I’ve had a lot of fun, recently, owing to a kinda-sorta collaboration over my most recent novel, Experienced. (Yeah, yeah, I haven’t released it yet. I’m waiting for my cover artist, and I refuse to hurry her. She’s too good.) Because that interaction, conducted via email with a distant friend, was both productive and fun – it contributed materially to the final version of the novel – I thought I might extend the adventure. So here goes nothing.
Regard the following character sketch:
He’s in his early forties, unmarried and without children. He enjoyed enormous success in his trade, but he no longer practices it and is reluctant to talk about it. He drives around the U.S. in his motorhome, apparently unconcerned about the passage of time. He makes a point of knowing where the Catholic Churches are, and of attending Mass as often as he can.He’s six feet tall, weighs about a hundred eighty pounds, and is very fit. He takes pride in his appearance and his physical aptitudes, but he doesn’t brag about them. His outward presentation is unassuming: polo shirts or tees, khaki trousers or dark jeans, loafers or running shoes.
He must have money, for he’s unconcerned by it. Now and then he takes a temporary job, but he’s never concerned about the pay. Moreover, the jobs are of every sort except office work. “I’ve had enough of that,” he was once heard to say.
He can cook, but he eats out quite often, usually alone. His motorhome is impeccably kept and maintained. He doesn’t do much of that himself; he trusts the specialists who’ve made it their oeuvre...until they try to cheat him.
His large motorhome contains several compartments that are unobvious to the casual observer, or even one who’s not so casual. One of them contains his firearms. A second is a walk-in refrigerator/freezer, equipped for easy sterilization. A third is large enough for two people to hide in. All of them are insulated against sound, radar, and infrared emissions.
He’s seldom parted from his laptop computer. It’s a high-end model. He uses it both to read and to write. Now and then he’ll send an article to the op-ed section of the local paper. They’re seldom rejected.
He likes people and makes a point of meeting the locals wherever he goes, but he’s disinclined to spend more than a week or two anywhere. There’s a lot of country to see, and he knows it could take more than a lifetime to see it all. That doesn’t keep him from becoming involved with the locals or in local affairs.
Okay, Gentle Readers, here are my questions for you:
- What’s his name?
- Was he ever married?
- Should he travel with a dog?
- Does he have any living relatives?
- What are his reasons for choosing a life on the road? Is a lost love one of them?
- What white-collar trade did he practice that made him wealthy? Why did he give it up?
- Where should his first story take him and in what sort of adventure should he involve himself there?
Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments, or to email them to me at the address I use for the website:
- at –
optonline
- dot –
net
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