Sure, why not. About two months ago I discovered my ‘device’, the device that will create that One Defining Moment, aka ‘the Climax’, where everything changes for my main characters.
I’m using a legal fiction, Civil Forfeiture, as the device. I won’t get into too much detail, to avoid giving away how it works into the story, but this topic is perfect. Stunningly perfect.
I even have some personal experience with it. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier.
Now at first my Climax was simply the Chairman and Michelle selling their first starship to the government but then instead leaving the Solar System with it and having their grown kids finish off Starship #2 to sell to the gov.
Boring right? I knew that too, and wrote it out anyway. Again it was just something to start with, to get the imagination warmed up.
I have a 40 minute commute (one way), mostly highway, and I often drive in silence, just brainstorming.
Most times I’ll be running a single chapter through my head.
When I do turn on the radio I end up playing a song that might fit the tone of the chapter. This helps me to flesh out the details even further.
I was reminded of a time, in my current job, where I was called down to our marina to meet with two US Marshals. They were there to seize the yacht of one of our clients and they called just to give our company a heads up that they were removing the yacht to … wherever. (I forget)
That was an ‘in rem’ forfeiture. That means they take your stuff because your stuff is guilty, nothing at all to do with you.
How can stuff be guilty? That’s part of what makes this particular plot device so good.
In speaking with our client’s attorney it turned out that the case went poorly … for the plaintiff.
Perfect experience to build on.
I feel like I’m back in college in studying this Civil Forfeiture topic. There is so much meat available from so many different sources. It’s all really juicy stuff too.
So juicy that I am effectively re-writing the book to incorporate the process properly. FISA court, NSA, a couple of LE alphabet agencies will be involved. It’s the perfect device for my space travel story set in the near future (and then far future), just the thing I’ve been searching for.
Let’s just say that when the story is finally released you’ll wonder “How can that be real?”.
It is. It will be the only non-fiction device in my science fiction thriller lol.
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Dan Passaro 