Archive for February, 2005
February 16, 2005 @ 4:21 pm | Filed under: Books
I can’t find Ella.
I haven’t heard from her in a couple of weeks. It’s probably my fault. I’ve been so preoccupied working on upcoming scripts for The Next Chapter, trying to get my team in place for Relay for Life, and reading more for pleasure than for work that…well, I’ve lost track of her.
Before I come across sounding like a blase mother or an unconcerned friend, let me explain.
Ella Paglia is the heroine in my latest WIP. We’ve grown quite close and I know her story well. At least, I thought I did! I’m having a few doubts this morning, but I’ve been through this enough by now to know she’ll show up again. And, if experience is the best teacher, I know that the less I stress, the quicker she’ll be back.
And I don’t want to "miss" her too much right now, because I know she’ll still be a part of my family (kind of like a close cousin or a best friend from way back-come-to-visit) long after THE END is typed. The manuscript will get edited, sent to my agent, and begin making the rounds to various publishers and…Ella, Luke, and Reggie — well, they’ll still be hanging around our house.
It was that way with Gwen and Henry. And Grace and Kyle. (Although Grace had a *legal* name change and now goes by Ava!) And, most recently, we’ve continued to have visits from Emma and Jackson.
If you’re wondering what I mean by this, or if I’ve gone totally off my rocker, the facts are that my family gets involved with these characters too! Sometimes we’ll be sitting in a restaurant and Mike will nudge me, "Hey," he whispers, "Henry and Gwen just walked in!" And, sure enough, there’s an elderly couple who resemble our beloved Freemans enough to be their living, breathing twins! So cool when that happens.
Or the time when, right smack in the middle of a church service, Mike (who is ushering that night) sidles up next to me, bends down and whispers (again!), "Mac is here tonight!" Now no one else would know this, but he’s right. A short young girl with jet-black hair, dark red lips, pierced nose, and visible tatoos has taken a seat on a pew near the back. Unbelievable…
So I’m not too worried about Ella. I know she’ll be back and, together, we’ll tell her story. She’s a lot like me in several ways and there’s a certain vulnerability in that. I’m sure that on some days, it’s just plain easier to work on scripts or read another chapter in Angela Hunt’s THE NOTE than it is to delve into Ella’s life.
But it’s a story to be told. By me.
So, for today, I’ll work alone, trying to recall the details, the quirks, the nuances that will lend this story a stable foundation. And, when Ella returns again, I’ll have the essence that will breathe life into a story I want to be told.
By me.
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MELROSE MIRACLE Progress - Ella’s story
