Alive...it's ALIVE

“Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.”
― Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

Karen Sorenson is willowy, elegant and bright - yet, her vulnerable side seems inexplicable appended to an experienced police officer. Riley Malloy is smart and sassy, tiny in stature. She can make a Blackhawk helicopter salsa dance. Amy Painter's maternal instincts somehow compliment the SWAT gear she dons. Cici?

She's...twenty-eight. Solid build, tall and athletic. The five year mark of her law enforcement journey finds her settling into the job. Unsure if it will become a career, reluctant to be drawn too deeply into the culture, she confronts a dilemma every officer faces. When push comes to shove - when her principles conflict with the requirements of a peculiar and demanding profession, what happens?

The rough draft of A More Perfect Union is done...mostly...and I'm still struggling with Cici's voice. Does she find herself wanting to go along, to feel part of the group even when she disagrees with their direction? Would she, as one friend suggested, decide it wasn't her fight and find ways to sidestep her more vocal coworkers? How about digging in her heels early, setting the tone so she isn't pushed around? What would a quiet, introspective woman with a hurtful past invest in a job requiring her to engage in "lawful" behavior she finds distasteful?

So I'm back in the business of asking. What do you think? Colorado has passed firearms laws she must enforce, but her friends challenge her to actively resist. And then...killing.

She's twenty-eight and alone.