Monday, July 28, 2008

Story Ideas

I will try to list the ideas I have for stories in the order I have put the most work into them, so keep that in mind when deciding for the poll what you would like to see me work on. I will list them by the main character's name, if I have it yet.

1. Gyrfalke
I've probably put more work into this story than any other. Gyrfalke lives at the tail end of the Hundred Years War, in France. She works for an estate that specializes in creating custom embroidered works, like tapestries and such. She is very good at what she does, and dreams of one day starting her own guild in Paris. However, she's hindered by the fact she bore a child out of wedlock and has rather a temper on her. To begin the story, the estate is hosting a tournament in honor of Henry V of England, who has just won a major battle and looks to be taking the throne of France. A mysterious knight catches her eye, and she begins a pursuit of him, and be damned to what anyone thinks of it. War, interfering females, jealous rivals, and stubbornness on both sides inevitably get in the way of the romance, but of course, everything should come out happy in the end.

2. Salome/Kestrel
Salome lives around the time of the War of 1812. She's American, but she has come to London to beseech her aunt to host a Season for her, all because she has to capture a husband before her 21st birthday or she loses the family plantation. Salome leads a double life as a shipping magnate named Kestrel Sinclair, whom had bought out her brother's shipping business when he went mysteriously missing in the Caribbean. Salome researches all the eligible bachelors in town and settles on one in particular, but now she has to win him before time runs out, but suddenly word arrives that her brother might have been found, and she needs to rescue him. So what should she do, rescue her brother, save her plantation, or hope for love with a man she barely knows yet is inevitably drawn to?

3. Anne and Kate
Anne and Kate are twins living at the end of the Civil War, in Natchez, Mississippi. They are as different in looks and personality as two people can get: Anne is short, petite, blonde, and as polite and well mannered as could be, Kate is tall, voluptous, red-headed and hot-tempered, who loves to curse, gamble, and carouse with the roughest crowd imaginable. All the same, Anne and Kate are as close as twins should be. Their father is a merchant who has been ostracized for selling to the Yankees, and their brother Theodore fought for the South, but hasn't come home yet. However, when he does, he brings two Yankee soldiers with him, who claim to be his friends. Anne falls for one handsome devil, who rapes her and leaves her for dead as they skip town on new orders to move out West. Anne and Kate derive a plan of revenge and follow, ending up on the plains of the midwest and living with an Indian tribe. Kate falls in love with an Indian warrior who is brutally slain along with the rest of the village, under orders of the OTHER Yankee soldier that visited their home! Determined yet again to get their revenge, Anne and Kate track down their quarry, and meet another pair of travelers, determined to get the beautiful twins to get past their horrid history and find love again. Can it possibly work?

4. Empress
She doesn't have a name yet, but she lives in a fantasy land, where she will soon become Empress of a great nation. But in order to claim her inheritance, she has to undergo an antiquated ceremony where she loses her virginity to one of the common people, who is promptly castrated and honored for the rest of his life. Well, she doesn't like that idea one bit, but there's no way around it or one of her hated cousins will get control of the country, and she'll never be able to end the barbaric custom. Arriving in town a little later than he planned, thinking the ceremony had already happened, an explorer comes home to help his family and is caught up in the roundup of potential candidates for the "honor" of deflowering the young empress. Upon meeting her though, the two hatch a plan to fake it and help the explorer escape. Sounds great, and he goes along with it, but at the last second, the empress decides she wants to go too because she needs to see firsthand what it is like in her country to be a better ruler. It's either take her or lose his manhood, and to hell with that, so the pair go off on a jaunt across the countryside while the empress is searched for by her father. She falls in love with the explorer in the process, but he can't stand what she stands for. After one blissful night together, she leaves him alone and heads home, but along the way finds out she's pregnant. She has to hide the pregnancy and the child before she can return home. When she does, she is forced into marriage because of yet ANOTHER stupid custom. The explorer returns for her, but can they make a happy ending?

5. Elf - idea suspended


6. Australia
Wrongfully sentenced to the new penal colony in Australia, a young girl thought to be a murderous whore is propositioned by a drunk lieutenant. Thinking she's committed murder for real this time, she takes off into the unknown Outback and befriends the local Aboriginal population. Humiliated and determined to track her down, the lieutenant pursues her. Could she ever prove her innocence, and could he ever overcome his prejudices and open his heart to love and become a changed man?

7. Lottery
A more modern tale. Widowed with two children to support, Zoe Benedict keeps her childrens hopes up with a single lottery ticket purchased each week, until one week, she hits the jackpot, literally! She packs up her former life and moves her children to a run-down plantation, which she dreams of returning to its former glory. On the other hand, the only reason she got the plantation in the first place is because the last son of the original family owners gambled it away on a bad hand of cards. Shamed by his family, he aims to worm his way in with the beautiful widow and get back his family's property. Inadvertently, he stirs up emotions Zoe has long since buried. Can he handle her now?

14 comments:

_-*Kristen*-_ said...

Empress sounds really good, or Elf. I think those would be the best ones you could choose.

but you might want to finish gyrfalke first. if its the one youve worked most on.

Kestrel said...

Thanks for your input and your vote. I'm letting any visitors completely decide what I should work on to keep me going, or I'd work on them all at the same time.
I like the Empress one too, I have that whole complete story in my head, but not much written, so if that's the winner, at least I know what to do with it. Elf still needs some thought.

Nasaiya Inamae said...

All sound pretty good, though I'm most interested in Elf so far. Then again, I am a fantasy reader, which probably explains why that drew me more than the others.

All the same, good luck.

Anonymous said...

"Lottery," is my favorite. So many Romance Novels these days, are "Period Pieces," or "Historical Romance." What interests me in the lottery idea is the modern romance, and "gambling" aspects. (This would also make an excellent film treatment/screenplay. Gambling, risk, and romance, involving a man and woman who pursue their dreams through gambling..imagine, pitching that idea to a studio.)

In any event, "The Lottery" would be a great Modern take on the risks we take when jumping into relationships..or, the fullfilment of our dreams.

Good Luck..
I'll be interested to read
what progress you make, no matter which one wins out!:)

~x~Will

Kestrel said...

Historical Romance is definitely my favorite by far, but there are some good modern stories out there. This one came about when I was about 12, playing "house" with my sisters. It would take quite a bit of revamping because it's been so long since I worked on it, and some of my original ideas just don't work anymore, but I'd give it my best shot!

Aridonoa said...

Wow! These all sound so imaginative. The one I became most engrossed in above is the "Empress" one. It really sounds like it has a lot of potential for juiciness and excitement and all those other qualities I love in a good book. I think I was most drawn to this because I have recently read 'Empress Orchid' by Anchee Min. Might be useful to know that book gives a good insight into how eunuchs may feel about themselves, and what others think about them (all in a convenient royal setting).

But yes, it is wonderful to meet you and to have a nose around your ideas haha! I wish you all the best of luck and to not forget to have fun writing. I will definitely be checking back to read more in the future :) :)

Ciao!
x Arido

- I know what you mean about losing motivation. I also have several ideas but never act on finishing them. Tis a tough life :P

Kestrel said...

Thanks so much for your encouragement, I think I'm going to have to track down that book you mentioned.

Stay tuned on my companion site in the near future, because I am working on a series in Character development where I am going to be delving further into the heroines and heroes for these ideas. An inside look into their histories and motivations and such!

brainsnorts said...

lottery is the best of the lot. what will be challenging is for this man, trying to get the plantation back, to be caught in a struggle between his original intention and possible feelings for the woman as he gets to know her better. eventually, she'll have to learn of his original plan and then lose all faith and trust in him, which he'll have to win back. what should also happen is that his family will ostracize him for having fallen for her and possibly abandoning the plan.

i would like to have read about "elf" before you pulled it from the list.

Kestrel said...

I thought I had saved that synopsis...
The idea is still good, it basically went that: Long ago a race of elves evolved that had the ability to express their emotions through the changing color of their eyes. They were also able to transmit feelings (both good and bad) through their power of touch. Humans sought to capture and use their powers as weapons, other elves sought to destroy them so their power could not be used for evil. Now their numbers are small, and one elf has unfortunately fallen into human hands. The slave of an evil lord, she is handed over to his newest vassal, a man haunted by his past... Could they ever overcome what lies between them, when even her touch could kill?

brainsnorts said...

stick with lottery. the man in that story should be the black sheep of the family, but that means he's the only decent person in a family of criminals. eventually he'll choose against his family and let them all rot, provided he can win back the woman who won the lottery.

Kestrel said...

But they are such nice people! :)
He is the black sheep because of his gambling vice...
See, the thing about Zoe is that she was in dire straits after her husband's death, because he left her with a mountain of gambling debt...
When she finds out about this new guy, she is gonna be sooooo mad! When he falls for her, he wants nothing else but redemption from her.

GaZZuM said...

It feels like, for me atleast, you give away way too much story in your descriptions, which doesn't really entice me at all. For example, the Lottery story. Telling us she wins the lottery, AND how she's going to spend the money, AND the consequences of this is a bit too much of a spoiler. I feel like I know the whole story already y'know.

My vote's gonna be with the Lottery story for 2 reasons:
1: It seems the least bleak of all 6
2: I wanna see if it develops in an unexpected way.

Kestrel said...

My best friend always says I have a tendency to be too harsh to my characters. I guess my reasoning for this is because it's always been my feeling that the reality of life is harsh, and books are larger than life... Therefore, their experiences are WAY harsh!Even Zoe has demons, if I can keep the story the way it originally came to me.
As far as the spoilers, most romance novels you read pretty much sum up the whole story, and I need practice for my query letters for publishers. They want synopses of your stories rather than full manuscripts nowadays. Thanks for the input though, I will continue to work on them so I don't reveal quite so much.

Anonymous said...

Hey!! Thanks for your comment on my blog (I love instant feedback lol) Ok, I love the Empress idea. It sounds amazing! But don't worry about completely finishing one thing before you move on to another. Sometimes inspiration hits you like a hammer...and then BAM you get an idea to finish something you started years ago. I started DOQ about a year ago...I'll put that story on my blog :)

http://fayeknight.blogspot.com/