Plotting an Adventure

I am in the process of plotting my fifth Oliver Redcastle historical mystery. This means I’m setting off on an adventure into an unknown land. Where will I go with Oliver? What will happen to us? What will we discover? How will it all end?

 I start knowing a few things. I know my protagonist, Oliver Redcastle—ex union army sharpshooter, ex Pinkerton investigator. A conflicted man struggling to survive the 1880’s in a troubled America. I know what his situation was when I left him at the end of my 4th mystery, Trouble in Tampa (speaking of trouble!).

          Oliver is leaving Baltimore to move west with his asthmatic daughter and on-again-off-again love, beautiful, mercurial actress, Marietta Dumont.

          As I contemplate the beginning of my novel, I think about this new phase of Oliver’s life. I think about what it might have been like to make such a dramatic change in the mid-1880’s. Will his little family thrive in the new setting, or will they run into difficulty? 

Of course they’re going to have problems. That’s what storytelling is all about. Conflicts, challenges, distress, danger, and how to confront and overcome these woes and misfortunes.

          Where will I find these conflicts and challenges? By opening my eyes and looking around. I’m writing historical mysteries. So, what was going on in New Mexico in 1886? Researching the history of a time and place has never failed to provide me with plot elements. 

Thinking about the human condition always serves up conflict. Piecing these two together will inevitably create a story. I know this. It’s happened for me again and again—sometimes in astonishing ways. I know it will happen for this new story. It’s just a matter of giving it time and doing the background work. That’s what I always tell myself. 

Of course, I’m not always convinced. When you set off on a journey to an unknown destination it’s a little alarming. That’s true even when the journey is one of the imagination.  I tell myself to have faith that it will work out. In the meantime, I’m enjoying learning about New Mexico and the history of the southwest. And I’m looking forward to seeing where Oliver and I will end our adventure.