The Legacy of Rifle River Mills

Characters

- Julia (Julie is her nickname) Elizabeth Stoddard - Main Character - Age 10
- Lilly Anne Lloyd - Julie's Best Friend - Age 9

- Linda Louise Rice - Julie's Grandmother (Paternal)
- Elijah Owen Rice - Julie's Grandfather (Andrew's Step-Father)

- Andrew Paul Stoddard - Julie's Dad - Age 38
- Adriana Leigh Stoddard - Julie's Mom - Age 30 (Maiden Name Hoffman)

- Kelly Lynn Hoffman - Julie's First Cousin and Good Friend - Age 11
- Jessica Marie Hoffman - Julie's First Cousin (Kelly's little sister) - Age 9

- James Austin Stoddard - Julie's Little Brother - Age 2
- Ashley Rose Stoddard - Julie's Little Sister - Age 7

* May include an older brother for Julie, James, and Ashley.

- James Andrew Stoddard - Julie's Deceased Grandfather.
- Died very young.
- Started Stoddard's Landing.

- Wolf Payne - An old man who tells the children the old Native American Legends.
- May or may not be Native American.

- Bear Reid - Young classmate of the Hoffman and Stoddard children.
- May be related to Wolf Payne.
- May or may not be Native American.

- Angelica Lynn White - Julie, Lilly, and Kelly's teacher - also Bear's. - 4th grade?

Atmosphere/Setting

- Stoddard's Landing - The Stoddard family's rental and camping business, set in Rifle River Mills.

- Rifle River Mills - VERY rural - essentially Omer - call the river The River.

- Mixture of sand, clay, mud, Ash, Pine, Maple, Birch, Poplar - give away location?

- Describe old highway bridge used to bolster riverbank - US Route 22.

- Pirate Island - Contains the fort of the Stoddard and Hoffman children; small island in the middle of The River.

* I may change the name to Arenac Island ("A Sandy Place" - essentially it will be a sand bar
in the middle of the river) - Not quite sure yet though, as it would certainly give away the county.

- The Plains - Mysterious woodlands along The River; at the heart of the mystery.

- Lake Glen - Headwaters of The River (may or may not use).

- HQ - Fort on PI built by Dad and Grandpa, with the help of the Stoddard and Hoffman girls.

- Shiloh - Nearby city where the children go to school; base on Standish; nearest city of any size.

Ideas for Fictional Novel

• Set in Rifle River Mills (Omer's original name)
• Takes place in the campground and in the Plains
  
• Search or discovery of treasure
• Include the Chippewa legends of the Witchy Wolves and of the Great Lakes
• Protagonists are two young girls who love exploring the woods
• Include specific scenes from childhood - riding bikes and canoeing with Machele, riding in the back of Dad's truck through the Plains
• Possible discovery of hidden cave or something similar
• Time period will be very late 20th century - mid to late 1980s
  

Great Advice for Any Writer!

I happened to meet this woman on LJ - xjenavivex

xjenavivex: links
xjenavivex: Reference Book List
xjenavivex: book recommendations
xjenavivex: tips
xjenavivex: tips 2
xjenavivex: tips 3
xjenavivex: tips 4

xjenavivex: Recommended LJ Authors

We've chatted quite a bit - and it is my intention to use a lot of her research in order to create a writing page on my own webstie (I already have her permission). While I'm primarily doing it for my own reference (and I hope to add to it), I would like to leave it there for others to follow as well.

More later.

Lindsey
_______________________________________________
PS - Julie - Take note!

New Website!

I don't normally post something like this here (I truly try to stick to my writing), but I can't help this one!

Julie and I just completed TS Corner this evening! It is now open for business!

For those of you who may not know, I have Turners Syndrome and have been working with my friend Julie (who is approx. my age and who also has TS) to create a website and forum for young women who have TS. There are a LOT of resources for girls with TS, mature women with TS, health care professionals, parents, etc. - but not for young women with TS (By the way, it only affects women).

Enjoy the new site!

Lindsey

A Note from the Trenches

After a lot of soul-searching, I've decided to continue to work on fleshing out stories of my childhood, as well as all of my college experiences. There is just SO much material to work with (as you can tell by the outlines posted earlier in the blog), I've become overwhelmed.

Well, it is time to get back to work.

More soon!

Lindsey

A New Lease on Life

You may or may not remember, but at one time, I had plans to submit stories from my travels to Spain for a collection called Europe From A Backpack: Spain. Well, I made the decision to keep the stories for myself. My stories need to be told in the context of all my adventures at MSU. I look upon all I did at MSU as a cohesive body of work. There are a lot of highlights, some very lowlights, and a little bit that falls somwhere in between.

So, I need to get back to work fleshing out my outlines and creating short stories (and contribute to Pen N Paper).

That is about it for now! Happy reading!

Lindsey