The one I am going to share with you is a bit silly. It is called Franny Lightsocket and the Case of the Missing Leg. I don't know if Franny is going to go anywhere (I've got two chapters written). Recently, if you follow my blog you know I wrote a script. I had to write it because the characters were bothering me. I had to get them out of my head. Once I wrote their story they left. I read an interview with J.K. Rowlings one time where she said Harry Potter just appeared fully formed inside her mind and she told his story. When I read I thought, "Cool! I want that to happen to me."
And I guess with the script it kind of did. Now I hope to meet other characters. I do like Franny (the little I know of her). I may write her book just to get to know her. I'll let you get to know her a bit too. I'll cut and paste the "first chapter" below. I have that in quotes for a reason. You'll see. I hope you enjoy Franny. If you want to let me know what you think:
Franny Light Socket and the Case of the Missing Leg
Not Chapter 1 (But the Beginning Nonetheless)
Francesca Eleanor Delilah Cassandra Bathsheba Abellona Light Socket's mother had been drunk when she named her little girl. Her boyfriend snuck a bottle of cheap whiskey into the hospital. He pretended to be her brother. Back then baby daddies weren't allowed in the room. Beatrice told Franny that she thought a long name was sophisticated and that's what she wanted for her daughter. Beatrice quizzed Franny on her name every day for three months before she went to kindergarten so Franny could spell it. Franny could spell it but she didn't like to. It embarrassed her. So when the other kids asked her why her mom named her Franny she said she was named after royalty in a far away country no other kindergarten kid would have heard about it. Royalty she was related to. Most kids dropped the question when Franny said this.
Not Marcie Smart. Marcie said, “What country? I know my countries. Countries are my favorite thing in the whole wide world.”
Franny still remembered that day, the day she was five and staring at a tiny midget of a girl named Marcie who had bug eyes and wore red glasses. The only country Franny knew about at age five was the United States of America. But it so happened Franny could read and there was a map on the wall behind Marcie's head. When Marcie asked the country question Franny glanced at the map and saw the name of one country.
“China,” Franny answered.
“You're Chinese?” Marcie asked.
Marcie knew her countries but even smart five year olds have limits. She knew nothing about different races of people. She thought she was pretty smart to know the word Chinese. Franny had never even heard of the word Chinese but she wasn't going to tell Shrimpy Marcie this.
“Yes, I'm Chinese,” Franny said. “Can't you tell?”
“Of course I can tell,” Marcie said. “What do you think I am, stupid?”
And that was that.
Their mutual ignorance cemented their friendship forever. Neither of them admitted the obvious lies they both told way back when. They both just kind of understood that it was five year old pride talking. Franny had and has mousy brown hair, skin so white her blue veins can be traced with a sharpie and a set of piercing green eyes that dare anyone to tell her she isn't Chinese.
Well, that's not true. Her mousy brown hair now as streaks of dirty gray too. The streaks don't bother Franny in the least. She's quite content with her 59 year old appearance. The gray streaks match the bulky gray sweater she wears all year. The only time she takes it off is if the temperature reaches 90 degrees. Once it hits 90 the sweater comes off along with her stretchy jeans, her comfortable shoes and her wide-collared shirts. She replaces all those layers with a spaghetti strap muumuu. She owns three – one is brown, one is gray and the last one (for the days she's feeling wild) is green. She still wears her hair long but instead of pig tails she keeps it in a round bun on top of her head. Usually it's messy. Franny doesn't care because her cats don't care.
Yes, Franny is a cat woman. At the age of 45 Franny adopted 12 cats. She's never married and she tells Marcie she doesn't want to. She has several male companions that don't need her to do laundry and who are content with dry cat food. But that doesn't stop her from reading romance novels. The historical ones are the ones she loves.
So she reads romance novels and sells romance novels and even has written a few. None of them have been published though. That would be embarrassing.
Franny sells books. She owns a used bookshop in town. She and her cats never starve. She also sells coffee, strong dark coffee that the old guys enjoy. They call her girl (which she likes).
The kooky thing about Franny is that she invites trouble. She doesn't mean to. It just follows her. You could say she's a mystery solver. She doesn't solve murders or anything like that. She only solves petty crimes but they are always on the weird side. Maybe it isn't fair to say trouble follows her. Maybe it would be better to say it seeks her out for she has this reputation in town for being a bit magical. Like witch magical. No, no. Don't give up on Franny now. She isn't a witch. People just think she is. It could be because all of her cats are black. And her hair is frizzy and grayish like people picture witches having and she cackles. Plus, she has a wart on her face. In the minds of the people in her town this adds up to her being a witch. But a good witch like Glenda. Glenda helped Dorothy find her way home. The people of Lester love their witch because Franny helps people find missing stuff. That might sound boring but sometimes the missing stuff is quite important. Like when Frank lost his leg.