Bodie's Men

I mentioned yesterday my new work in progress, BODIE'S MEN.  I'm very excited about this book for a variety of reasons.

Here's the teaser version so far:

My lead character, Rachael Bodie, is the child of well-off socialite parents who have big dreams for her.  Bodie, however, is consistently unsatisfactory, and by the time she's managed to graduate from her near-Ivy, she's come to embrace their disappointment. Bodie surprises them with the announcement that she is accepting a commission in the United States Marine Corps.

Even Bodie doesn't entirely know what she's seeking, other than to continuously rattle her parents' world in contrast to her two well-behaved siblings, and maybe find a little adventure. What she finds is brutal training, deep friendships, tragedy, true love and an internal reservoir of leadership and courage -- a life she never could have imagined.  Over the course of a year of training in Quantico and another serving in Iraq, Bodie comes to realize that she's always needed to make it in the world her way, on her own.  That doesn't have to mean rejecting her parents' world, if they can just come to terms with hers.

Why yes, I am going to try and write chick lit set in the Marine Corps. It's a little crazy, but people enjoy reading about careers and lives they'll never live (I know I do!), so I think this will have a chance of being published despite its eccentricity. The story also gives me a chance to write what I know -- I've spent four very worthwhile years in the Marine Corps, a year of that in Iraq. It's never been easy, but it's always been interesting.

Most of all, I feel excited about this story because of my main character. She's only been in development for a few days, but she already feels like one of the strong, vibrant characters that drive a story on her own. For instance, here's a glimpse of the young Bodie:

    Worst of all, though, Rachael refused to be precocious. Her older brother Jack was reading by the time he was three years old, and sister Regan had not only followed in his footsteps, but turned out to be something of a math whiz. Jack would sing on request, and Regan could either solve math problems in her head or turn a few graceful pirouettes if asked politely.
    Rachael, however, was only precocious in her facial expressions. When adults asked her to perform for them – or when her increasingly embarrassed mother demanded some show of smarts, or, at a minimum, some cuteness – she had a habit of twisting her eyebrows inward in a very adult expression of disdain, even as a toddler.

She is tenacious, stubborn, and reliably snarky -- the perfect personality for a Marine, really. At least, a Marine who is willing to get into, and out of, all sorts of trouble.