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I am going to write this novel. Someday.
Louisville Courier-Journal. The Louisville Free Public Library is tied up in probate with the family of the late Audrey Jean Knauer over a $290,000 bequest and that the outcome might depend on whether the actor Charles Bronson wants the money. Ms. Knauer died in 1997 and inexplicably willed her money to Bronson, whom she labeled a "talented character actor" but whom in all likelihood she had never met. Ms. Knauer's mother wants the money; the Library says it could buy 20,000 books; and Bronson has not yet responded.Everything about this story resonates for me. It's quirky and funny and has the potential for odd turns and revelations and character development. The names, the setting, the premise: all wonderful. Of course everything will change, and change a lot -- but this is the nugget that got me started.
The funny thing is, the cast of characters is already promising -- and it's not even complete. You've got lawyers, librarians, probate judges, the dead old lady, her mother, and Charles Bronson. The talented character actor.
So when I get around to working on this, the first question is: where is the primary conflict? Between the talented character actor and the mother of the dead lady? Between the head of the library and the dead lady's son? Between the talented character actor's agent and the dead lady? This feels like fun to me, figuring it all out. Also, I see great promise in the talented character actor. It won't be Charles Bronson, for obvious reasons. I'll have to come up with a fictional actor, male or female, who had a following in the sixties and seventies, at the B movie level. Maybe a singer instead of an actor. A cross between Angie Dickinson, Barry Manilow and Charles Bronson.
This is how my storytelling mind works. In case you were wondering.
May 11, 2005 04:09 PM
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Comments
The subject certainly has potential for a lot of what iF's, interesting characters and plotlines.
Boy, that is quiet a bit of money, probably most of it will probablly be gone by the time it gets through probate, that was about eight years ago?
Keep us posted on this one...
Laughing here, what an interesting character... Angie~Barry~Charles type character... i am getting an vera interesting visual here.
Posted by: joanna at May 11, 2005 04:48 PM
and then what if, by the time the case even got close to being heard, the talented actor has a dramatic accident which leaves his/her life hanging in the balance ... then he/she does die and his/her children/stepchildren/oldest child from a previously undisclosed relationship all get in on the act.
I can't wait till you write it.
Posted by: Alison at May 11, 2005 05:41 PM
I have a question; I've always been curious about this. You know the little disclaimer on the title page -- "any resemblance between characters in this work and actual people, living or dead, is purely coincidental" or whatever -- when you write a story whose original idea came from a news item, do you include that disclaimer? Have you changed the details etc. so much by the time the story would actually reach the publication point that it's true? Or do you leave it out?
It's a really petty question, and I'm just idly curious, nothing more.
Posted by: Rachel at May 11, 2005 11:26 PM
On Rachel's note on using Real People -- Anne Lamott has a great set of suggestions re this problem in "Bird by Bird," and there she's talking about fiction based on your family or lovers. Alas, I am not where I can put my hand on it. (The punch line, however, is burned into my brain -- more or less, "finally, be sure to say that the character has a little, tiny penis. Then he will never, ever come forward, Trust me.")
Posted by: robyn at May 12, 2005 08:04 AM
Rachel -- not petty. A good question.
By the time I get done playing with the characters and the premise and the setting, it will be so completely different there will be no confusion. And of course, I'll give every character (maybe even the one drawn from Audrey Jean) a teeny weeny penis. (Thanks to Robyn for reminding me about that good advice.)
Posted by: sara at May 12, 2005 08:57 AM
Um, okay. She wills money to Bronson. I get how her mom might be put out. But how did the library get in the mix? And fer cryin' out loud, it's her will. If he doesn't want it, then fine. Okay, I sense a rant coming on, so I'll stop. I'm just puzzled as to how the library got their fingers in the pie...
Posted by: Christina at May 12, 2005 09:29 AM
see? good story, or at least: the start of one. I have some ideas about the will and the library.
Posted by: sara at May 12, 2005 09:38 AM