posted
Alright. I've reached a decision point on my current WIP. (23,000 words in about 10 days. ) It's a fantasy, probably actually a paranormal romance, depending on how you look at it.
This story has a sort of parallel worlds, which can be reached through a few portals. One side uses magic, the other side uses technology. The technology side is intended to be more or less this world.
I'm patterning it loosely on my immediate area (Southern California). But I don't necessarily want to stick strictly to exactly the way things actually are. For example, the park in which the portal happens to be located is based on an actual park in the area where I sometimes walk my dogs. However, I've put a couple of oak trees in that park where there actually aren't any.
I'd also like to put a bus terminal or possibly a metrolink station where there actually isn't one.
How close should I stick to the real world? Or, as long as I stay with relatively generic place names, can I get away with making it how I want it to be?
[This message has been edited by Meredith (edited August 23, 2009).]
I need some ideas about lockers. Some of you may know, we don't do a lot of public transportation on this coast.
My MC needs a place to keep certain items that are useful in this world but useless in the magical world so she can get to them easily. Cell phone, a little money, ID. So it doesn't have to be a big space. But it does need to be accessible during off hours. So something like a safe-deposit box won't work. Well, at least it would be helpful if it's available all the time. I suppose I could write around it if I have to.
I was thinking that they would have lockers at a bus or train station, but I've been checking online and it looks like they don't, at least in this area.
Literally, the only place I can remember seeing lockers (where you take the key) is at theme parks, zoos, and public swimming pools.
Where else might she find lockers? Or what else might work? Maybe a mail box, like the UPS store? She could mail that stuff to herself before she leaves and then pick it up when she gets back. All she'd have to carry would be a couple of keys. Of course, mailing cash, especially coins, is kind of risky.
Gyms. The fitness places, of course if a permanent lack was on it that may draw suspicion. There is the storage places. She could rent a small unit, lot bigger than a locker mind you but more privacy.
posted
I find, as a reader, that I thoroughly enjoy when an author accurately invokes a location I'm familiar with (that's one of the many reasons I like David Baldacci, even though I'm not fond of his genre in general). The flip side of that is, I notice all the little inconsistencies with reality. I forgive them. But I do notice.
Re: a place to staff stuff. Does she have a job? Or a friend/relative with a job? She could have some sort of office or workplace where she could leave a stash of goodies. If she had keys to the place (e.g. I have keys to both the building where I work as well as my office - this at a university, which are in plentiful supply in SoCal), or if it was a 24-hour business, she'd have no problem accessing her things at odd hours.
quote:BTW: where does she hide her useless magic stuff when she comes back?
Up until recently she hasn't had a lot of magical items to worry about. Maybe a charm or two that could easily be disguised as jewelry. Most magic in this world (for humans, anyway) is done by way of magical objects. And most of those are in the hands of wizards, which she's not.
Up until now she's only been on this side when she was working. Now she's on the run. It would raise questions if she left things like her ID with even a very good friend. She might have some acquaintances here, but not that kind of friend. She can be just a little prickly. Not just everybody would put up with her for long.
I suppose I could have some magically protected hiding spot. Or a 24 hour gym. She is definitely the type for that, particularly at certain times when she gets a little manic.
quote:If money's not a problem, why not an apartment?
Ah, but money will be one of their problems, now that she's on the run.
However, in fiddling around and doing some online research last night, I found something interesting. There's a resort in the area (Terranea) which combines hotel accomodations (expensive) and some owned units. It has everything--two pools (one strictly for adults, with poolside food and beverage service), a private beach, a small golf course, etc. It's not the sort of place I'm likely to see the inside of anytime soon. But they've got lots of information, pictures, and even floorplans on their website.
Now, that's exactly the sort of place her former employers would use. The owned units even include a safe. So now I'm thinking maybe that's where she keeps her ID, etc. I may have to figure out when I can take a drive by there. It's free to use the road.
And there's a park just a short distance away. I'll have to check that out and maybe revise where I've located the portal. That would be walking distance for her.
posted
I just watched Men in Black 2 this weekend and that storyline included a locker key to a locker in central station that was "hidden" for decades. Perhaps you have a large train station in your area that could be used this way as well. Another idea could be a large airport.
posted
In my experience, bus, train, and plane station lockers have time limits. I've seen one day, seven days, fourteen days, and thirty days. I've sent a footlocker ahead via bus that was held at the terminal until I picked it up thirty days later.
The USPS holds mail in boxes until they're too full to put any more in, as long as box fees are paid. General delivery for thirty days, but their hours are limited to bankers' hours.
Commercial mail services, like Mail Boxes Etc., hold mail indefinitely as long as box fees are paid and they have hold instructions. Many outlets are open 24 hours.
Clandestine stashes--or caches--like for spys and black marketeers, drug dealers, use stash houses. Safes inside the stash house or safe house, for example, a live stash where a watcher keeps a lookout. A dead stash might be a hidey hole in an out of the way location, a false compartment in a floor, a concealed cabinet in a closet, a loose brick in a wall with a dead space behind it, a buried vault, cemetery hiding places, and so on. A vehicle or two parked in long term parking are good and mobile stashes.
A practical general practice is multiple, redundant stashes. Curious characters will ferret out one or two. An emptied stash or one under surveilance--a sacrificial stash as bait that indicates surveilance is in place might offer dramatic possibilities--could be a setback scenario for plot movement.
Given cell phones, cash, credit and debit cards and ATMs, money orders, travelers checks, keys, IDs, message services, spare clothing, emergency rations, weapons, or other daily living accoutrements, umbrella, raincoat, backpack, whatever, a multitude of stashes might be a good idea.
posted
I suggest the book Jumper by Stephen Gould (spelling may be wrong). Its a quick read and an awesome story. More to the point, the character spends a lot of time "hopping" from place to place and has some pretty creative stashes. I think one was a commercial 24-hour place where he had a lockbox or mailbox--nothing says one can't put packages INTO such a box, far as I know. (USPS would probably not like packages that haven't been through their system.)
If she used a bank or other limited-hours venue, that could create some problems for her when she can't gain access--we all like to see 'em sweat!
posted
Just a thought on the original subject of this story:
I'm not sure that I see any reason to use generic names at all. Just introduce the changes into exactly the setting that you have in mind. Then see if those changes might have a cause that's generated by the altered reality of your story.
IE. The portal causes tremors when it opens. As a result, engineers had to dig down and do work to stabilize the ground around the subway where you want a stop. Since they'd gone to the expens to dig down there, the city council decided to add a new stop there at the same time.
or
If something remains exactly where the portal is when it closes, it gets duplicated. Thus, there were oak trees in the alternate world when it opened... but since they didn't move outside the influence of the portal when it closed, they were duplicated and now exist in both worlds. This concept could lead to a sequel book in which someone doesn't get out of the influence of the portal and is duplicated... and now exists in both worlds.
Neither of those ideas are terribly good, but I hope you get the gist of what I mean. I've written stories based in the real world where I arbitrarily added in a change... then later that change became, in my mind, an entirely new story arch that I based a sequel upon.
Maybe such a thing is neither necessary nor appropriate for your story, but it's a thought that I believe worth adding to the original discussion in this thread. It's often beneficial to allow such changes to real settings and see if you can discover a cause for them that links to the story you're telling. Sometimes the reasons won't even find their way into the story.. but that doesn't mean you can't give such a reason to someone where they to ask.
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) It's a fantasy, probably actually a paranormal romance, depending on how you look at it.
