I Have a Plot!
[cross-posted to shadowthorne]
My muse gave me a wonderful birthday present today, in the form of a plot!
In researching the time period I'm interested in, from the points of view I'm interested in (slavery, voodoo, piracy), I ran across, on two occasions (the voodoo and slavery parts) the first successful slave rebellion which made Haiti an independent country. The rebellion was started by a voodoo ritual.
The dates are uncertain, but I've decided to make this the climax of my novel - my main character is going to be the priestess involved, and she is working for revenge and to free her brother, who is still a slave there.
Not sure if that will work out, or if I'll have to make her more of a secondary character, since she would be a stranger to all but her brother, and I don't know if the only people at the ritual were slaves or not. I suppose it could probably be tweaked, depending on how many people were present, and whether they would recognize a stranger or not, or more importantly, if all the written accounts are from whites, whether *they* would recognize a stranger.
I also need more research on the slavery aspect. I know that families were often separated, but did that happen in Africa or in the New World? And if in Africa, where? Would she and her brother have been together until they made it to the French slave trading port? Or would they have been separated before that, so she wouldn't know where he ended up?
I also need to know which loa was responsible for the rebellion, so that, if she can be the priestess in question, I can make her be linked closely with that loa.
Anyway, I'm very excited, and I think this may be the best birthday present I've ever received from the universe or anyone else :)
My muse gave me a wonderful birthday present today, in the form of a plot!
In researching the time period I'm interested in, from the points of view I'm interested in (slavery, voodoo, piracy), I ran across, on two occasions (the voodoo and slavery parts) the first successful slave rebellion which made Haiti an independent country. The rebellion was started by a voodoo ritual.
The dates are uncertain, but I've decided to make this the climax of my novel - my main character is going to be the priestess involved, and she is working for revenge and to free her brother, who is still a slave there.
Not sure if that will work out, or if I'll have to make her more of a secondary character, since she would be a stranger to all but her brother, and I don't know if the only people at the ritual were slaves or not. I suppose it could probably be tweaked, depending on how many people were present, and whether they would recognize a stranger or not, or more importantly, if all the written accounts are from whites, whether *they* would recognize a stranger.
I also need more research on the slavery aspect. I know that families were often separated, but did that happen in Africa or in the New World? And if in Africa, where? Would she and her brother have been together until they made it to the French slave trading port? Or would they have been separated before that, so she wouldn't know where he ended up?
I also need to know which loa was responsible for the rebellion, so that, if she can be the priestess in question, I can make her be linked closely with that loa.
Anyway, I'm very excited, and I think this may be the best birthday present I've ever received from the universe or anyone else :)