Home stretch to the Climax!

Alexa is back on Earth, and racing to the climax. And I am scrambling to find that perfect wave to carry her -- and the reader -- to the pinnacle.

Very exciting. Yes, it is just the "crummy" first draft. But this is the FIRST instance for me to approach completion of the "crummy" first draft.

Whereas on the space station the workings of the scene came down to physical placement (rock-outcropping post), in this scene or series of scenes the element of urgency comes down to timing of events. The situation that creates the pressure is an event that will happen in x days, then only x hours, then only x minutes: i.e., time.

The setting is in India, basically because India is timeless. One of the main characters is Indian. But the country also provides a fairly predictable societal location in the future, more so than, say, the ever-changing society of North America. If the India of now is very much like it was  hundreds of years ago, it will probably have very similar recognizable elements even many years into the future.

I have been to India twice. My second visit included a race to get somewhere before a certain event, and I admit to borrowing elements from that visit (just like I may someday include memories of Paris, London, or Sao Paulo, or even Bartlesville, Oklahoma).

Anyway, I began this journey for Alexa about two years ago, and she and I are finding our way together to the ordained climax. I don't know how ordained is my own path, but whatever it is, I'm having a rollicking good time discovering it.

Fully Into the Chase; On Alexa's way back to Earth

Alexa Jane just took off from the space station, above Earth, barely in time to avoid the bad guys. And she's finally about to return to her home planet, though 950 years after she left it.

The story is now fully into the Chase Scene, rushing toward the climax, and finally finding out why the heck the tiny little crystal is so important.

As part of the process of writing for the first time a book-length story, getting to this point is truly exciting. (I still avoid defining this as a book, until it's at least through the second draft.) In addition to reading to my husband each new scene that rushes onto the page, I have also taken to getting certain friends on the cell phone and reading to them. Sometimes they are appreciative, sometimes not.

One sticking point that had to be solved; where on Earth should she go? I mean, as the writer I can give her any clue/indication I want. I just have to decide where to put her.

This involves:
Are some candidate cities under water, at this point, because of global warming?
What countries/cities would be important enough, 950 years from now, to harbor the people involved?
Where could a so-called space-port be located?
How far from the landing pad, to the action, do I settle this space-port?
It probably shouldn't be in the middle of a metropolitan area -- of now or the likely future.
But I've got to get her into action PDQ

I have some ideas, on each point. And if the rest of the story is any indication, more details will present themselves as they appear on the page.