first chapter of novel

character-sketches/harriet.md

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+# Character Questionnaire: Harriet
+
+1. Name: Harriet Anna Allen
+2. Age: 28
+3. Height: 5'6"
+4. Eye color: Blue
+5. Physical appearance: She has sharp features in her face -- very angular and pointed. Her eyes flash when she's in the middle of speaking about something she considers important, or that is passionate about.  She has somewhat large feet compared to her height, and very large hair -- curly and dark brown, it waves around her unless tied back with a clip. 
+6. Strange or unique physical attributes: She has an unusual birthmark on her left side, right in the middle of the line between her armpit and her hips
+7. Favorite clothing style/outfit: She likes skirts & tights with t-shirts and sneakers, $10 zippered hoodies, and blouses with collars like flower petals
+8. Where does he or she live? What is it like there: International House on W. 120th Street, with the other first and second year phD students.
+9. Defining gestures/movements (i.e., curling their lip when he or she speaks, always keeping their eyes on the ground, etc.): She bites on her pens and pencils when she is deep in thought, or nervous. While she's speaking to someone she is intimidated by, she often looks right into their eyes for inordinate amounts of time 
+10. Things about their appearance he or she would most like to change: She feels like all stomaches are weird. 
+11. Speaking style (fast, talkative, monotone, etc.): She speaks quietly and quickly
+12. Pet peeves: People who slurp tea
+13. Fondest memory: The first time a wild bird landed on her hand -- she was 8, and standing perfectly still. She reached out her finger, and the bird she'd been observing for the last 30min landed, looked at her, and flew away
+14. Hobbies/interests: Ecology, nature, conservation, space, knitting, crocheting, indoor gardening for her tea
+15. Special skills/abilities: She grows and blends amazing teas
+16. Insecurities: She has *major* imposter syndrome. She thinks people believe she is smarter than she really is, and she is undeserving of all her achievements. 
+17. Quirks/eccentricities: 
+18. Temperament (easygoing, easily angered, etc.): She is quiet, self-contained, extremely introspective, but not afraid of talking or voicing her opinions on what really matters to her. 
+19. Negative traits:  She is a harsh critic, to herself and others. 
+20. Things that upset him or her: Animal cruelty, littering, people eating seafood, "alpha" male types, people who like to dominate others
+21. Things that embarrass him or her: Being called out in front of a large group
+22. This character is highly opinionated about: Ecology, conservation, animal rights
+23. Any phobias? Heights, but more accurately: the feeling of falling, of free-falling with no chance of being saved 
+24. Things that make him or her happy: A nicely brewed cup of tea, nature walks, observing species interacting in the wild, her cat sitting next to her while she works into the night
+25. Family (describe): A father, a sister, a dead brother, and no idea who or where her mother is.
+26. Deepest, darkest secret: Once when she was 7 years old, she was in her backyard playing with a stick, waving it around like she was a witch. She saw a snake wiggling in the grass, and was entranced. She squished it's head under her stick, and when it stopped wiggling, and she realized what she'd done, she ran inside and didn't speak a word for three weeks, but cried every night to herself. Now her life is dedicated to ecology. 
+27. Reason he or she kept this secret for so long: Guilt, pain of causing pain/death to another creature, shame. 
+28. Other people’s opinions of this character (What do people like about this character? What do they dislike about this character?): she's soft spoken but opinionated, won't get in your face but won't back down. No one really invites her to parties -- they invite her to book signings, movies, picnics, and the like. She's good in a small group.
+29. Favorite bands/songs/type of music: She listens to too much Elliott Smith, Explosions in the Sky, and Portugal the Man
+30. Favorite movies: Blackfish (documentary)
+31. Favorite TV shows: River Monsters on Animal Planet
+32. Favorite books: "Why Big Fierce Animals Are Rare" by Paul A. Colinvaux
+33. Favorite foods: Mashed potatoes and Caesar salad
+34. Favorite sports/sports teams: 
+35. Political views: Left
+36. Religion/philosophy of life: No religion, but her philosophy aligns much with deep ecology -- "an ecological and environmental philosophy promoting the inherent worth of living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, plus a radical restructuring of modern human societies in accordance with such ideas." (Wikipedia)
+37. Physical health: Not great -- not enough sleep, and too much caffeine (she is a phD student...)
+38. Dream vacation: An ecological tour of the Galapagos
+39. Description of their house: She lives in a studio apartment in NYC with her cat
+40. Description of their bedroom: Nothinng on her walls, except books and bookcases, and more books on floors. A small writing desk that holds her computer and her notebooks. A cat tree for her cat, and a small bed with no frame -- just a mattress on the floor
+41. Any pets? A black cat named Copernicus
+42. Best thing that has ever happened to this character: Being accepted into a phD program and moving the hell away from her mother
+43. Worst thing that has ever happened to this character: Death of her brother
+44. Superstitions: None -- she's a scientist. 
+45. Three words to describe this character: Skeptical, curious, intelligent.
+46. If a song played every time this character walked into the room, what song would it be? Where is my mind? by The Pixies OR 2:45am by Elliott Smith

checklist.md

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 ## Pre-NaNoWriMo Checklist
 
 + Create novel cover
-+ Make a rough outline
++ <s>Make a rough outline</s>
 + Make a bunch of casseroles so I don't have to cook much
 + <s>Make a reward jar for when I meet my daily word count</s>
 + <s>Make an inspiration jar for when I run out of ways to move the plot </s>
-+ Prep with [Scrivener](https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php)
++ Make character sketches
-	- make character sketches

novel.md

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-# Novel
+# For the Priceless Treasures
 ## by Vicky Steeves
+
+### Chapter 1
+
+Harriet A. Allen was late for her first day of school. 
+
+Her cat, Copernicus, lazily doing some “kitty yoga” and stretching as if to say, “why don’t you just stay home with me?,” and Harriet was almost tempted to at this point. After arriving to her new flat late because of a delayed flight (and dealing with an angry cat *and* angry airline representatives), not having any of her boxes of clothes arrive, and finding the studio apartment much smaller than promised, she’d just about had it with this move. At least she spotted a man with a cheap breakfast cart outside on her block.
+
+She wished her brother was here to deal with all this.
+
+Copernicus rolled around their maroon sheets, claiming it with a sheet of black fur. She sighed. “*I’ll deal with it later*” she thought, while standing in front of her hasty assortment of Macy’s brand clothing, trying to piece together a decent first day outfit.
+
+“What do you think, Perny?” She asked her kitten, holding up a black skirt with bright green top. He just  flopped, and promptly fell asleep in the exact center of their bed. “*At least now there’s no way I can crawl back in.*” she grimly determined.
+
+After settling on black jeans and a more subdued navy striped top with a beautiful petal collar, she grabbed her backpack and jacket, kissed her cat and flew out the door to get a cheap bagel and coffee. As soon as her front door opens, she’s instantly smacked in the face with the cool Northeastern autumn air, and hopes her relocation from the West coast isn’t too much to bear when snow comes.
+
+After getting a free breakfast (“Welcome to New York!”), Harriet had to hurry to make it to the Museum on time. “*I could probably run through Central Park faster than the bus, right?*” She decided to go for it. “*If anything, it will be a nice nature walk, and hopefully I’ll see some inspiration for my dissertation*”
+
+Though she laughed off this ludicrous thought (“*I probably won’t know my dissertation until it smacks me in the face, literally.*”) and turning on some Explosions in the Sky on her phone, she was quickly entranced walking down the winding roads of the park, supposedly walking in the direction of the museum where she’d spend the next four years studying. In the air and trees, Harriet spotted several blue jays, yellow-rumped warblers, even a red-headed woodpecker! In the paths near the lake, she saw red-eared slider turtles sun bathing while eager squirrels waited near tourists to catch bits of their breakfast. 
+
+“*You’d never have thought it, but New York City is randomly an ecologists’ dream.*” Harriet thought, gazing in wonder at the lush reserve in the heart of the city. 
+
+It wasn’t until she glanced at her Macy’s brand watch, and noticed it was 8:30am, the exact time her itinerary said “Meet in the lower level Atrium,” that she began to run. As she whipped down the paths, she realized that she was totally and completely lost. “*Gorram it. I should have never let myself walk.*” She hadn’t even had the sense to look at which signposts she was following, totally entranced in the ecosystem that seems to be both isolated and a part of the city that never sleeps.
+
+Harriet tried to recreate her path while convincing herself she was “*totally paying attention and knew where to go*” and ended up stepping on her slightly-too-long jeans, tearing a bit at the seam. “*At least I didn’t manage to spill--*” She began, right before spilling a third of her large, black coffee onto her pants. 
+
+After trying to ask some people in the park to point her towards 79th street, and trying to do so in French a few times, she brought out Google to save her from total and complete embarrassment. She just hoped that following along with 
+
+“*Where the frack is this museum?!*” Harriet screamed internally, wandering around the Upper West Side, eyes glued to her phone. “*I’m late!!*” Half-running, half-jogging through Central Park, she curses herself for even thinking her sense of direction could take her through the maze of the Park, even with Google as a backup. A giant planetarium suddenly came into view over the trees, and she rediscovered her misplaced geography skills. 
+
+Outside the museum, Harriet pauses. Looking up at the grandeur of the 142 year old building, her breath catches in her throat. “*Wow.*” is all she can think, as it looms above her, daring her to come in and discover. Then her mind returns, and all she can think is “*Wow. I hope no one notices my torn and coffee stained pants under my jacket*.”
+
+Scrambling up the stairs of the museum, she stares up at Theodore Roosevelt on his horse, triumphant, and darkens, “*He’s totally mocking me.*”  
+
+She tries to catch her breath, to run faster, and as she finally breaches the Atrium doors, looking around for her new cohort of classmates, she staggered back, staring down at her chest. “*What was that?*”
+
+An intense pang in her heart makes her look down to make sure no child has blasted her with a toy from the gift shop. Nothing. Her ears start ringing, and her heart pounds faster and faster as she looks around for the source of this feeling. Because no, it can’t be from her. She can’t get sick.
+
+Just over the crowd, Harriet makes out a woman's scratchy, irritated voice, "Harriet A. Allen?! This is your last call!" 
+
+Harriet snaps back to awareness, eyes wildly searching out the voice while panting “Yes, I’m here!”  She finally spots the waving hand of the woman, and weaves through the crowd to a small group of eight, professionally and darkly dressed twenty- and thirty-something-year-olds. 
+
+"Well thank goodness. We were just about to leave you to fend for yourself." The woman, whose name tag reads “Jay,” gestured to Harriet’s cohort of PhD students, and continued "Well, let's go. We have to make up some time in the schedule."
+
+Harriet visibly sags, stammering out an apology. Everyone else files in front of her before she walks forward, following Jay and her new classmates. “*This was supposed to be my defining moment, and I’m at the back of the line, yet again. Perfect.*” She wallows, eyes cast down, and straightens her shirt to try to reassemble her confidence. Brushing her gigantic conglomeration of long, dark curls out of her face, she quickly tucked her hair back in a bun, much in the fashion of the others in her group.
+
+One girl, whose straight, tawny hair hangs freely, stayed back with Harriet, gave her a commiserating look, and starts to introduce herself: “Hi, I’m --” before being interrupted by Jay, at the head of the group.
+
+“I’ll say this again for the late arrival,” Another visible cringe from Harriet as a few classmates snicker, “Welcome to the American Museum of Natural History. As PhD candidates in our comparative biology program, you will be learning from leaders in fields of Anthropology, Vertebrate and Invertebrate Zoology, Paleontology, and Physical Sciences, which includes astrophysics and earth and planetary sciences.” 
+
+A brief pause for everyone to enter the elevator, with Harriet and the mystery woman at the back.
+
+“I’m Ruth, what’s your--” The younger looking woman was able to breathe out before being cut off yet again by Jay’s lecture. 
+
+“I’m going to bring you up to the fourth floor, and you’ll have one and a half hours to do a self-guided tour down to the first floor, after which we’ll do some super exciting paperwork and housekeeping. Take this as a chance to do some bonding with the folks you’re stuck with for the next four years.” She laughed to herself as she led us out of the elevators, pointed us down a random hall of bones, and took off down the stairs. 
+
+“*Great, I didn’t get a name--*” Harriet began to think, before Ruth spoke again: “I see you didn’t get a name tag. I introduced *myself*, what’s your name?”
+
+Harriet, unused to this kind of attention, shyly replied, “Harriet. It’s nice to meet you.”
+
+“It’s nice to meet you too, Harriet! I’m sorry Jay called you out like that. Majorly uncool. Want to start by walking down the Hall of the Ornithischian Dinosaurs? We can loop around and end near the special exhibit gallery and the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs!” Ruth gushed out in one breath.
+
+“So, you’ve been before I take it?” Harriet asked, as they began to walk in the proposed direction, wading through the hordes of small children, with a few of their cohort slightly behind them. 
+
+“Yeah, a few times. I came to visit before applying. Didn’t you?”
+
+“No, I couldn’t. I came from Oregon, so the trip was a bit much.”
+
+“Oh wow! Neat! Well I can be your tour guide” Ruth smiled enthusiastically, and began to give Harriet a rundown of the structure of the museum. “One time at a visit, my parents came down from Boston and we spent the whole day in here! One and a half hours is so not enough.”
+
+Harriet was too busy looking at the facsimiles of ancient creatures, and listening to the curators on the video displays to really take in what Ruth was saying. When there was a lull in the conversation, she realized that Ruth had asked her a question.
+
+“I’m sorry, what was that? It’s so noisy in here!” Harriet explained, hoping that Ruth wouldn’t question her that much on the previous chatter.
+
+“Of course! So many kids. There must be a field trip. Do you want to see if we can go inside the library?” Ruth inquired, looking hopeful. 
+
+“Yeah, sure.” Harriet mumbled. The museum is overwhelming. She hoped the infestation of small children was a temporary deal, but she had a lurking feeling that she’d be fighting her way to the office every day through crowds of tiny, mid-sized, and full-grown humans. 

random-snippets.md

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+When Harriet A. Allen awoke, she wanted to believe that she was ok, that she was in her bed, with her cat next to her, and the dream she’d had was just another in a series of persistent nightmares, and not that she was on the floor of her dream school and favourite museum.
+
+But when her eyes opened, it was to the faces of her PhD cohort surrounding her, and a frantic research assistant forcing them back. 
+
+“Don’t move Harriet, help is on the way! Just stay down there. Someone give me a jacket to put under her head!” The familiar voice yelled out, half at her, half at the crowd of tourists and students around them. “Everything is going to be ok. You’ve had a bit of an accident.”
+
+What no one could have predicted, was Harriet’s reaction when they did eventually make it down to the first floor, to the Spitzer Hall of Humans.