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.