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The Pessimal Caper

2108 was one of those years where I went into NaNoWriMo with the best of intentions, I just sorta forgot about those intentions until it was halfway over in the middle of November. Sadly, despite a good run, I was trying to "pantster it," and I'm no "pantster." I had a strong Act 1, and a worthwhile middle with a continual series of ludicrous twists, but just never found the right ending, and the damn characters wouldn't write it for me.

In my mind, I picture the story as hodge podge of different golden age pulp radio stories and B sci-fi films, as interpreted by the Marx Brothers, and directed by George A. Romero.

The Hotel Beauchamp is the height of the post-prohibition social scene. Jet setters from all over come to the annual debutante ball. This year, Sally Montanna is the talk of the town. She's pursued by the wealthy and powerful Simon Hamilton-Smythe, coveted by the unremarkable and equally-unimportant Gabe O'Grady, and mistakenly hunted by the mysterious Japanese hitman Luk See -- who just happens to be visiting the hotel that weekend as part of a convention of Yakuza accountants.

Just when things couldn't get any weirder, the hotel bartender has been recently outed by the press for moonlighting as a masked superhero vigilante, the mysterious scientist Heinrich Chase arrives claiming an alien space ship is due to land on the roof that night, and members of the house band keep disappearing, only to re-emerge later as brain-craving zombies of some kind.

As an added bonus, I invite you to enjoy the playlist that set the mood, helped me keep focus, and constantly ran in the background during the course of writing this novel.