35 Responses

  1. Carolyn
    Carolyn at |

    What fun! I will just throw out a few random things I love: historical, bookstore, or library as a setting; gargoyles or ghosts as a character; time travel.

    I’m looking forward to seeing what others suggest, and of course, to see what you write as the months go on.

    Reply
  2. Elin Gregory
    Elin Gregory at |

    You are SO brave!

    I love Carolyn’s suggestions so, thinking of things that might be complementary, how about an exceedingly large and lazy cat, and “A Hymn to Love” by Robert Herrick.

    Reply
  3. bevjan59
    bevjan59 at |

    I love the ideas above so… how about a poetry loving ‘Giles’ style librarian (see Buffy the Vampire Slayer) whose only close friend is a large fat cat. When the cat disappears… he accidentally discovers a time portal in his stock cupboard…

    Reply
  4. AJH
    AJH at |

    Okay these are already bloody perfect.

    Reply
  5. KJ Charles
    KJ Charles at |

    Time portal needs to go to Victorian England at least once, please! (I volunteer facty services if required.)

    Reply
  6. Carolyn
    Carolyn at |

    I’m just a bit (read: a lot) gleeful over here. Kindred souls, you complete me.

    Reply
  7. Sylvia
    Sylvia at |

    😀 This is fun! I’d love a character with a heavy accent or dialect. Something tells me you can pull it off 🙂 I also like strange, vulnerable or colorful people.

    Reply
  8. Caz
    Caz at |

    Random story elements: A robot who’s found God, two slices of wensleydale with cranberries and a character who’s most easily identifiable by his/her/their shoes?

    Also a character on the ACE spectrum would be amazing 🙂

    Reply
    1. bevjan59
      bevjan59 at |

      Caz you are responsible for my first coffee snort of the day, what fabulous ideas!

      Reply
  9. Pam/Peejakers
    Pam/Peejakers at |

    Omg, Library, Time Travel, YES! One character could be a writer, librarian (or bookstore owner/clerk) – or more than one of these. Also, could there be a real historical person, preferably queer, as a character?

    Ooh, ooh, maybe this character could actually be more than one different historical person, being immortal or an itinerant time traveler (time wanderer?) who has been several different people thru history, but no one realizes they are all the same person?

    Reply
  10. julio
    julio at |

    fantastic idea!

    ooh, this is gonna be so much fuckin’ fun…

    Reply
    1. bevjan59
      bevjan59 at |

      JAG you haven’t mentioned tentacles…

      Reply
      1. julio
        julio at |

        THEY ARE A GIVEN

        Reply
  11. Cassia
    Cassia at |

    I’m a sucker for stories about shy people falling in love and not having the slightest idea what to do about it.

    Reply
  12. G.B. Gordon
    G.B. Gordon at |

    A swashbuckler whose swashbuckle keeps catching on things mid-swashbuckle. But they don’t let that cramp their style.

    Reply
    1. Sarah Frantz
      Sarah Frantz at |

      I love this. LOVE.

      Reply
  13. Anonymous
    Anonymous at |

    What if the Giles-style-librarian’s cat originally belonged to the time-wanderer, and has cool special abilities of its own, but they got separated somehow? And it’s the time-wanderer’s only true friend too, so there is Conflict as well as Reluctant Attraction?

    Also maybe the time-wanderer can change their sex at will, and has a very fluid gender identity because of it, and the sex they are at the moment doesn’t always correlate with whatever convention would expect of them in terms of apparent gender expression?

    Reply
  14. E.E. Ottoman (@acosmistmachine)
    E.E. Ottoman (@acosmistmachine) at |

    this looks like it’s going to be fun.

    Reply
  15. Ellie
    Ellie at |

    I know you like reality shows, so maybe you could include one in some way – either a character is participant (You can dance, The voice, or any other one you like), or the hsow is just an element in the story

    Reply
  16. Ellie
    Ellie at |

    just signing for comments

    Reply
  17. Catherine Dair (@catherinedair)
    Catherine Dair (@catherinedair) at |

    I really want a gargoyle to make an appearance. So much. It has nothing to do with the fact that I’m currently painting a gargoyle. (boldface lie)

    Reply
  18. Angel Martinez
    Angel Martinez at |

    If we’re going to Victorian England, could we have a steam powered octopus sub? Perhaps captained by a gargoyle? Whom the time wanderer needs for ….something.

    Reply
  19. Raine
    Raine at |

    Hope you don’t hate Leonard Cohen cause I have always wanted to know the story behind these lines-

    “Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
    You can hear the boats go by
    You can spend the night beside her
    And you know that she’s half crazy
    But that’s why you want to be there
    And she feeds you tea and oranges
    That come all the way from China
    And just when you mean to tell her
    That you have no love to give her …….”

    Oh and you had to mention a Siamese cat…… my guy Caleb is yelling, ‘Me, me, me!’ while flexing his claws on my neck.

    Reply
    1. Beverley Jansen
      Beverley Jansen at |

      Oh I love ‘Suzanne’ !

      Reply
      1. Beverley Jansen
        Beverley Jansen at |

        Hey why am I Beverley Jansen now when I was bevjan59 for my other ones lol

        Reply
  20. Alex Gabriel
    Alex Gabriel at |

    There needs to be literature smuggling.

    To wit:
    – “We have just received intel that someone is smuggling counterfeit poetry again!”
    – “Impossible. We’ve stopped up all the supply channels!”
    – “Sir, we think they’re getting it directly from Victorian England.”
    – “OMG!”

    Also, Goethe as a sleuth. In a very cool greatcloak. Because someone has been smuggling his poetry, too…

    Reply
  21. darlasharp
    darlasharp at |

    I can’t wait–and all I can hold in my head right now is Shy Librarian meets adventurous tentacles…!

    Reply
  22. Pam/Peejakers
    Pam/Peejakers at |

    Okaaay, I was sure I signed up for comments the first time, but not getting them, so let’s try again.

    Reply
  23. lindsayb
    lindsayb at |

    I enjoyed your cottage pie recipe. Feel free to write about yummy foods!

    Reply
  24. Mel
    Mel at |

    I love this, too. I’m not very creative, though. Love the idea and can’t wait to see what you—we all—come up with!

    Reply
  25. helenajust
    helenajust at |

    I’m fairly relaxed as long as it isn’t sci-fi or fantasy. Bristol would be great!

    I’d be happy for you to write about writing, if you wanted to, as well as actually writing. That’s a confusing sentence, but I’m sure you can work it out.

    Reply
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