Not Another Tangent?!

After attending the Willamette Writers Conference I learned what I need to do for my second draft of Galactic Empress. I also got a few ideas for a sequel while at the conference and these I jotted down for future use.

So I've been merrily working on draft two, thinking I can pretty much salvage the first quarter of the book when I'm suddenly struck by a new story idea.

Actually, it was a very vague idea for a story that came to me from the title of one of our book club reads. What occurred out of the blue was the solution to the story concept. I have a bead on the protagonist, and a dilemma she must resolve at the climactic moment.

Have you ever read the title of a book and imagined a story that was different than that of the actual novel? The Lace Reader is set in Salem, Massachusetts, and has a little something to do with fortune telling and communicating with spirits. Before opening the book I had an image of women who actually interpreted the patterns of lace to "see" into the future. Turns out that's not exactly what occurs in Brunonia Barry's book.

However...I was left with the idea of women who had the supernatural gift of reading lace to interpret the thread of an individual's life. Sort of the next step after the Fates spin a life thread. But I wasn't sure where to go with the idea and how to develop it. Until this week.

The Last Lace Reader is the working title for my latest young adult story. The craft of lace making is strictly controlled, but the art of reading lace has been outlawed. As the elders who have "The Knack" for reading lace pass away, the art is disappearing. When my protagonist discovers she can read lace she is frightened yet fascinated. She could be executed if it is revealed that she has The Knack. Yet her gift could be of use to others.

I haven't yet figured out the setting. So far I've bookmarked sites ranging from the lost continent of Atlantis to steampunk. There will be horses (that's a given). I have a few characters sketched out and a potential image for the protagonist.

I need to at least finish the second draft of Galactic Empress. But I'll jot ideas for The Last Lace Reader as they come to me, and get serious about research and world building at a later time.