{"id":9671,"date":"2022-04-19T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-19T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=9671"},"modified":"2022-04-19T08:30:07","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T12:30:07","slug":"where-story-ideas-come-from-how-my-character-grapples-with-security-vs-openness-in-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=9671","title":{"rendered":"Where Story Ideas Come From: How Story Flows into Daily Challenges, A Core Story Question"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Simmering in the background in the architectural world for some time has been the issue of security in building design. Yes, there are guidances (we non-architects might call them \u201cstandards\u201d) for security, just as there are for accessibility and, increasingly, sustainability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But these are often considered a ceiling, not a floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the authorities confront the protagonist of my forthcoming novel, architect Archer Landis, with information that his murdered associate (and lover) was affiliated with the Arab American community, they jump to the conclusion, terrorism. Was she trying to ferret out details on the vulnerabilities of key buildings his firm has designed? Was she going to turn sensitive information over to the bad guys? They say yes, but he\u2019s sure they\u2019re wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a conscientious businessman, he has to do more than bluster about this. He is<\/em> angry, but how can he turn the situation around? For many buildings\u2014especially ones like embassies and government structures, military facilities, transportation hubs, stadiums and other places where many people congregate\u2014a balance is needed between security and openness. Countries don\u2019t want their embassies looking like fortresses, littered with clunky bollards. A new building\u2019s design has to include features that not only help thwart any attack, but also make the structure a less attractive target in the first place. There\u2019s psychology involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without inserting an essay on this balancing act into the novel, I had to find ways to talk about these real-world concerns in what I hope is an interesting way. Certainly, they are uppermost in Landis\u2019s mind once the attacks on him, his family, and his business begin. All this is part of making him seem to readers like a real person, with real-world concerns.Architect of Courage<\/em> is coming from Black Opal Books on June 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Simmering in the background in the architectural world for some time has been the issue of security in building design. Yes, there are guidances (we non-architects might call them \u201cstandards\u201d) for security, just as there are for accessibility and, increasingly, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The kinds of issues fictional characters should care about. If they're not in law enforcement, crime isn't the topic most central to their world.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[174,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-first-draft-blog","category-real-life"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-2vZ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9671"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9676,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9671\/revisions\/9676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}