art brightons last blog post..Madame Geisha

Of course I am using these exercises to flesh out a novel already written in first draft. And they are just what I needed!

It starts with the alarm clock,
this ordinary beautiful day
in the sunshine city.
The arm that gropes
to turn it off is tanned.

He’s home; he wakes alone.
When there’s a woman,
he goes to her place.

He gets up willingly
to shower, shave and coffee.
Just one cup for now.
He’ll grab a quick breakfast in the café
on the ground floor of his office block.

He drives efficiently, enjoying it;
enjoying his space-grey BMW 3.
The parking bay has his name on it.

First up, a check-in with the old man.
They like each other. He likes
working for his Dad,
working with him, trusted.
He straightens his shoulders.

Desk, computer, figures, phone.
Calculations, decisions,
in the sleek office with the river view.

How can anyone believe
accountancy is dull?
It’s licensed piracy!
But the pirates wear suits
and twist the law to support them.

After a fine day of plots and strategies,
he eats at that little place near home.
Superb food, and they know him by name.

On Fridays he’ll go to the vodka bar
that only the cool people know,
hidden away in a back alley
with a small, happening band
that you can’t hear everywhere.

Then finally back to his apartment,
his niche in the inner city.
He savours its clean, modern lines.

The underground car park, the lift,
and in. A stainless, polished space.
One last drink on his balcony, the view
of familiar city lights…. He’d laugh
if you said he was lonely.

© Rosemary Nissen-Wade 2007

I would love to know how you can just come up with everything. It’s amazing, I’m so excited to hear the rest of the story. It’s very mind catching.

A typical day in the life of Mike Cove

Mike gets up at about three o’clock. He fixes himself breakfast, usually a large bowl of cold cereal and a cup of coffee. He sits in his recliner with the bowl in his lap and watches Jeopardy, playing along with the contestants and getting most of the questions right. He then flips over to catch the afternoon version of Sports Center before he goes to take a shower and get dressed. By the time he gets out of the shower his girlfriend Ella is just arriving home from work. She is in her late twenties and works as a dental assistant. If the mood and the timing is right, they have sex, otherwise they sit around and watch TV until 6:45, when Mike heads to work.

Mike walks to his job at a bar in the neighborhood near his apartment. He arrives just in time for his shift or a couple minutes late. He stocks the bar for the nightshift and then takes over for his friend Marisol, the daytime bartender. She usually sits at the bar for another few minutes having a drink and helping Mike out if he needs it. The bar is usually pretty vacant when he starts his shift, unless Monday Night Football is on, and then it will be about half full. Mike will usually talk to the regulars about whatever the minor issues of the day are until business starts to pick up at around nine o’clock. On Thursday and Friday nights he has a waitress to help him out, but otherwise he is on his own. He’s an efficient and friendly bartender, with years of experience, so customers rarely have to wait too long for service and they leave happy. Many of the customers consider him to be a friend.

At 1:45 he announces last call but it often takes until 2:15 or later to get everyone out of the bar. Mike does the remaining dishes, picks up the trash, wipes down the bar and the tables, mops the floor and takes out the trash. He then counts out the register and counts his tips, which are almost always over $100 and as much as $200. He usually finishes at about three or a little later. He then walks home. There’s a 24-hour convenience store and sandwich shop in his neighborhood, and he will usually either get a sandwich there or pick up a TV dinner.

Once he arrives home, he eats his dinner and plays online poker. There’s a nightly $22 entry tournament that starts at four in the morning. If he does well, the tournament tends to last until about seven in the morning when his girlfriend gets up. If he is eliminated early, he usually reads or watches movies. He tends to do well though, making it to the final table at least twice a week. He has won the tournament twice, with first place usually paying between one and three thousand dollars. He is hoping to win enough to enter next year’s World Series of Poker Main Event. Entry is $10,000 and he is about two thousand short of that goal.

At about 7:00, his girlfriend gets up. Once he hears her moving around, if he isn’t still playing, he begins cooking her breakfast, usually an omelet, toast and coffee. The eat together and after she heads for work, he goes to bed.

On Saturday nights he takes Ella to dinner and a movie except for once a month when they have game night with his friends Anna and Roland.

Thank you!!!

Rianon and Josh: Nice picture!