New Chaplets

I need to integrate this stuff into existing chapters, or let it stand on its own as a new chapter or several.

1. Nina is attempting to hire an old boyfriend/classmate as the new press manager for Pol. There is some interest that she might rekindle the romance, but also that she is interested in having him "report to her." She has some real power issues.


2. Follow Nina's story a little more closely to find out she is a Political Science graduate from Purdue University. Her goal is to become chief of staff to the President of the United States. She is counting on Pol to get her there, or close enough to it that she can jump to a winning candidate. She is a classic king-maker. She wants the power, but not the position.


3. We need to see Nina interacting with both Pol and with her staff. I was thinking that Pol would be a State Senator, but am thinking that in order to get the launch to governor that she's ready for and a staff the size of what she has, perhaps she will have to be a US Representative. That opens up the scenery a little bit, too, with Nina coordinating offices both in Washington DC and in Indiana.


4. I need to elevate Jack's position a bit as both friend and mentor to Aaron. First of all, the weekly poker game needs to be more than a bunch of old guys playing cards and shooting the bull. These guys need to be savvy businessmen and civil servants who use the game as much for their own agendas as for recreation. I think that Aaron's call after the accident will be completed to Jack, who is at the game. Aaron doesn't realize he's deaf, just that the call didn't go through.


5. Alex, we will discover, is using his almost expired human embodiment to experience some uniquely human sensations that are highly prized by the aliens. I'm thinking it is food related. It certainly isn't sex or relational because he thinks that is really disgusting. But there is something about the alien's make-up that gets an illicit kick out of earthly food. Alex especially wants to experience food of all cultures and regions, but has a sepcial affinity to ... what? cumin?


6. The priest doesn't really come into play much until he calls Aaron and returns the phone to him, telling the story of the non-denominational "12 Oaks Church." But he will be present at the Memorial Home the day that Aaron shows up to find that Mad Aunt Hattie has died. The funeral will be conducted at the 12 Oaks and there will be an allusion to the idea that there is some form of reunion awaiting her with her high school boyfriend.


7. Hattie's story itself needs to be developed carefully so that there is always some additional detail that keeps Aaron coming back to her even after he's gone to work for Pol. I think that she leads him on, pretending to be too exhausted to continue whenever he gets too close to what she really believes. Ultimately, she is foreshadowing Aaron and Pol.


8. Finally, I'm going to have to deal with Pol and Aaron's relationship. It needs to develop with passion and intent, but not be overbearing in its presence. I think they are going to have to mutually agree that it needs to be kept secret until after the election. She doesn't dare have any questions asked during the campaign.


9. So that wasn't finally. I think there will probably need to be a scene that gets closer to the kind of coalition that exists among the industries along the lakeshore. The harbormaster is not the one calling the shots in terms of his disagreement with Pol, but is receiving motivation from the steel mills and oil refineries that stretch from Michigan City to Chicago.