an unexpected plot point, bringing me to 25,057!
In yesterday's writing, something unexpected happened, and today I mostly spent some time trying to figure out how all my characters would react. In the early parts of the novel I kept mentioning Joan Blade (my Joan Jett knockoff) and yesterday she invited Nicky to come work for her and go on tour.
I don't think this is going to go well with Molly and Kiefer's plans - actually, I think that Kiefer won't mind but Molly probably will. So I'm figuring out how this affects the rest of the plot. I'm not sure if Nicky is going to go with her or not, but she's pretty excited.
But that's not what I'm going to excerpt for you today. Today's excerpt is Kiefer's triumphant response to the letter that Nicky sent him (that was excerpted, in two rough drafts and one final version) yesterday. Hopefully you see how icky he is.
Letter 63. August 2, 198x
The Other Big City
Molly, it has happened. Nicky wrote me back. She does not yet realize what that will mean; the first time she accedes to my request presages and paves the way for our future. She’s given in once, and she will continue to do so. The beauty is that I will never push her past the point of consent. She will always want to do what she does, and each time, she will give just a little more of herself.
Oh, this is delicious, friend. I’ve enclosed her letter to me and my response to her . When you read them, I wonder if you will notice what I do? Please, go read them and then return to this letter.
On first read, you may be fooled into thinking that Nicky is just being kind to me. She writes a marginally interesting story about a happening in the public space where she is most comfortable. Nothing personal or intimate. And yet, when you read the post-script, do you see how she cannot stop herself from intimacy? She reveals her true feelings, her uncertainty. She does not trust me. She gives me the key to her undoing. I will become someone that darling Nicky can trust.
You who have been her friend and confidant for going on 20 years might think this is a formidable task, but you, my friend, are not a poet. Poets are students of human nature. We slip under the reader’s guard with innocuous words that easily lodge in the breastbone. We are invited in.
I plan to be invited in to Nicky’s mind, her heart, and her body. You see how I continue the campaign with my letter. I have no fear about enclosing this letter for you to read because, as you pointed out to me, we have no secretes from one another. We are true intimates, and I only await the day when you invite me back in like Justin Timberlake does in Model Behavior, when he finds out that his girlfriend is an impostor but forgives and loves her anyway. I like to think that our story – our love story – is as classic as that heartwarming Disney classic.
The clock is ticking, and we’ll be together again soon,
Kiefer
I don't think this is going to go well with Molly and Kiefer's plans - actually, I think that Kiefer won't mind but Molly probably will. So I'm figuring out how this affects the rest of the plot. I'm not sure if Nicky is going to go with her or not, but she's pretty excited.
But that's not what I'm going to excerpt for you today. Today's excerpt is Kiefer's triumphant response to the letter that Nicky sent him (that was excerpted, in two rough drafts and one final version) yesterday. Hopefully you see how icky he is.
Letter 63. August 2, 198x
The Other Big City
Molly, it has happened. Nicky wrote me back. She does not yet realize what that will mean; the first time she accedes to my request presages and paves the way for our future. She’s given in once, and she will continue to do so. The beauty is that I will never push her past the point of consent. She will always want to do what she does, and each time, she will give just a little more of herself.
Oh, this is delicious, friend. I’ve enclosed her letter to me and my response to her . When you read them, I wonder if you will notice what I do? Please, go read them and then return to this letter.
On first read, you may be fooled into thinking that Nicky is just being kind to me. She writes a marginally interesting story about a happening in the public space where she is most comfortable. Nothing personal or intimate. And yet, when you read the post-script, do you see how she cannot stop herself from intimacy? She reveals her true feelings, her uncertainty. She does not trust me. She gives me the key to her undoing. I will become someone that darling Nicky can trust.
You who have been her friend and confidant for going on 20 years might think this is a formidable task, but you, my friend, are not a poet. Poets are students of human nature. We slip under the reader’s guard with innocuous words that easily lodge in the breastbone. We are invited in.
I plan to be invited in to Nicky’s mind, her heart, and her body. You see how I continue the campaign with my letter. I have no fear about enclosing this letter for you to read because, as you pointed out to me, we have no secretes from one another. We are true intimates, and I only await the day when you invite me back in like Justin Timberlake does in Model Behavior, when he finds out that his girlfriend is an impostor but forgives and loves her anyway. I like to think that our story – our love story – is as classic as that heartwarming Disney classic.
The clock is ticking, and we’ll be together again soon,
Kiefer
I shuddered at the pure evil you have revealed with this excerpt. And by that I mean, of course, Justin Timberlake (and Kiefer is a close second).
ReplyDeleteI'm so impressed that you worked Model Behaviour into your novel!
ReplyDeleteKiefer is truly despicable. A formidable foe for dear Nicky
ReplyDeleteKiefer plot is almost as dastardly as the girls in Model Behaviour when they switch places.
ReplyDelete