The next story

Over the last couple of days, I've been thinking about a character who's a bisexual opera singer, performing on the most prestigious stages in the world, and in their spare time they're also a master of sword-fighting and fencing, killing many people in duels. There's also a fantastic story to be told about this character seducing a nun - and burning down a convent on the way. Oh, and did I mention this character's also female and living in the seventeenth century?

You're thinking I've gone absolutely crazy and am proposing an absolutely unbelievable character that would never fit in with the real history of the age, aren't you? Unfortunately, I'm right and you're wrong because this woman actually existed. She was Julie D'Aubigny, also known as La Maupin, and I first heard her story a couple of days ago.

This is perhaps my worst case yet of coming across a new story while in the middle of another one, but this is a story that's screaming to be told. If she'd been a man, her story would have been awesome, but as a bisexual woman in the seventeenth century, it's incredible, and I wonder why she's not more widely known. Everyone's heard of Casanova, so why is La Maupin so obscure?

So, I think I may have found my next story, when I've finished the work in progress and see where it gets me. I'll need to do some research into seventeenth century France before then, because when the story's so incredible, it's good to make the setting as realistic as possible, just to prevent it looking like a fantasy.

But, she hasn't distracted me from the work in progress - maybe she's even spurred me on to write more! Good day of writing yesterday saw the total of that up to 28,021 (why yes, I did push on at the end to get over the 28,000 mark) and with the 1500 from short stories that's 29, 521 total for the year so far.