book
three in my culinary mystery series. In that post, I showed you what I was
going to do to plan Potluck for NaNoWriMo success. Here’s some of what I did before November
1st to plan my novel. I completed all the steps described in the link above.
Book Blurb (~250
words)
Making food mixes to infuse with medical marijuana seems the
perfect way for Alli and Gina to supplement the income from their personal chef
business. Complications to that plan arise when someone dies and Alli is
accused of the murder. Alli still wonders where she belongs and who she is as
she lives with a surrogate family, visits her jailed biological brother, fends
off a romantic
relationship, and anticipates a visit from someone from her
past. Potluck contains recipes to add
medical marijuana to as well as recipes for large-portion dishes for
neighborhood potluck dinners.
Microsummary:
Creating mixes for ganja foods gives Alli and Gina’s
personal chef business a boost that goes up in smoke
Theme:
Family is fundamental but what constitutes family is a
shifting landscape.
Sub-Themes:
1.
Insecurities affect relationships and
interactions.
2.
The search for identity can be uncomfortable.
3.
Impulsivity has both good and bad sides.
Character Sketches:
ALLI WESSON and
Gina, her best friend since 2nd grade, are partners in a personal
chef business that is still struggling to support the two of them. Alli always
has ideas of expanding that strain their relationship. Alli is a cork-screw
curled dyed red head whose impulsivity leads to as much trouble as her
creativeness leads to brilliant successes. Abandoned by her parents as a teen,
she moved in with Gina’s family and lives in a casita on the property. Her
brother Cal showed up in the last book and is in prison for murdering his and
Gina’s boss at the hospital.
GINA SMITHSON admires
Alli’s contrastive personality until they clash over just how far to go. Still,
the bond between them is strong and loving. Gina’s husband died so she lives
with her mother for financial, emotional, and caregiving reasons. Maria helps
with Nicky and Carrie’s childcare and general housekeeping. Gina is wound
tight. She needs to be in a relationship but has had trouble letting go of her
dead husband, Nick. A tall, thin streaked blond, she is attractive but doesn’t
play to her assets.
MARIA MARTINI is
Gina’s language mangling mother who took in the teen Alli when her parents
deserted her. They share a bond and a passion for cooking that Gina is jealous
of. In Potluck, Maria’s arthritis
triggers her getting a medical marijuana card for chronic pain. She hides it
from the family for a long time. Maria can be interfering but it always comes
from a place of love. She is about as tall as she is wide with graying black
hair.
EVAN KATZ is now
a homicide detective on the Glendale police force. He and Alli have had an
on-off romantic relationship for years. He wants to make the relationship
permanent, but Alli is resisting. He knows she loves him, but she won’t commit
and that puzzles him.
CAL WESSON wants
a sole relationship with his sister Alli and resents her having a boyfriend or
living with Gina’s family. He claims the murder he was imprisoned for was
accidental, and while Alli wants to believe that, she is uncertain. Cal holds
out the hope that Alli can be reunited with other family members that Cal
claims to be in contact with. He knows family is important to her and uses her
need to control her.
PEARL is Maria’s
best friend and as a former hospital supervisor, she got Gina her job there.
However, she was very supportive when Gina and Alli started their personal chef
business. She helped Maria navigate getting her medical marijuana card through
a doctor she knew to be an easy prescriber.
MOS SAENZ is a
high school friend of Alli’s who owns Mos Taco, a biker bar and grill in a
shady part of town. He’s always been in love with Alli but their timing for
getting together has never worked. He puts Alli in touch with Bodie, a local
grower to help with her questions. Tall, athletic, there isn’t a part of Mos
that isn’t tattooed or pierced. Maria never liked Alli hanging out with Mos’
older crowd in high school. But Mos is a softie who loves to cook and serves
his mother’s recipes at his place.
BODIE, Mos’
friend who grows pot to supply local distributors, is a ganja expert on
varieties, doses, and ways of medicating. He has both legitimate and
illegitimate business associates. He has more enemies than friends because of
their interactions. A botany major in college, Bodie is the premier grower in
the Valley. He finds Alli attractive and hits on her.
DR. FINNAGILL is
a doctor who generously prescribes for medical marijuana cards, especially if
you slip him some extra money. His patients are mostly men in their 20s who
want to buy street cheaper marijuana but with a card that says they can have
the drug legally. He also gets marijuana from local growers by recommending
them as suppliers to the distributors. He gets kickbacks from both. Except
Bodie. Bodie resists paying the money. The doctor threatens to stop recommending
the purity of Bodie’s products to distributors and promoting the products of
others unless he get a kickback.
NURSE ZOEY STEVENS is
Bodie’s girlfriend. She thinks he’s seeing someone else because he’s so busy
all the time. She knows about doc trying to screw Bodie over distribution,
milking Bodie for money. She plays both sides.
REPRESENTATIVE NATHAN
WILLIAMS is an outspoken foe of the medical marijuana legalization in
Arizona. He fought hard and used the issue as his main platform plank for
re-election. The problem is he is a drug addict beholden to his supplier, Bodie.
If his addiction is made public, he loses everything. Bodie has indicated that
if Williams changes his mind on the legislation and offers protection, that
would keep him quiet about the Congressman.
DONNY BUTCHER is another friend of Mos’ who is a
druggie known for petty thefts. He robs local growers in small quantities so he
won’t be caught. But Bodie confronts him with evidence and threatens to call
the police. Donny, who uses more than MJ, gets very angry and threatens Bodie
as well. He also knows about the Congressman’s addiction.
SETH STEVENS, a
rival grower, is jealous of the success of the varieties Bodie is growing and
mixing and providing to suppliers. He knows Bodie is doing something
underhanded and files charges with the police to interfere with Bodie’s
business, but he can’t gather enough evidence to convince the police. Bodie
also was romantically involved with his sister while he and Bodie were
initially in business together. They separated over ethical issues. Seth knows
that the doctor is putting the screws to Bodie over distribution issues.
BELINDA FRIDMANN,
cousin of Evan (but Alli doesn’t know it); journalism grad student writing
thesis; enrolled in cooking school to do investigation, hates cooking and is bad
at it ; helped Alli solve murders. Graduated now and working free lance doing
investigations and articles.
Key Events:
1.
Maria’s arthritis is so bad she gets a medical
marijuana card for chronic pain and a customer can’t inhale marijuana so Alli
and Gina create recipes. to add MJ to leading Alli to want to market the MJ-friendly
mixes.
2.
Alli wrestles with her relationship to her
brother Cal, just released from prison and with Evan her boyfriend.
3.
Through a high school friend who distributes
marijuana, Alli finds a grower as a resource for recipes and dosages.
4.
While visiting the grower, she observes a
threatening note, overhears a phone conversation, and witnesses a
confrontation.
5.
The pot grower is killed.
6.
Alli receives a mysterious letter and afterward
acts distant and testy.
7.
Alli is arrested for killing the pot grower and her
recent behavior seems to point that way.
8.
Out on bail, Alli begins to track down various
suspects to uncover the real murderer.
9.
Alli is kidnapped by the killer but manages to
save herself and get him arrested.
10.Alli reveals a high school
pregnancy and that her child wants to meet her.
|
Scene
|
Who
|
Where
|
When
|
Point of Scene
|
What Happens
|
|
1
|
Maria,
Pearl, Dr. Finnagill, Nurse Zoey. Bodie
|
Medical
Marijuana Clinic
|
Morning,
early Sept
|
Maria
gets med MJ card to treat arthritis; Bodie arrives with shipment, argues with
Doc; see neighbor as leaving
|
There
early so maybe no one will see them; Pearl and Maria talk about how to hide
from family; concerned MJ will not be available because of what heard; decide
to get different devices and use at Pearl’s
|
|
2
|
Alli,
Gina, Ms. Peterson
|
Peterson’s
kitchen
|
Same
morning
|
Woman
undergoing chemo wants to adjust meal plan
|
A
& G concerned woman can’t eat but must. Plan a bland diet with lots of
nutrients; woman asks if they’ll help her put MJ in food; shows them a food
(recipe)
|
|
3
|
Alli,
Gina, Maria, Pearl
|
Maria’s
kitchen
|
Labor
Day
|
Potluck
neighborhood party makes Maria worry about discovery
|
Gina
and Alli overhear Maria talking to Pearl about being outed at the potluck
(recipe)
|
|
4
|
Alli,
Maria
|
Family
room
|
Early
next afternoon
|
Alli
discovers Maria is hiding her pot use and confronts her
|
While
doing Internet search, Alli finds pot sites; smells pot on Maria; pot to eat
|
|
5
|
Alli,
Maria
|
Alli’s
kitchen
|
Late
afternoon
|
They
try to make a food product and both get too buzzed
|
Alli
and Maria try to adapt a (recipe) for Maria to ingest her med mj so no one
else in the family knows
|
|
6
|
Alli,
Gina
|
Kitchen
|
Next
day, morning
|
Alli
tries to get Gina to agree to make mixes for Med MJ
|
Gina
appalled at the idea; has no idea Maria needs it, too. Refuses Alli’s idea
without more research; don’t know what they’re doing; fixing casserole for
dinner (recipe)
|
I continued this way for 40 scenes, which printed off, were
glued to 5x8” cards for me to turn over each day as I work my way through the
scenes.
Well, back to turning over scene cards. Onward to NaNo
winning! Oh, and my word count stands at 14, 111--ahead of schedule! So far.
Bio: As a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I honed my
story-telling skills as I lectured on metabolic pathways to bleary-eyed
students at 8:30 in the morning. Students remember chemical reactions better
when the instructor attaches stories to the processes. 
