Why, you ask? Because I write romance. I want sweet nothings whispered in the dark and happy endings and all the things that make hopeless romantics smile. I want that slice of time where I can feel like I am adored.
The ability of that song to stop you in your tracks and turn. The growing pulse of emotion you feel as it begins with a quiet line and crescendos into a tumultuous climax that leaves you both drained and sated. It can have a story, but doesn’t always. The important part is that inside you, it shifts something significant.
Have you ever felt the need to put real people in a fictional setting and then do absolutely terrible things to them?
I wish I could say I haven’t, but I have.
In fact, while feeling rotten last night, I sat down with my notebook and pen and started writing. And I am now at the point where said coworker’s brain is being replaced by a computer so that her actions and functions can be controlled by someone who is actually capable of intelligent thought.
Sort of a Frankenstein meets Stepford thing… Steampunk-horror, of course, because how else would you find the crazy doctor willing to transplant a computer with a brain AND know how to hook up all of the wires to the right nerves so that the body continues to function?
The names have been changed so not to call out the guilty, but I still don’t think I’ll be able to rightly publish this story without it being so obvious that I’d get blasted in court for Libel. Honestly, the person in question would freak out and accuse me of Slander while not knowing the difference, so maybe I’d have the ability to weasel out of whatever lawsuit arises by (1) putting the FICTIONAL CHARACTERS disclaimer at the beginning and (2) calling her on a definition-based technicality.
Unfortunately, this chick is the type that no matter how high you throw her, she always manages to come down easily and land on her feet. And that makes me absolutely, completely, and totally in-freaking-sane. People like that make me want to smack them repeatedly just for being so lucky.
And yes, the whole thing stems from something that happened last night. And the fact that on the way home I was listening to the Black Keys song. A lot of us talk about music as inspiration, and while the story has nothing to do with the song, it was the motion and the mood of the music that did it. This has become one of my favorite songs, and it shows up on almost every playlist I have.
Along with the working-title track, I have the following, for your amusement:
And on a final note… those of you that I said I owed stuff to… check your inboxes. I think I only have one person outstanding, and that’s because I just got it yesterday.
