Stories have a structure beyond
the beginning, middle and end. It’s a structure that goes back to the myths and
legends told around campfires. That structure, sometimes called the hero’s
journey, is evident in movies as well as books. One of the elements of this
structure is The Call to Adventure, also
known as the first turning point.
Whatever it’s called at some
point early in a story, the hero (male or female) must make a choice. Stay in
her safe world or answer the call and venture forth. Without that decision,
there really is no story. Does she have a goal? Does she really want it? What
is she willing to do to achieve it? Making that decision can be a leap of faith
as large as the one Indy makes in Indiana
Jones and The Last Crusade, when
he’s about to step out onto the invisible bridge.
In Romancing the Stone, the call to adventure is literally a call from
Joan’s sister who is being held captive and only Joan can help. She has to make
the choice to go to Columbia or stay in her New York apartment. In Star Wars, the call comes from Obi Wan
inviting Luke to learn the ways of the Force. In my book, The Pilot, Celara’s nemesis needs her to find a gangster.
In each situation, the hero says
no. Not just, no. A resounding NO. Joan can’t go. She’s scared to leave her
apartment. Her publisher/friend tells her she’s not up to it. Luke claims he can’t leave his aunt
and uncle. Celara fears
the gangster. No way is she going anywhere—especially with Trevarr Jovano, the Coalition Administrator who
impounded her ship and cargo and locked her in jail.
But something pushes the hero
over the fence. Joan can’t abandon her sister. Luke has no home left, no
family. When Celera discovers her brother works for the gangster, she makes that
decision. She has to rescue her brother.
So each hero answers the call.
And the adventure begins.
Excerpt from The
Pilot:
“I would like to make you an offer.” Jovano stared at Celara. “I need
to talk to Hallart.”
“You can’t be serious.” Space jocks—including her—took huge detours to
avoid running into Hallart’s territory, or his men.
“I assure you, when it comes to Hallart, I am deadly serious.” His
piercing eyes gave her pause.
“If you find him—and that’s a big if,
Admin Man—you can forget about being serious. You’ll just be dead. Forget it. I
don’t have a death wish. I am not helping you find the biggest gangster in the
galaxy.”
“In the galaxy? You exaggerate his importance.”
“That’s because you don’t know him. He would kill his own mother if he
could make a profit.”
Darkness crossed Jovano’s eyes. His brow furrowed. He probably didn’t
believe her so she added, “I heard he did kill his mother. Father, too. And his siblings. Ask him. Right before
he rips your heart out of your chest and slices it while you watch.”
“You fear him.”
“Any sane person is afraid of Hallart. So the answer is no. A
resounding No.” She didn’t even want
to think about associating with criminals like Hallart. Quintall couldn’t be
one of them.
When Jovano didn’t continue, she added, “Hallart is into some very bad
stuff. He’s a slaver. He runs dust
and outlawed weapons. I even heard a rumor he was behind the assassination
attempt on the Coalition President last year. She wasn’t the prez yet, but you
know who I mean.”
He grew very still. A muscle along his jaw started to twitch. “It is
not a rumor.”
“Yeah, well. The assassin missed and offed some unlucky fem who got—”
At his fierce look, her voice trailed off. “. . . in . . . the . . . way.”
“Unlucky?” His quiet tone frightened her. “The fem did not just get in the way. She was protecting
President Filana.”
Celara shrugged. “Well, you’re Coalition. Guess you’d know about that.”
After staring at her in silence, he said, “Yes. I would know about
that.”
What just happened? What caused
such a look of desolation in his eyes?
“I want you to put me in touch with your brother.” His voice had
returned to its natural timbre, almost conversational, and Celara thought she
had been mistaken about what she’d seen in his eyes a moment before. “He is a
sure way to contact Hallart.”
Jovano was wrong. He had to be.
“Celara?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know where he is.”
“If I can find him, will you help me?”
At first she started to refuse, but if they could find Quintall, she
could talk to him, find out if what Jovano claimed was true. And if it was, she
would convince Quintall to give up the dangerous life, convince him to leave
Hallart.
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