Sent the mss off to Booknook.biz yesterday, so things are moving along . . .
I was coming around the corner from Graceland Cemetery when I accidentally turned onto Alta Vista Terrace,a narrow block-long street of rowhouses. Developer Samuel Gross had been in London, fallen in love with its old neighborhoods, and decided to reproduce one in Chicago. Amazingly, the street, or at least the facades) remains largely untouched today.
It's gorgeous. Unique in Chicago.Highly prized even though the lots measure only 24 x 40 and half the homes have no parking. At all. None.
I spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the block and heading back to the Historical Museum to see what they knew about Alta Vista Terrace. I found the original advertising flyer, drawings of the street, and a bit more.
So this time Seraphy's given the job of rebuilding one of the homes, which has been the victim of an arsonist. I have no idea what's going to happen. As with my first books, I'm starting with a building, or in this case, a block of buildings, and letting the story develop from there.
I'm accumulating scenes and characters, which seem to pop into my head at dawn and disappear too quickly if I don't write them down. When I have enough I hope they'll come together in a story. I know, it's a lousy way to plot (as my editor knows too well), but it's the only way that works for me. I've tried sitting down and starting with a plot-- results were so boring, even to me, that I gave it up.
Onward!
