When I finished Departure, I started thinking about the next genre for me to write, a comedy. While I’ve tried my best to write comedies every time my patrons requested one, it’s still a week genre for me, in my mind at least. Each time, I push myself to find an idea for the story and then examine the initial idea for places to insert the comedy. However, this time, as I sifted through my favorite comedies, looking for inspiration, nothing was rushing forward to fill the void. Even after I tossed my story cubes, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was about to skip the comedy and write the drama when I saw a YouTube reaction to Who’s on First pop up on my feed.
After watching the YouTuber react to the hilarious sketch, I rushed over to ChatGPT with the results of my story cubes. Without batting an eye, I asked it to give me a comedy featuring a castle or a building, a flower, and a cell phone in the style of Abbott and Costello. A few seconds later, the fresh interpretation of a new Abbott and Costello skit flowed across my screen. As I read the script, I could picture watching the duo perform this, aside from the technology that didn’t exist when they were alive.
Once I finished reading, I pulled up a text editor and started fleshing out my pair of characters, Sebastian Cole & Jimmy Wright. With their rough shape defined, I raced to their initial tale and leaned into the style of my inspiration. When I reached the end of the first draft, I was happy with this new pair of characters and the story.
After eating your Thanksgiving meal, grab a seat and get comfortable as we join Sebastian and Jimmy, a pair of lifelong friends as close as brothers.
As Sebastian’s car comes to a stop next to the last location of their scavenger hunt, the pair race to finish ahead of the rest…
As the car’s momentum ceased, Sebastian released the steering wheel and leaned back in his seat before patting his friend’s shoulder. “Now that’s an impressive sight.”
“Carol, would you stop arguing with me and just do as I asked you?” Sebastian’s friend said into his cell. “I need you to go up and down the street asking my neighbors if they’ve seen my dog.”
“Jimmy,” Sebastian said, jostling the man’s arm, “you’re worrying about your pet, when we have something far more pressing to deal with.”
The passenger sighed and nodded several times as he turned away, lowering his voice. “You’ll never locate him if you don’t go out the door. So get out and find Casper.” Jimmy cut off the woman before she could make her rebuttal. When he shoved his cell into a pocket, he stared out the windshield, and his lower jaw fell as he gestured toward the looming castle. “Why did you drag us out to this drafty pile of stones?”
A sly smile spread across Sebastian’s lips as he lifted the edge of his jacket and touched the folded paper peeking out of the pocket. “Remember, this is the last stage of our scavenger hunt.”
“You still haven’t told me what we’re supposed to find.” Jimmy unbuckled his seatbelt as his free hand whipped about as if trying to encircle the looming structure. “Besides, what’s a castle doing on this side of the Atlantic?”
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