All Hail, Napoleon Dynamite!

I am ecstatic to report that, as of Sunday, 9/16/2012, the first draft of my new YA romance, Good Luck, Fatty! is complete and weighs in at 50, 081 words (or about 200 pages). My plan is to give the manuscript a few good edits and a final polish, then proceed with self-publishing, as I have for my other YA novels, Any Red-Blooded Girl and Film at Eleven.

As I was nearing completion of Good Luck, Fatty!, an observant family member pointed out that the manuscript bears a striking resemblance to the movie Napoleon Dynamite (a suggestion that made me smile–I’m a huge Napoleon Dynamite fan–and cringe, since I was striving to be original) .

How much of a resemblance, you ask? Here’s a handy checklist.

1. The protagonist is an outcast

2. The protagonist’s best friend is also his/her love interest.

3. The protagonist lives with extended family and without a consistent “adult” in the household.

4. The story is set in a poor, rural area.

5. The story is quirky, humorous and  heartwarming.

6. The story has a musical climax that goes (at least somewhat) awry.

(See? It’s impossible to tell the difference between GLF and ND!)

So…I’m now thinking of billing Good Luck, Fatty! as: The female Napoleon Dynamite. With sex. And a cat.

Or would that be ridiculous? (Then again, I’m quite fond of all things ridiculous, so…)