you get up in the middle of the night to write.
― Saul Bellow
Gemma and the Dark Lady
One night this week when I was still back in the condo I was thinking about the mystery novel I was writing. Suddenly, there was a fulguration―a flash of inspiration. Why not write about what's happening now?
I know it sounds trite and should be a given―I mean, writers write what they know. But sometimes you have to write about what you don't know, what you don't quite understand.
Here I was teaching fresh young faces about The Sense of Wonder in Fiction and was writing fiction but avoiding wonder because I wasn't in control.
Writers hate not being in control―not knowing where they're going―but if I'm going to be authentic that's what I should be writing about―what's happening now, with me and Gemma―and Quinn Anderson and Genevieve Williams.
Yup, me and the ghosts.
What else can I do? It's the hand Fate has dealt me.
I was mulling over these things en route to my lecture and I did what I seldom do―I set aside my lecture notes and went spontaneous.
The students were waiting, expecting a lecture on the sense of wonder in 19th century literature, but what they got certainly caused a stir.
"I'm throwing out the lecture plan today, people, because this is a writing class and I'm going to get personal and give you an insight into the creative process. I'm going to discuss how the sense of wonder upended my current writing project and started me in a new direction."
Lily, one of my bright lights, actually gasped in astonishment.
"That seems pretty radical Professor Radley, considering the way your mystery novels are so well-plotted and thought out."
Her remark set off a babble of responses that I only managed to quell by shouting over the noise.
"Listen up, people, before you think I'm becoming a pantser, abandoning outlines and flying by the seat of my pants, let me explain. I've always had the same recurring dream ever since I can remember and the characters in my dream seem to have counterparts in reality but lived in an earlier era. What I'm going to do is explore my sense of wonder by trying to discover who these people were and how they came to be in my dreams."
Tom Dunn, a quiet and brooding young man seemed intrigued. "Do you think it's possible these dream characters are ghosts or people you knew from a previous life?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "It's a good question, Tom, but all I can say is at the moment, I have no idea. Anything is possible."
And so the discussion went on for the rest of the time with much excited speculation and debate but no solid conclusions other than the general consensus that I should pursue the mystery and see where it took me.
It was a decidedly different approach to what the students were accustomed and it certainly sparked interest in this unique approach to writing.
Strangely, it also whetted my appetite to see what I could uncover about this mysterious young reporter from the 1920's and his connection to Viv and Quinn and for that matter, to my life.
It occurred to me that the Dark Lady and Gemma seemed concerned with my present life and Quinn, Viv and Cole were connected to my past, but beyond that observation, how these people interacted with me seemed murky and shrouded in mystery.
When I got home in the late afternoon, I found Kate and Mollie waiting for me on the verandah.
"I finished early today," Kate informed me, "and I still had the key so I came over to check in on Mollie. I hope you don't mind."
"Mind? I'm touched you thought about her. Keep the key and feel free to drop by anytime―Mollie just lights up when she sees you, Kate. You two have a bond."
"I told you, it's girl power. We girls like to stick together."
Mollie leaned into Kate, pressing her body close to hers.
"Obviously it's mutual," I smiled. "I'm glad you're here. I want to discuss something with you."
"Sure, Why don't we take Mollie with us and we can talk while we walk?"
"Sounds like a plan," I agreed, snapping on Moll's leash.
We hiked the nature trail in back of my house while I explained to Kate what happened while I was talking to Gemma in the Hart House Grill.
"That seems really strange and spooky, Si. I don't know how I would have reacted in that situation, but you were wise not to tell Gemma―at least, not yet."
"These weird experiences are affecting my writing. I decided to actually use these strange events and incorporate them into a novel. It will have a large autobiographical component and it may help me to come to terms with what I'm experiencing."
"So you can take inspiration from these occurrences and writing about them will be like therapy and help you to cope with them."
Kate was right―going with the flow would actually help me gain insight into my dreams and weird experiences with Gemma and the Dark Lady.
Things were finally starting to make sense and coalesce into a viable strategy.