Even more thoughts

If I go ahead and put Kirsten in Seattle toward the latter parts of the story, then, I start to wonder, what if I end the story in Vancouver, instead of London?

A quick drive to a nearby territory where gay marriage is completely legal, would make more sense, than a long flight to a faraway land whose prime minister is a puppet of the United States government.

In addition, Sarah will just be another tall, attractive English woman, and Kirsten just yet another biracial woman - and both types are very common in Vancouver.

Seattle and Vancouver have both impressed me, and Vancouver is a very likely choice for my future home. If my experiences in these two cities this summer can make their way into my novel, it may get very interesting. (Plus, I may have some extra excuses to visit them again.)

There is an issue of balance though. Under my old plans, the story started AND ended in London. It is a nice circle to come around. Ending in Vancouver breaks the circle - unless I decide to start the story in Vancouver, and replace Sarah's childhood references to London and Paris with those to Vancouver and Montreal. Instead of a European flair, there will be a taste of Canada. At least Sarah will still be bilingual, making her a good candidate for flight attendant duty, and she could start earning her wings on United Airlines' Canadian routes (allowing her to return to Vancouver as an adult woman, very early on).

Another possibility is to make Sarah's family a Canadian family, have Sarah's birth take place in Vancouver, and eventually emigrate the family to the US after a stint in Montreal. I don't know how plausible this is, but one thing may make this work: the Quebec separatism, and its resulting economic impact in Montreal, may make Sarah's family's life there difficult, driving them to seek greener pastures in California. To have Sarah decide that her native Canada is better for her after all, after this initial move to the US, it will be a very ironic yet interesting development.

These are just floating ideas - but I did kick up lots of them tonight. Let me see how they pan out.