Salsa, Sangria, and South Beach

November is National Novel Writing Month, and for my first time ever, I am participating in NaNoWriMo.  I have 30 days to write a novel that is 50,000 words or more.  On average, I have to write 1,667 words per day if I am to meet my deadline.  Given that I will be out of town for about 4 days and moving to a new apt. for about 2 days in November, I have to kick it up a gear and write at least triple that each day.


For this challenge, I decided to approach "chick lit", a genre I used to read in college, but have outgrown as a reader.  For those of you who don't know, "chick lit" is like a "chick flick", but literature, which is a genre of women's fiction that is written and marketed for young and single working women in their 20's.  "Chick lit" often features professional, strong, and independent working women, mostly in the publishing, writing, law, and journalism fields.  It almost always takes place in large metropolitan areas like New York and London, and often makes use of sex, slang and multiple cliches.

Sex and the City is a great example of "chick lit", as well as any Red Dress Ink book on the market today.  Although these books are cliche and have common and often predicable story lines, they are still bestsellers.  People are saps for love stories with happy endings, especially single women in their 20's.


Below I have featured a short blurb for my story.  Keep in mind--it is subject to change as the novel writing process is fluid and constantly changing.  Yes, it is cliche. Yes, you have probably read books or seen movies with a similar storyline.  It is my job, however, to make it as original and clever as I possibly can.  If you were into reading "chick lit", and this blurb was on the back cover, I hope you would pick it up and buy the book.  Although this is still a synopsis, in 30 days, it will be a full novel. Wish me luck!!!

Salsa, Sangria, and South Beach

  

     Zoë Martin is a fierce and feisty Toronto reporter, who is assigned to a story that will either make or break her career, a challenge she has been waiting for years to take.  What she doesn't know is her personal life is about to break wide open when she uncovers the slimy truth about her fiancé Etienne. 

     Desperate for a fresh start, Zoë escapes her life in Toronto and follows her "snowbird" parents to South Beach for the winter.  Zoë spends the first two weeks locked away in their rented beach house, watching Lifetime movies and feeling sorry for herself, while her parents enjoy the sun, sand, and surf. 

     

After a surprise visit from her best friend Collette, Zoë is rejuvenated and finally heads out to explore and flaunt her newly single self.  Her very first day on the beach, she unluckily encounters a stingray and meets the South Florida sun and ultimately suffers both painful stings and severe sunburn.  Frustrated and in pain, Zoë cannot seem to catch a break...that is, until she meets a man who will change the way she approaches life, love, and everything in between.

    

Enter Sebastian Santiago, the sexy, irresistible lifeguard who administers first aid to Zoë's many wounds, and eventually administers healing powers through salsa dancing, sangria, and a late night rendezvous.

     After meeting Sebastian and living life the South Beach way, Zoë discovers herself in ways that shock and pleasantly surprise her.  Back in Toronto, she has unknowingly become a local celebrity from her scandal causing, career-making story, the same story that uncovered the truth about Etienne, and her boss Serge offers her a promotion she can’t refuse…When Etienne hears about her new zest for life and celeb status, he decides he wants her back and travels thousands of miles to prove it.  Will the new, relaxed, and spontaneous life Sebastian and South Beach have shown her be enough to make her stay, or will the promise of a brilliant career and a devoted husband tempt her into settling back into her once comfortable life?