My FaceBook Friends Made Me Do It

Recenty, I put out a plea to my FaceBook Buddies for some input into my novel. I wrote a "note" on my page there listing 25 random things about myself. My readers were to the choose 10 of those characteristics or incidents for me to work into my novel. It really shouldn't be much of a stretch. Even though my novel is not even remotely autobiographical, it already contains so many elements from my own life that I wonder if I'll have anything left to write about when I'm done!

Jason highlighted a few in my/his last post on this blog. He forgot to mention that I have him positioned near the trashcan as a scavanger each day in the school lunch room, salvaging the food the other kids are throwing away because he never remembers to bring money or his own lunch.

Not that anyone would actually do anything like that. Ever.

Especially not in Jr. High.

Ahem.

Anyhoo, here are the ten new ideas to incorporate into my novel:

1. a character who is NOT a germaphobe, who loathes antibacterial soap and hnd santizer and who (though I did not mention it in my "notes" - heh-heh-heh - sometimes runs the water so other people will THINK he/she is washing his/her hands, when in fact...

2. and 3. A character (probably female) who has no interest in fashion, nail doings, hair styles, make-up or any of that typical vanity/pampering stuff, but who is still reasonably attractive (at least most of the time- or so she is told).

4. The sleeping bag incident. Zip two teens (opposite sex, naturally) up in one sleeping bag on the floor then urge them to stand up together with their arms trapped inside. There will be a fall. There will be an injury. There will be embarassment that results in no adult ever hearing about said injury. (And there will be permanent damage as I can well attest.)

5. There will be bad poetry in this novel. (I'm glad they didn't clamor for good poetry or I would have had to plagarize.)

6. Someone will lament never having had more children.

Ooo. That gives me an idea!!!!!!

7. I need a widow or widower who has turned their empty house into a menagerie - and I know just who!

8. Someone needs to really love homemade oatmeal.

9. Woodpecker wars. This will involve a persistant and fearless hairy woodpecker, wood siding, a broom, rocks, and loads of neighborhood disrupting screaming...and suddenly I am envisioning some indignation (and possibly trouble) from the menagerie owner.

10. And lastly, I'm supposed to write in someone who prefers email to the phone. This won't be my main character or his mom. They have dial-up!

And that's it for now. I need to go back and add in Jason's rat's name (Mr. Jelly-Belly aka Mr. JB) and get busy moving this story along.

I'm sure my procrastinating nature will have me back here soon!