Magic - yay or nay?

Its funny, I haven't written here in a little while, and I come back and re-read the last post to laugh at myself. Not because I didn't feel like that, I did. Not because it's laughable, its not. But because the first line of this post was also going to be along the lines of I Feel Stuck. Albeit a different kind of stuck.

I am trying to write a story, and I have the basic theme that I want to run through it, but I am stuck for inspiration as to what is going to affect my characters throughout it.

What do I want this story to be about?  My main character is a young girl (currently 16 or so, that is subject to change) who has a connection with a dead famous person. 

Will it be about love, lost and found? Death and dealing with it? A slightly supernatural story, people hearing dead voices…or is it just her? Some unusual connection to the dead? 

I want my protagonist to have a connection to this one particular famous dead person, but not any other dead person, famous or non.

Will it be a very non-exciting book, no major climactic episodes, just day to day living?

Needs something more exciting than that. Needs a middle. Needs guts.

What are the guts though?  What challenges does a 16 year old face?  Bullying – cyber and real? Loss of family member? Moving home and settling into new place?

Or should she be older? 18 or 19? Should it be about the thrills and excitement and nerves of college life? Moving out by herself, living on her own, making her way in the world? Should she be older still, working, dating, maybe even marrying and having children?

Should I go totally supernatural and have her talking to the dead and using it to her advantage? Or should her connection to this one person freak her out and its her attempting to rid herself of it?  

I've read so many books throughout my life, and its not like I have a type. I'll read almost anything. Which makes figuring out what I want to write about difficult for me. I'm interested in so much that picking the few elements I want in this story is proving harder than I expected. 

In the past my stories have been very loosley based in reality. There isn't very often ghosts or ghouls, there isn't an awful lot of drama, because, thankfully and touch wood *touches table* I haven't experienced any overly dramatic and life changing events. The few I have have been good experiences at the end of it all. So I am asking for help. 

What challenges do you face? What type stories do you enjoy to read about? Do you like things close to home or do you prefer the more magical side of life?

Day One.

I turn 30 this year. August 12^th to be exact. And I am unprepared. I didn’t think turning 30 would bother me, and if I’m honest I guess the age itself isn’t my issue; the issue is that I made a list – mentally – as a teenager, as I think many of us do, and so very little has been crossed off that list that it bothers me. I feel like I’m falling behind almost, that I should be at a certain point in my life and I’m not.

At the age of 15 I figured that by 25 – 10 years seemed a long time back then – I would be married (or at the very least engaged); I would have a kid (or, again, at least be pregnant or attempting to get pregnant) and I would have a job that I enjoyed doing and was good at. To complete the bonus level on Life 2.0 you also should have a house, a car and some pets thrown in for good measure.

Nope. Nada. Zilch.

I have a wonderful partner (I’m almost 30, calling him my boyfriend makes it sound like I’m a cradle snatcher) and a job so I can’t say nothing good has happened, but the job is part time and while its enjoyable, it has it’s down sides.

Because of this part time enjoyable job, I find myself alone a lot, at home during the day. You would think this would be good. The house would be clean, dinner would be on the table, washing and ironing up to scratch, but no, unfortunately not the case. I find that being alone so much makes me sad, lethargic, and completely unmotivated to do pretty much anything. I try to keep up appearances but to be honest I watch a lot of bad TV. I attempt a few crafty things such as cards and weird button collages. Occasionally I bake, usually so I have junk food to eat. But all of this simply serves to remind me that I am not up to scratch.

Friends are getting married, having kids, buying houses. I think I feel that somewhere along the way something went wrong. I don’t want the fairytale ending, the big white wedding and the mice making my dress. But I do want a life that excites me. I want something that I can look back at in another 30 years and think ‘Yeah, that was a pretty good ride.’

I know I’m not alone. I know I am not the only almost 30 year old who’s stuck in a rut with no vision of what might be. I know I can’t be the only one who sits at home, desperate to change things but lacking the strength or courage to try. What if it all falls apart around me?