Would you be interested?

[fallenlives.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this plot for a while, so I figured I'd share the basic idea to see if anyone would be interested in it.

Basically it's going to be a revenge story, in the "Wild West". It starts when a girl's family is unfairly butchered by what she believes to be Indians. Instead, it was a ruthless crime gang traveling the country. To get revenge for her family she disguises herself as a man and joins the gang. Slowly she finds that she might have made the wrong choice, but once swearing an oath to the gang she can't leave so easily.

Of course there will be a lot of twists, but that is the general idea.  Would you be interested? Anything I should tweak? Thanks! (:

Comments

[katherineokelly.livejournal.com]

I like the premise! Especially of a woman disguised as a man--that's a cool device used in classics, but not so much any more. Just be cautious about painting Natives as the bad guys, even if it was mistaken--readers are pretty racially sensitive.

But before anything, I'd check the market. Sometimes a market is just dead and publishers won't look at a certain genre no matter how good the plot and writing. For instance, most publishers don't want to touch steampunk right now, even though it's a cool genre. Make sure the Western is alive and well and commercially sought after before you invest too much time. ;)

[fallenlives.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the input (:
I don't intend to be racist, but I always want to try to contract in with the time. The continuation of the plot will probably lead to her becoming allies to the Indians. In the beginning though they are going to be a general enemy because most people were racist.

I'll make sure to check.

[starlight83.livejournal.com]

I love westerns! So I'd definitely be interested. :)

If you haven't already, you should read some Larry McMurtry. His books depict the brutal, gritty west better than all the spaghetti westerns out there. And he might give you some good ideas for writing about revenge and brutal crime gangs in that period.

[fallenlives.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the idea. I'll definitely have to check his books out. I'll be researching for a while I think, so that will be helpful. (:

[shinoakkitenshi.livejournal.com]

It seems like its an interesting idea. I used to read westerns all the time.

I do wonder what consequences of trying to leave the gang would be. Also what makes her change her mind about the gang?

Probably getting ahead of myself. But yes it seems like a good idea.

I do agree that if you want to sell it you should check the market. However, you should also write for yourself and market be damned. So I say go for it!

[fallenlives.livejournal.com]

Thanks (:
Haha, I probably will end up writing it anyway because once provoked I can't stop.

[svenjaliv.livejournal.com]

It sounds like it could be interesting, but disguising herself as a man? Really? Have you given any thought about the practicality of this? I mean, if I dress up as a guy and cut my hair, I still look like a girl. Girls move differently, they're shaped differently, they have curves in the wrong places and no bulk in other places. So if you're going to do this, you need to put a lot of thought into it. What about having periods, never being naked around the other guys, her voice, her lack of facial hair, etc etc? They'd notice that after a while. It isn't very easy to disguise that kind of thing and keep up the charade 24/7, especially around the rowdy, rough type of guys that hang around in crime gangs. And even if they did think she was a boy, why would a ruthless crime gang let a random boy join them?

So yes. You'll have to put a lot of thought into this. It's going to be very hard to make that realistic. Not saying it can't be done, but yes. If you do go ahead with it, bear in mind that your character will have to get quite manly. There's no way she can stay a slim, pretty girl underneath it all. It's going to change her.

[fallenlives.livejournal.com]

Yeah it will, and that is what makes the book a bit more interesting. That sense of constant danger that she can be discovered. Of course, she isn't going the be as feminine as many girls. Yes, she will definitely change. After all, shes going to for revenge, in which she will kill, and no one stays the same after that.

[dunmurderin.livejournal.com]

It would be difficult, but historically many women have passed for men for extended periods. In the U.S., women disguised as men fought in the American Revolution and the Civil War. Charley Parkhurst, mentioned in the Mental Floss article, passed as male from at least 1851 (and probably earlier) to her death in 1879. Her secret was only made public after her death. (source: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/10822 and more on Charley here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Parkhurst)

Elsa Jane Forrest Guerin was also a woman who disguised herself as a man -- in her case, she did it to avenge her husband after he was killed and the man who did it was let free She was sixteen at the time and disguised herself as a boy. Technically, she disguised herself twice -- the first time she spent five years working on the Mississippi river and the second she went out west with a 60 man expedition searching for gold. During this time, she also ran a saloon as a man. Oddly enough, she went by the name "Mountain Charley." She was discovered after the man she was hunting down revealed her secret (she found him on two separate occassions and shot him both times, but failed to kill him). All told, she passed herself off as male for thirteen years. Her autobiography "Mountain Charley; Or, the Adventures of Mrs. E.J. Guerin, Who Was Thirteen Years in Male Attire" is still available for sale (I checked Abebooks.com and they had 30+ copies available, most for under five dollars). It would most likely be an excellent source for the hows of passing for male during this time period. There's also a bit more about her here: http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/389/lemansky.html

Passing for male at this time would be difficult, particularly since gender roles were much more strictly drawn than they are now, but as these two cases demonstrate, for the right kind of dedicated woman it wasn't impossible. Another good book to read is Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett -- granted, it's a fantasy novel, but the idea of women disguising themselves as men is a key plot point to the book and some of the various tricks for passing are mentioned throughout the book. Also, in the Mental Floss article, there's a mention of a non-fiction book written by a woman who recently (i.e. within the last 10 years, I think) passed as male for at least a year to see how society still treats men and women differently.

[fallenlives.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info. It'll be helpful to portray how she disguises herself. (: