New Idea

I’ll go ahead and say that I think this is the most conflicted I’ve ever been about a novel idea–and I’ve had plenty that deserve a bit of conflict.

In light of all that’s been going on recently (particularly the threats/rumors to defund the police), I’ve been inspired to write a story about all the racial issues surfacing. Problem is, it’s not a definable anything, this idea of mine. It’s definitely split-time, but I’m not certain if it counts as historical|contemporary or not. I’m also not certain if anyone would actually want to read it. I can’t target it to young adults–being that my characters are beyond that and the story’s probably a little too political–and I certainly can’t target it to only women or the romance genre…since both POV characters are men.

Tell me what you think–what would you classify this as, how you would market it, would you read it, and what would you title it?

1962—Albany, Georgia.

Kenneth McNab joined the police force at twenty-two to protect his community, his friends, and his family. During the 1960s, the lines are blurred as to who is his neighbor, who needs his protection and who deserves it. When humanity is called into question after three long years of confusion, where will Kenneth stand?

2020—St. Simon’s, Georgia.

Clark McNab joined the police force at twenty-four to do his duty as the son of the island’s deceased police chief and the grandson of a retired police detective from Albany. During the controversial year of 2020, duty is no longer the driving force behind anything. If it was, would the world be in the place it is now?

Two men are experiencing the same problems across a chasm of nearly sixty years. Racial equality and social injustice are no longer areas of black and white—literally. In a time when whites were praised for harming blacks, one young man stands up for what is right. In a time when guilt and innocence are confused for the other, will a young man two generations later learn the true meaning of equality?

I’ve done some research, and most people are on the fence about whether the ’60s are “historical” or not. I read somewhere once that anything after the 1950s is considered contemporary, but then I’ve read several articles since then stating that, if it happened at any time in the past, it’s historical–although an era with defining characteristics is a better choice than simply setting a story in the 1990s because cellphones weren’t widespread (which I have considered before).

I am toying with the idea of including the POVs of two female characters, who both play really big roles in my main characters’ lives and show a different side of them and the things they’re dealing with, but even if I did, it wouldn’t make this story either “women’s fiction” or a true romance.

What’re y’all’s thoughts?