May Novel Essential Information

Novel Title: Valuable Lesson

Time Setting: 2019

Genre: Life

Minimum Word Goal: 90,000

Timespan: April–July

Locations: Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan; various other communities across Western Canada

Main Character: Kingston Aizenman

Background Information:

The second-born son of a bulldogger, Kingston has had exposure to rodeo from his early days, although it hasn’t all been positive.

His parents met at a rodeo and started an affair that ended his father’s first marriage, and after five years their own union was dissolved because his father had started an affair with a different woman he met at a different rodeo; in fact, all of his father’s relationships have begun at a rodeo somewhere as he continues to travel around and compete.

Because of his father’s travelling Kingston lived with his mother until she was declared unfit to care for him, so he was placed with his father’s parents in Meadow Lake and has forged a close relationship with them.

Through his various relationships, Kingston’s father has had several children, including a brother four years Kingston’s senior who hasn’t liked Kingston since the day they met; in fact, when Kingston was young his mother could hardly leave him unattended lest his half brother take advantage of the absence to harm him.

After his parents’ divorce Kingston saw little of his half brother, but the self-defence skills he built up in those years made him a handful for anyone who crossed him — adult or child — and prevented him from being bullied in school.

Although he had good hand-eye coordination and foot speed for baseball, he caught the rodeo bug when he was twelve, which was the year his father brought him — as well as all the other children his father had sired — to the CFR to watch him compete.

Kingston’s half brother was doing high school rodeo at the time and gloated about his victories as he followed in his father’s bulldogging footsteps — which led to an altercation that didn’t endear Kingston to his father’s latest girlfriend — but even still Kingston wanted to do rodeo too.

Because of his youth his grandparents got him riding lessons instead of allowing him to try rodeo — especially because he was interested in the rough-stock bronc riding events — to start out with, but eventually he was allowed to do high school rodeo for himself.

He enjoyed rodeo not just because of the rush of riding a bucking horse, but because of the fact that a lot of his friends were involved in rodeo, including his best friend, who was heir to a stock contracting business.

Once he graduated he was able to ride the professional circuit as a novice, which he did travelling with his father and half brother — which made for an unpleasant summer to say the least.

This last year was his first season as an outright professional, and his abilities were celebrated, as was his record; it wasn’t necessarily the best record out there, but for a rookie it was quite good, and that in spite of the vehicle troubles he ran into late in the season.

Going into this season, Kingston intends to go to as many rodeos as possible featuring stock from his best friend’s dad’s herd, both because they’re good and because his best friend rides as a pickup man, meaning the two of them can hang out together — and he has no worries because he and his fellow bronc rider friend he travels with got a new truck for this season that is a lot newer than the old beater he had the season before.

Pronunciation:

Aizenman: eyezehnmahn

Novel Begins: May 1