Wednesday, May 20, 2009

What Would You Do With $10,000?

Cody and I entered the lottery last week after a day filled with numerical coincidences. We didn't win. From three different sets of numbers, we didn't pick a single correct number! Perhaps we'd already used up our number-related luck. However, it got us speculating as to what we'd do with a few million dollars.

I have a rather detailed, prioritized plan for a huge windfall, and it doesn't include a shopping spree until about item 12 or so. In fact, my plan follows pretty much what I plan on doing, just at a slower pace with the money that we make as we go. Things like get married, buy a house, buy a car, travel, etc. It's all rather responsible, I think, and being fond of being responsible, I think it sounds like a lot of fun.

Madison Fox, the main character of the novels I've written and am editing, would not approve. At all. She's a much more spontaneous person without a good grasp of the long-term consequences of her decisions. Which makes her a lot of fun to write. I get a freedom with her that I would never be comfortable (or happy) with in my life. It also makes it difficult at times to get inside her head without conforming her to my way of thinking. Considering what she'd do with a windfall was one of the difficult moments.

What does someone with only a sliver of responsibility do with her money? She's not the sort to rush out and get into debt with it, like those sad people you hear about who win the lottery and end up millions in debt. But she's not the sort to open an IRA and start planning for retirement, either.

Cody and I eventually decided she'd probably go on vacation, which led to a whole new plot line for her—like a book five or book six plot, but the ideas are already spinning.

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