Plot Revision!

About the time that I started this blog, I stopped writing The Life We Knew...temporarily. It wasn't out of apathy; I stopped because I knew the story needed to change, and I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I spent hours every day thinking about where to take the story, and I ended up getting so stressed about it that I actually began to loathe it.

A couple of weeks ago, I adopted a different approach. I decided to stop thinking about the story altogether. I didn't need the frustration, and despite my near-constant brainstorming, I wasn't getting anywhere. I hoped that once I stopped thinking about the story, an idea would come to me. And while I don't want to jinx anything, it seems that's pretty much what has happened.

Some things had to change. Originally, William Farrister was managing director of a motor car company and the son of a wealthy industrialist. I've changed that. He still works for Pierce-Arrow Motors, but he's now in the lower ranks. And his family? They're rapidly losing their wealth and status as his father's (yet-to-be-determined) industry slowly dies. All his life, Will was free to take advantage of his family's fortune. Now as that fortune disappears, he is forced to go out and try to become a success on his own.

In 1912, Will is married to his young wife Emilie and struggling to make a name for himself at Pierce-Arrow. They live in a stately home in Amherst, New York...a home which Will's father bought for him in happier times. Will begins to worry that he will no longer he able to support the lifestyle to which he and Emilie have become accustomed, as he can no longer fall back on his family's wealth.

February brings Will a shining opportunity. His employer offers him a chance to deliver a touring car to Chelmsford, England for a prominent aristocrat. But that isn't all—he is to go on a 3-month goodwill tour of Great Britain for Pierce-Arrow, kindling the interest of various potential clients. It's the big break Will has been hoping for, and success could land him a place on Pierce-Arrow's board of directors. But he is hesitant to go, as Emilie's father has been gravely ill for weeks. In the end, Emilie encourages him to leave for Europe. She promises that she will be all right without him and insists that her father's health will improve.

William's tour of England is hardly a success. Few people seem interested in importing an American motor car, as there are many quality British, French, and Italian marques from which to choose. Will is disheartened, and just as he starts to give in to desperation, he receives a letter from his trusted friend/attorney in Buffalo. Emilie's father has died, and Will's lawyer insists that he cut his tour short and return home on Titanic. "The loss is too much for Emilie to bear," he writes, "especially in her delicate condition." This takes Will by extreme surprise—he had no idea his wife was pregnant. She kept it from him so he wouldn't give up his trip to Europe. Needless to say, Will boards Titanic as fast as he can.

Aboard the ship, Will meets a host of interesting characters and even runs into a few friends, some of whom are shocked to learn of his father's financial misfortune. Between his failure in Europe, his family's vanishing wealth, his father-in-law's death, and the thought of becoming a father, Will is infinitely vexed. But opportunity is about to come knocking. Several prominent businessmen are aboard the ship, and are very interested in enlisting Pierce-Arrow's services for an exciting new project in Montreal. The future suddenly looks very bright for young William. But of course, you know what happens next.