Nanowrimo is still going on, of course. I slacked off slightly having to do other writing. So, it's still ongoing though I am toying with length ideas and what-not, and how best to continue the story of Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter.
Writing is an odd thing - you can outline and plan, but often the characters tell their own story or veer off in directions you don't expect. Lizzie is yearning for romance, I think, with a certain well-muscled, attractive self-defense instructor, despite her denials and such. Well, we'll see where that leads--or not.
Now I know there are zombie-book purists who hate romance, but... it's part of life, and part of Lizzie's life I'd think being involved so closely with her instructor, Pierre Moret. Despite the press of the day in real life calling her a "plain old maid" at her trial, there is perhaps some quality that someone finds redeeming in her? Maybe someone did in real life at some point that we never knew of, too. If she really is innocent, of course.
No, the Lizzie I'm writing is NOT the 1892 Lizzie Borden. It's hard to pinpoint the real Lizzie. Killer? Psychopath? Protecting someone else? Repressed? Who really knows?
My version of Lizzie naturally has some modern attributes. After all, society has labeled her a murderess even if she was acquitted. She's shunned and continued to live her life, no matter what. Did she thumb her nose at society by staying in her hometown after the trial? Hard to say.
It makes sense to me that if you're going to flout conventions and fight zombies, and no one really wants anything to do with you anyway, then there will be changes. She may very well have walked to her own drummer. So, I expect I'll take some liberties with her character again. I've pushed the story to a year after the 1893 trial, though I may push it back a bit. We'll see on both counts.
Anyway, here's a teaser from Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter 2: Aftermath - title and lines subject to change as I go along. - Titled - Lizzie Borden, Zombie Hunter 2: The Axe Will Fall - and it's out! See website.
And well... it has to be more than one line since I always include a historic snippet at the top... (all (c) c. verstraete - do not copy or re-post.)
Chapter One
“We
pray thee that innocence may be revealed and guilt exposed…”
—The
Rev. M.C. Julien, opening prayer, Trial of Lizzie Borden, June 5, 1893
Fall River, Massachusetts—June, 1894
Lizzie Borden sprang awake,
startled by a sound she never expected, or prayed, to hear again—a low, eerie
keen that made her skin crawl and the long, straight hairs on her neck curl up into
tight ringlets.
Chapter One
Q. You saw his face covered with blood?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Did you see his eyeball hanging out?
A. No sir.
Q. Did
you see the gashes where his face was laid open?
A. No sir.
—Lizzie Borden at inquest, August 9-11, 1892, Fall River Courtroom
August 4, 1892
Lizzie Borden drained
the rest of her
tea, set down
her cup, and listened
to the sound of furniture moving upstairs. My, my,
for
only ten o’clock in the morning my stepmother is certainly energetic.
Housecleaning, already?
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