JAYNE MILLS:
1. Write your story statement.
Haunted by loss from a young age, Elle searches for the capacity to forgive her husband’s mid-life infidelity and accept other newly discovered family secrets.
2. In 200 words or less, sketch the antagonist or antagonistic force in your story.
Bobby Swanson is tempting Elle when she is at her most vulnerable. He is drawing her closer, playing on their past friendship, feeding her wounded ego. Elle is not ready to forgive her husband. She’s not sure she ever will be. As feelings develop between Elle and Bobby, he plays the part of the sexy, young seducer to perfection, waiting patiently in the wings as her marriage implodes.
But the true antagonist is Elle herself: her inability to forgive herself exacerbates her current problems. The trajectory of the rest of her life is at stake. What started as a search for the willingness and capacity to forgive her husband, turns into a quest for freedom. Freedom from her insecurities, from fear about her future and regrets about her past. Once she begins following the clues left by her aunt’s inheritance, she can’t turn back. She can no longer think about her marriage; her search may have started there, but it has become much bigger. Elle needs to claim her own worthiness by confronting the pain caused by her family and the secrets they kept from her, before she can come to terms with the current choice she must make.
3. Create a breakout title.
(The) Bottom of the Breath
4. Develop two smart comparables for your novel.
Liane Moriarty - Moriarty is one of my favorite contemporary writers. She was not a professional writer before she wrote her first novel--she worked in banking! She writes about women and their families, often set in ordinary neighborhoods or quaint locales. Her work explores issues important to adult women of all ages: friendship, marriage, parental relationships, love, loss and personal struggle. Her stories are character-driven with tightly woven plots. They are entertaining and humorous, but tackle serious themes such as domestic abuse, divorce, and the difficulties of raising children--all issues I and so many women can relate to.
“Her breakout novel The Husband's Secret sold over three million copies worldwide, was a number 1 UK bestseller, an Amazon Best Book of 2013 and has been translated into over 40 languages. It spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list. CBS Films has acquired the film rights.”
(2021) “From Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.”
Ann Garvin - Ann writes about women and their everyday struggles—caring for aging parents, illness, challenging relationships with spouses and siblings—with humor and compassion. She also had another career before writing, as an RN and a teacher.
I Thought You Said This Would Work (2021)
“A charming exploration of female friendship and cancer’s uncanny ability to put perceived slights into perspective…[I Thought You Said This Would Work is] a testament to the power of one’s own voice and the mistruths in the stories we tell ourselves, and an introspective, heartwarming, and witty farce.” —Booklist
I Like You Just Fine When You're Not Around (2016)
Other favorites:
Kristan Higgins: Life and Other Inconveniences (2020)
Ann Patchett: The Dutch House (2019)
Maria Semple: Today Will Be Different (2016) Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (2012)
Lauren Groff: Fates and Furies (2015)
Gabrielle Zevin: The Storied Life Of AJ Fikry (2014)
These stories revolve around women or marriages. They explore insecurities, dreams, relationships, loss, resilence--most in the context of everyday American life. They move me to examine my own life, my own feelings, my own relationships and my roles as wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend. When I read these stories, I am as satisfied as when I have sat down with a friend for a good, long chat, complete with tears, laughter and the telling of secrets.
Bottom of the Breath also centers on a woman--a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend--whose world is disrupted by her husband's confession of infidelity. This revelation sets in motion a forced examination of Elle's failings as a wife and how past losses have influenced her marriage. The stand-out twist comes as Elle learns about the actions of her parents and other family members, and the secrets they took to their graves. Learning about her family's buried past forces Elle to confront the realities of the excruciating choices her relatives made and how those choices affected her life.
5. Write your own hook line.
On the brink of an affair with a much-younger man, a middle-aged waitress sets out from coastal Florida with her estranged husband to collect an unexpected inheritance. Clues to an old family secret lead her to the bottom of the Grand Canyon where one mystical night changes her past and her future.
6. Sketch out the conditions for the inner conflict your protagonist will have.
Though she hasn’t yet admitted it to herself, Elle knows that she is as much at fault as her husband for the dismal state of their 28-year marriage. She was flirting with Bobby long before Loren's affair. She'd neglected Loren’s needs for years: when caring for their young children, then her sick brother, then her invalid mother. She relied on her friends, not her husband, for advice and companionship. She used Bobby, who was always around for a drink and a laugh, to escape the reality of illness and loss that filled her days. She shut Loren out repeatedly. How could he not feel unneeded and unappreciated? Perhaps unintentionally but still, she had taken Loren for granted. She was guilty of that, at a minimum.
When Loren confesses his one-time infidelity, Elle wants him to leave their home. She says she wants time and space to think, which Loren reluctantly gives her. Instead of contemplating her role in their problems, she turns to Bobby. She feels desired, sexy. He helps her forget her insecurities about her fading looks, her advancing age, the entire stage of life in which she has suddenly landed. She's been betrayed and she wants to retaliate.
As the problems between Loren and Elle continue to brew, so does a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico headed toward their small town on the Florida panhandle. They agree to drive to Arizona to learn about Elle’s unexpected inheritance despite Elle’s growing concern about the impending storm. This causes even more tension between the couple as they leave Florida, the hurricane, and Elle’s love interest behind. They argue on the way to Arizona. Hard truths are spoken. The fragility of their relationship is undeniable. As they arrive in Phoenix, the future of their marriage seems as inhospitable as the desert landscape.
Elle's world is further upended when she learns of a decades-old family secret. She now questions everything she thought was true about her past--her parents, her aunt, perhaps even her beloved brother, had all lied to her. She wonders if she will ever be able to trust anyone again. This news, on top of Loren's unthinkable betrayal and her raging hormones, threatens to destroy what little self-confidence Elle has left. She leaves Loren and heads for the Grand Canyon, following a clue she hopes will help answer newly raised questions and perhaps some age-old mysteries.
Next, likewise sketch a hypothetical scenario for the "secondary conflict" involving the social environment.
Woven through the first 2/3s of the story is a ferocious hurricane and the tragedy caused by the increased frequency and destructiveness of major hurricanes due to climate change. The small towns along the gulf coast have been repeatedly threatened and damaged. Lives are lost. Homes and livelihoods are destroyed. And there is no end in sight.
At the end of the story, Elle visits and falls in love with the Grand Canyon. She feels an immense gratitude to those who, a century earlier, were wise and courageous enough to grasp the importance of protecting it from exploitation, profiteering and irreversible damage. As she studies its history, she is introduced to the architect, Mary Colter, and feels a connection to her based on a shared, early-life tragedy.
7. Sketch out your setting in detail.
Lola, Florida is fictional, small town on the Florida panhandle with a history linked for generations to the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It is a quaint but remote town in a hurricane-prone area. Like most small towns, gossip travels: people know about Loren's affair, Elle inadvertently hears about Loren wanting to sell their rental building, Elle is unable to keep her relationship with Bobby private. Friendships are multi-generational, as with Elle and her best friend. Some, like Loren, begin to feel trapped after too many years in such a place. Others, such as Bo, leave for awhile then long to return home, or like Elle, hesitate to ever leave at all. The restaurant where Elle works is a cornerstone of the town, and at the center of Elle's world. The waterfront town and the restaurant serve as the setting for the first third of the book, and for the epilogue.
Loren and Elle leave Florida and drive to Phoenix and then on to Sedona, Arizona, the second main setting. Here, Elle is introduced to the ancient energy vortexes of the Sedona red rocks. Elle feels the energy, and reads about the mystical history of the place. She understands why her Aunt Mae wanted her to travel to see it. Sedona serves as an energetic, almost magical, connection to her aunt. Elle finds her spirit guide in the canyon when a hummingbird follows her as she hikes out to the rock formations.
From Sedona, Elle drives to Flagstaff, a quintessential, southwestern town. As she meanders through the historical downtown area, she finds more mysticism in the form of a silver, hummingbird necklace. The Native American shopkeeper tells her the story of the bird’s importance in Indian lore: it represents beginnings and endings, the natural passage of the cycles of life. “It reminds you not to flap too furiously to get to your destination, but to respect the importance of finding the treasure presented in each day,” he tells her.
Lastly, Elle heads to the Grand Canyon: the South Rim, Bright Angel Trail, Indian Garden, Bright Angel Campground, and Phantom Ranch. This magnificent setting engulfs Elle and leaves her forever changed. The energy is once again palpable. Elle descends into the canyon as she descends into her own truths. She pushes herself physically and spiritually. She does things that are out of character: leaves without her phone, embraces strangers, spontaneously decides to stay the night at the bottom of the canyon, and takes drugs. She emerges a different person, at peace with herself, and with her loved ones—those still with her and those who have passed. Like the great canyon itself, Elle is filled with beauty, mystery, and limitless possibilities.
JAYNE MILLS: 1. Write your story statement. Haunted by loss from a young age, Elle searches for the capacity to forgive her husband’s mid-life infidelity and accept other newly discovered family secrets. 2. In 200 words or less, sketch the antagonist or antagonistic force in your story. Bobby Swanson is tempting Elle when she is at her most vulnerable. He is drawing her closer, playing on their past friendship, feeding her wounded ego. Elle is not ready to forgive her husband. She’s not sure she ever will be. As feelings develop between Elle and Bobby, he plays the part of the sexy, young seducer to perfection, waiting patiently in the wings as her marriage implodes. But the true antagonist is Elle herself: her inability to forgive herself exacerbates her current problems. The trajectory of the rest of her life is at stake. What started as a search for the willingness and capacity to forgive her husband, turns into a quest for freedom. Freedom from her insecurities, from fear about her future and regrets about her past. Once she begins following the clues left by her aunt’s inheritance, she can’t turn back. She can no longer think about her marriage; her search may have started there, but it has become much bigger. Elle needs to claim her own worthiness by confronting the pain caused by her family and the secrets they kept from her, before she can come to terms with the current choice she must make. 3. Create a breakout title. (The) Bottom of the Breath 4. Develop two smart comparables for your novel. Liane Moriarty - Moriarty is one of my favorite contemporary writers. She was not a professional writer before she wrote her first novel--she worked in banking! She writes about women and their families, often set in ordinary neighborhoods or quaint locales. Her work explores issues important to adult women of all ages: friendship, marriage, parental relationships, love, loss and personal struggle. Her stories are character-driven with tightly woven plots. They are entertaining and humorous, but tackle serious themes such as domestic abuse, divorce, and the difficulties of raising children--all issues I and so many women can relate to. “Her breakout novel The Husband's Secret sold over three million copies worldwide, was a number 1 UK bestseller, an Amazon Best Book of 2013 and has been translated into over 40 languages. It spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list. CBS Films has acquired the film rights.” (2021) “From Liane Moriarty, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers, comes Apples Never Fall, a novel that looks at marriage, siblings, and how the people we love the most can hurt us the deepest.” Ann Garvin - Ann writes about women and their everyday struggles—caring for aging parents, illness, challenging relationships with spouses and siblings—with humor and compassion. She also had another career before writing, as an RN and a teacher. I Thought You Said This Would Work (2021) “A charming exploration of female friendship and cancer’s uncanny ability to put perceived slights into perspective…[I Thought You Said This Would Work is] a testament to the power of one’s own voice and the mistruths in the stories we tell ourselves, and an introspective, heartwarming, and witty farce.” —Booklist I Like You Just Fine When You're Not Around (2016) Other favorites: Kristan Higgins: Life and Other Inconveniences (2020) Ann Patchett: The Dutch House (2019) Maria Semple: Today Will Be Different (2016) Where’d You Go, Bernadette? (2012) Lauren Groff: Fates and Furies (2015) Gabrielle Zevin: The Storied Life Of AJ Fikry (2014) These stories revolve around women or marriages. They explore insecurities, dreams, relationships, loss, resilence--most in the context of everyday American life. They move me to examine my own life, my own feelings, my own relationships and my roles as wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend. When I read these stories, I am as satisfied as when I have sat down with a friend for a good, long chat, complete with tears, laughter and the telling of secrets. Bottom of the Breath also centers on a woman--a wife, a mother, a sister, a friend--whose world is disrupted by her husband's confession of infidelity. This revelation sets in motion a forced examination of Elle's failings as a wife and how past losses have influenced her marriage. The stand-out twist comes as Elle learns about the actions of her parents and other family members, and the secrets they took to their graves. Learning about her family's buried past forces Elle to confront the realities of the excruciating choices her relatives made and how those choices affected her life. 5. Write your own hook line. On the brink of an affair with a much-younger man, a middle-aged waitress sets out from coastal Florida with her estranged husband to collect an unexpected inheritance. Clues to an old family secret lead her to the bottom of the Grand Canyon where one mystical night changes her past and her future. 6. Sketch out the conditions for the inner conflict your protagonist will have. Though she hasn’t yet admitted it to herself, Elle knows that she is as much at fault as her husband for the dismal state of their 28-year marriage. She was flirting with Bobby long before Loren's affair. She'd neglected Loren’s needs for years: when caring for their young children, then her sick brother, then her invalid mother. She relied on her friends, not her husband, for advice and companionship. She used Bobby, who was always around for a drink and a laugh, to escape the reality of illness and loss that filled her days. She shut Loren out repeatedly. How could he not feel unneeded and unappreciated? Perhaps unintentionally but still, she had taken Loren for granted. She was guilty of that, at a minimum. When Loren confesses his one-time infidelity, Elle wants him to leave their home. She says she wants time and space to think, which Loren reluctantly gives her. Instead of contemplating her role in their problems, she turns to Bobby. She feels desired, sexy. He helps her forget her insecurities about her fading looks, her advancing age, the entire stage of life in which she has suddenly landed. She's been betrayed and she wants to retaliate. As the problems between Loren and Elle continue to brew, so does a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico headed toward their small town on the Florida panhandle. They agree to drive to Arizona to learn about Elle’s unexpected inheritance despite Elle’s growing concern about the impending storm. This causes even more tension between the couple as they leave Florida, the hurricane, and Elle’s love interest behind. They argue on the way to Arizona. Hard truths are spoken. The fragility of their relationship is undeniable. As they arrive in Phoenix, the future of their marriage seems as inhospitable as the desert landscape. Elle's world is further upended when she learns of a decades-old family secret. She now questions everything she thought was true about her past--her parents, her aunt, perhaps even her beloved brother, had all lied to her. She wonders if she will ever be able to trust anyone again. This news, on top of Loren's unthinkable betrayal and her raging hormones, threatens to destroy what little self-confidence Elle has left. She leaves Loren and heads for the Grand Canyon, following a clue she hopes will help answer newly raised questions and perhaps some age-old mysteries. Next, likewise sketch a hypothetical scenario for the "secondary conflict" involving the social environment. Woven through the first 2/3s of the story is a ferocious hurricane and the tragedy caused by the increased frequency and destructiveness of major hurricanes due to climate change. The small towns along the gulf coast have been repeatedly threatened and damaged. Lives are lost. Homes and livelihoods are destroyed. And there is no end in sight. At the end of the story, Elle visits and falls in love with the Grand Canyon. She feels an immense gratitude to those who, a century earlier, were wise and courageous enough to grasp the importance of protecting it from exploitation, profiteering and irreversible damage. As she studies its history, she is introduced to the architect, Mary Colter, and feels a connection to her based on a shared, early-life tragedy. 7. Sketch out your setting in detail. Lola, Florida is fictional, small town on the Florida panhandle with a history linked for generations to the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It is a quaint but remote town in a hurricane-prone area. Like most small towns, gossip travels: people know about Loren's affair, Elle inadvertently hears about Loren wanting to sell their rental building, Elle is unable to keep her relationship with Bobby private. Friendships are multi-generational, as with Elle and her best friend. Some, like Loren, begin to feel trapped after too many years in such a place. Others, such as Bo, leave for awhile then long to return home, or like Elle, hesitate to ever leave at all. The restaurant where Elle works is a cornerstone of the town, and at the center of Elle's world. The waterfront town and the restaurant serve as the setting for the first third of the book, and for the epilogue. Loren and Elle leave Florida and drive to Phoenix and then on to Sedona, Arizona, the second main setting. Here, Elle is introduced to the ancient energy vortexes of the Sedona red rocks. Elle feels the energy, and reads about the mystical history of the place. She understands why her Aunt Mae wanted her to travel to see it. Sedona serves as an energetic, almost magical, connection to her aunt. Elle finds her spirit guide in the canyon when a hummingbird follows her as she hikes out to the rock formations. From Sedona, Elle drives to Flagstaff, a quintessential, southwestern town. As she meanders through the historical downtown area, she finds more mysticism in the form of a silver, hummingbird necklace. The Native American shopkeeper tells her the story of the bird’s importance in Indian lore: it represents beginnings and endings, the natural passage of the cycles of life. “It reminds you not to flap too furiously to get to your destination, but to respect the importance of finding the treasure presented in each day,” he tells her. Lastly, Elle heads to the Grand Canyon: the South Rim, Bright Angel Trail, Indian Garden, Bright Angel Campground, and Phantom Ranch. This magnificent setting engulfs Elle and leaves her forever changed. The energy is once again palpable. Elle descends into the canyon as she descends into her own truths. She pushes herself physically and spiritually. She does things that are out of character: leaves without her phone, embraces strangers, spontaneously decides to stay the night at the bottom of the canyon, and takes drugs. She emerges a different person, at peace with herself, and with her loved ones—those still with her and those who have passed. Like the great canyon itself, Elle is filled with beauty, mystery, and limitless possibilities.