WIP INTRO | Cal Magneys Bouquet Of Hydrangeas

WIP INTRO | Cal Magney’s Bouquet of Hydrangeas

Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2022

DISCLAIMER: This is my original work that I’m choosing to share. Plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated. 

genre: litfic (duh)

pov: vignettes and a nonlinear timeline with alternating POVs!!! 

what: father and daughter are a little too similar for their own goods. they fight, they mediate, there’s whirlwind romances at boarding school, a gay art history professor with a mullet, an emotional support english teacher, a huge old house that’s probably haunted, gay aunts who like tarot cards and traveling, and lots of pranks and assorted mayhem

when & where: london (shoutout to dallon for answering my questions), switching between the late 70s and late 90s 

who:

etta magney: age 17, she/her, kind of a bitch, perpetually unimpressed, lowkey a hopeless romantic, super close with her dad(s), heavily enjoys not living up to her potential 

cal magney: 17 and 36 for the most part but it skips around a lot, he/him, had etta super young, also kind of a bitch, the disgraced heir to a massive fortune and one of the oldest noble houses in britain, really likes david bowie

evan doyle: 17 and 36 for the most part, he/him, cal’s not-husband and etta’s stepdad, he and cal dated in high school, took a break, and got back together. he’s the gay art history professor with a mullet and earrings. super cool and super smart.

lucien tahir: 17, he/him, etta’s best friend and love interest, penchant for absolute mayhem, would not commit arson but i would not rule it out bc he is definitely capable of it 

ollie tahir: 17, he/him, lucien’s twin brother and etta’s other best friend, also loves mayhem, is the only one with a shred of dignity and/or common sense out of the three of them, would probably commit arson

also featuring:

jamey reed: cal’s brother from another mother, definitely has undiagnosed ADHD

ms millard: aforementioned emotional support english teacher for both cal and etta

elvira: gay aunt who loves tarot cards, partner is roxy, gay aunt who loves traveling and cowboy boots

smith: he is weird 

+ the rest of etta’s weird aunts and uncles aka cal’s ragtag group of gay friends from high school

themes and aesthetics: receiving a bouquet of your favorite flowers just because, old tudor houses, london when it’s raining, trying to do homework in a grand old library, crisply pressed school uniforms, smoking out your dorm window, scratched records, berets and knee-high socks with mary janes, hiding behind a pillar, stomping in puddles on the sidewalk, dancing in the kitchen with your parents

ok so what’s the plot: y’all know i love a good story where nothing actually happens. it just kinda goes back and forth between cal’s school days and etta’s school days until the reader understands why they’re so similar and fight so much but at the end of the day love each other because that’s the beauty of a healthy family relationship. cal falls in love with evan, etta falls in love with lucien, cal fights with his mother, etta fights with her father, lots of parallels. 

taglist: @dallonm @august-iswriting @rataltouille @jennawritesstories @smalltownwriter @phiwrites @lottieiswriting​ @writing-in-liminal-spaces​ @rowenkrahn​ ask to be +/- :)

 — E. E. Cummings, Etcetera: The Unpublished Poems of E.E. Cummings

[text ID: But I’ll live my life if it kills me]

hello beautiful people! I totally forgot to update my tumblr on this but my collection is up on etsy now!

I had lots of complications with Gumroad and while Etsy isn't perfect, it's working a lot better with my bank and my ID (because Gumroad was convinced I was not a real person, somehow). unfortunately Etsy doesn't have an option for the customer to pay as they want, so I've opted to make the new donation half of every purchase instead of anything over $5.

if you can get the collection (and leave a review), it's currently the best way to support me and my work. so thanks in advance if you have or plan to!

do not have the energy to block these bots anymore. hey girlies do you enjoy literary fiction?

ok but in GOOD publishing news, we’ve officially landed on a title for my debut😭 creds to @prince–kiriona - thanks for the stellar suggestion!

DEAD GIRLS DON’T SAY SORRY coming summer 2024!