Author: Delaney Parker
Working book title: GRACE
Story Statement:
GRACE is the gritty, funny and raw story of Margaret Hall. A woman trying to balance marriage, motherhood and friendship while also living with the chronic disease, Multiple Sclerosis. Despite grazing forty and the chronic illness Multiple Sclerosis, Margaret wants so badly to add another baby to their family. Her husband Nate, is happy with their five year old son, James and is not excited about the prospect of adding another person. Nor is he looking forward to how much another person will cost him. Not only monetarily but whatever sliver of himself he would have to sacrifice. After asking, pleading and downright arguing daily, Nate begrudgingly relents and soon they are on their way to family expansion. Desperately trying to manage her disability and boost Nate’s confidence in her, Margaret does her best to take care of his needs, keep the house clean and raise their son. But did Margaret take on too much? When her MS throws her into a savage flare up while pregnant, she becomes more afraid of what will remain when the exacerbation is finished with her. Nate, who already has his doubts, falls further away from his family and from being a good husband. Could Nate’s dark lies, countless betrayals and cruel deceit be the undoing of their already tender marriage?
Margaret’s best friend Marie, is a gorgeous unapologetic and fiercely protective woman. It gored her guts to not be able to protect her friend from the ravages of Multiple Sclerosis. But did Marie have to protect Margaret from the ravages of Nate? Or, from this new friend Margaret has found? The more entwined the new friendship the more suspicious Marie becomes. She is vigilant in her love and loyalty to Margaret but will she tell her friend what she saw? What happens when an unexpected turn changes everything?
The exquisitely layered story of GRACE is wrought with deep love and illicit passion. It tells of searing private pain and a person’s sacrifice of self with every choice they make. GRACE is about soul stretching strength. A person’s need to surrender and see the truth even at its most brutal. Then, accept what they now know and ultimately find forgiveness and grace.
A person's character is their karma. Margaret knows her character will be hers.
Antagonist
In my first erotic noveI GRACE, Nate Hall is Margaret’s husband and James’s father. He is also the antagonist. His resentment and bitterness towards his disabled wife rationalizes his selfish and destructive behavior towards his family. Nate feels betrayed by Margaret having Multiple Sclerosis. Every lab bill Nate pays, every prescription he has to pick up leaves him with the feeling of, “What about me?” Nate at times behaves as if his wife has exacerbations intentionally to sabotage his happiness. Didn’t he work hard and take care of everything even after Margaret left him holding the bag? Because of Margaret’s incurable sickness, Nate couldn’t have the life he had been planning. He deserves something just for him, a little escape from the suffocating existence he has at home. If life was going to punish him like this, he deserved a distraction from the reality of the constant needs of his pregnant disabled wife and son. Regardless of how much Margaret loves him or how hard she tries to make him happy, Nate is not satisfied and will always think he deserves more. When his brother becomes involved, Nate’s gluttonous behavior only worsens and the consequences could be irreparable.
Title: GRACE or Her MesS
The original title for my novel is GRACE. The reason for the title is because of the grace Margaret finds within herself. However, doing the suggested work and research that was suggested I do have a new title that I think better serves my novel.
Her MesS
The title, GRACE is too used and it does not convey my story as well. Multiple Sclerosis is in the spotlight right now. It is a terrible disease but it is now being seen and talked about. This novel has a main character with MS. Her MesS would be much more fitting and I believe marketable.
Genre and Comparables:
Grace is a work of erotic fiction. Here is where it gets tricky for me. For years I have been an avid reader. Having Multiple Sclerosis means a lot of time in bed. It also meant a lot of time to read. I would clear books like an Olympic hurdler. No genre, length or subject matter was safe from my greedy reading eyes. It was through reading, I got to live outside my disability. Yet, in my reading I could not find a story like mine. I am sure there are similar out there and I have not been gifted with finding them.
When I got to the first sex scene, I did not look at other books or scenes. I googled–How to write sex sounds…… and that is what I did. A layered story that happens to have explicit sex scenes.
On this assignment, I have come up lacking but it is not due to a lack of effort.
With this being said, I am also considering cleaning up on the verbiage of the sex scenes to allow the book to be more of a mainstream read.
Hook
A disabled woman undaunted by Multiple Sclerosis endures the merciless pain of relapse while pregnant as she desperately clings to her inner self before surrendering to the brutal truth of a marriage scarred by countless betrayals, resentment and incurable disease.
Other Matters of Conflict
Margaret struggles with feeling good enough. She believes she should be able to do and be all things, which is impossible for anyone. It doesn’t keep her from trying. Even though she knows there is something going on with Nate, her fear of being left and of not being enough for him, Margaret doesn’t allow herself to really see him or their marriage. And she takes on the emotional weight and responsibility of the marriage and blames herself for any of Nate’s unhappiness.
Setting Detail
The setting of this story is upstate New York. Just like the Northeast, the different weather plays heavily in some scenes. The different scenes,celebrations in the lives of the characters use the different seasons to help enforce the feeling of the scene.
When we first meet Margaret and Nate, they live in an apartment. Because they are on one income they are not house ready. This living arrangement is not ideal and a reminder to Nate of what he loses being with Margaret. The cramped apartment is a symbol of how cramped Nate feels in the marriage.
The stairs at the Empire Plaza in Albany is important because of the volatility between characters.
The hospital scenes are used to show both joy and sadness. In the same place a character is pronounced dead is the same place his baby is born months after his death.
There is also a scene in the church. The significance of the scene is because of not only the reason for being there but the unspoken dynamic of the people there.
