Kirk Petersen

In my NaNoWriMo novel, the main characters made a bit of money and decided to buy an apartment building where they could work, live, and throw parties. The building was located in an industrial part of town (think Georgetown) and had a lot of character.

The geek hideout idea has been with me since I was about 16 years old.

I grew up in a big house on a hill in the country. It wasn’t a farm but it was well beyond the suburbs. It was a great place to grow up but by the time I started driving, I was fascinated by cities. I’d make trips down to Portland to spend hours at Powell’s Books. I’d always park by the technical bookstore, spend a couple hours there until it closed (at 9pm), and then walk to the main bookstore.

On the way to the main bookstore I’d walk by The Amory. I have no idea what the building is like inside but it looked really cool when I walked by it at night. That part of town has changed a lot in the past 5-10 years but back then the buildings were all breweries and old warehouses, so it was dark and empty at night. I loved it, though I still can’t explain why.

Over the years I romanticized that idea. When I thought about writing a novel, that was always the setting I imagined. Even though it had been years since the idea had last intrigued me, it was still what popped into my head when I started writing last month.

I think it’s good to purge these old ideas by writing a first novel. It becomes obvious how stale they’ve become. Next time I write a novel (probably a local novel writing month we do in March), I’ll be coming up with new ideas.