I've Started the Vaudeville Novel

It took a while, but I've completed some character sketches and done a lot of research about vaudeville (try No applause-- Just Throw Money if you want a look at the whole era).

I've set the time, 1892, and the Montana and Northwest circuit the troupe will follow, beginning with Helena, then Butte, then Philipsburg, and maybe Spokane.

I've developed the acts. There's Mrs. McGivers and Her Monkey Band; Wayne Windsor, "The Profile" who does monologues facing right and left to display his noble brow; top-billed Mabel Markey, the queen of contraltos; The Wildroot Sisters, and their fierce stage mother Ethel; Harry the Juggler, who juggles knives and scimitars; the Marbury Trio, early tap dancers; and Ginger, the prodigy who flees home to join the troupe. And of course, the owner and manager of the show, August Beausoleil, a veteran of the circuits.

I'm about twelve thousand words in. In Helena they get some bad press... and you can read the rest in a year or more.