler without a ship
Lady Death: Red Spade, “Red” (Codenames used for Protagonist 2)
Minor Characters
Joker One – A gambler trying to pick up Pat, linked to one of the criminal organizations.
Joker Two – Another gambler.
Joker Three – Third Gambler.
Pilot A.
Pilot B.
Setting
Malzibar V or Malzibar E – Resort world in Sector 5 controlled by Organized Crime figures.
Rogue’s Bluff – Ship Pat wins in the game of Poker
Props
Ownership Token – A simple gold token that is the ultimate proof of ownership keyed to DNA and Brain Waves of an individual. Supposedly unhackable, though there are rumors.
Hovershaw – High tech Rickshaw with hover Engines and, sometimes, onboard weapons.