More behind-the-scenes of my current work-in-progress, Top Secret Project #2…

The heroine of this story is the bookworm type.  Super smart, cute little glasses.  And I need a really great occupation for her.

I’m not entirely sure how it came about, but suddenly the word “museum” popped into my head.  (Too much Night at the Museum or Leverage or this season’s White Collar, maybe? :snowmanskiing )

Of course, I don’t know very much about the inner workings of museums, so I had to do a little research.  Should my heroine be a Museum Director, in charge of the entire museum & its workings? Or a Museum Curator, an expert in one type of collection (i.e. Ancient Egypt, palaeontology, Monet, etc.) & in charge of that one type of collection?  Maybe a Museum Registrar, who keeps track all the museum objects, maintaining records of ownership & borrowing—like a museum librarian, which sounds all kinds of fun to me. :lipstick   She could also be a Docent, who welcomes visitors to the museum and gives guided tours.

I just couldn’t decide!  So I took a bit of literary license & came up with something kind of unique…provided I stick with this, of course. :balloongoingup

My plan is to have the heroine work at a museum that hosts traveling collections.  You know how King Tut will travel the United States for a while, being displayed at a bunch of different museums across the country for a few weeks at a time?  Well, it’s going to be sort of like that, except that instead of simply hosting a traveling collection while also having a number of collections of their own, it’s going to be a museum that has very minimal items of its own, focusing instead on just the traveling collections.

Because of this, my heroine gets to be a bit of a Director, a bit of a Curator, a bit of a Registrar…all rolled into one.  In reality, something like that is probably a stretch, but for the story, I think it will be fun. :pinkdressdancingwoman   It will give me a chance to touch on a lot of different topics while also helping to show what a smarty pants the heroine is, having to know just about everything about just about everything. :womanshopping

What do you think?  Can I pull this off…or should I maybe have her work at McDonald’s instead? :animaprincess

Comments

11 Comments  •  Comments Feed

1. 

   TamVans says:

   I love it!! Now if you could just make her a redhead and a bit snarky. (just kidding) 😉 I love brainy heroines. And ok, the glasses thing, yeah that too. Have been accused of being a bit of a geek, so it’s nice to have characters I can relate to. Cannot wait to read this one!!

   Hope you are getting some rest and feeling better.

   Take care.

   On January 27, 2014 at 1:50 am

   • 

     Heidi says:

     LOL Sorry, this one is blond. Do you watch Supernatural? If so, remember the Titanic/”My Heart Will Go On” episode? She sort of reminds me of the Fate gal in that one. :pinkdressshopper I do a lot of redheads & brunettes, tho, so stay tuned…

     On January 27, 2014 at 5:30 pm

2. 

   Donna A says:

   Can we do it? Yes we can! (Bob the builder) I think it isn’t that far out of the realm of possibilities. Everyone is wearing more than one hat these days. I have to figure that museums would be on an austerity budget the same as the rest of us.

   On January 27, 2014 at 4:15 am

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     Heidi says:

     He he. I can be Bob the Builder. :animlaughing

     You’re totally right about cutbacks & multiple jobs being combined into one, so maybe I am more on track than I thought. Yay! :ropepig

     On January 27, 2014 at 5:31 pm

3. 

   Laura J. says:

   I like this idea! I love going to museums, but after going to them a few times it’s the same ol’, same ol’ so to have a museum that is actually changing every so often is actually pretty cool. Maybe you should also write up a business plan or trademark the idea because I could totally see a museum like this becoming reality.

   So, now let’s talk about the hero…. :buttwiggle

   On January 27, 2014 at 6:11 pm

   • 

     Heidi says:

     Ooh, maybe I’m a closeted genius. I really should copyright the idea & open one of these on my own! :animsidetoside

     And hey, we already talked about the hero! Remember this post: http://heidibetts.com/2014/01/manuscript-monday-13/ Hubba-hubba. :seesawkiss

     On January 27, 2014 at 10:42 pm

     • 

       Laura J. says:

       Oh yeah. But let’s talk more. :animaprincess

       On January 28, 2014 at 9:00 am

4. 

   Pam Lowery says:

   I LOVE that idea! Sounds exciting I would love a career like that. I love watching Mysterys of the Museums on the travel channel so yes you can make it work. Look forward to reading it

   On January 27, 2014 at 6:40 pm

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     Heidi says:

     Wouldn’t it be fun? Seeing & touching & setting up all that awesome historical stuff. And researching/reading up on it. That’s definitely a job I’d enjoy. :pinkdressdancingwoman

     On January 27, 2014 at 10:43 pm

5. 

   Cindy Rushford says:

   :buttwiggle if anyone can do it I KNOW U can Heidi . I will be looking forward to reading it . :lovecat Hope you are feeling better Heidi. :pinkdressdancingwoman

   On January 27, 2014 at 8:31 pm

   • 

     Heidi says:

     Thank you, Cindy! I’m definitely going to give it a shot. Not sure it will be super-stuffed with museum/historical stuff cuz I’ll want to be focusing on the romance, but it’s going to be a fun backdrop to a couple of scenes. :snowmanskiing

     On January 27, 2014 at 10:45 pm