Okay, so I got a story idea. Well, really it’s an idea for two characters and the start of a story.
Basically, an invulnerable, immortal adventurer who goes by the name James Lazarus and the secret heir of Captain Nemo, Anagha Khan (disguised as a man), are in Chungking in 1935 when the Nazi archaeologist Ernst Schäfer shows up. In history, Schäfer led an expedition into Tibet to try to prove that “Aryans†had conquered much of Asia and that the Gautama Buddha was an Aryan.
Yes, these people were exactly that crazy.
In the story, Schäfer and the Nazi organization Ahnenerbe are after some mysterious object (don’t know what yet) and it’s up to Lazarus and Anagha (he calls her Ana, she calls him Uncle Jim) to stop them.
The idea is a mix of pulp adventure and super-heroics, with some sci-fi/occult thrown in there. Kind of Indiana Jones meets James Bond. I’ve spent time researching the literary bio of Nemo, and then the possible history of his descendants, then China in the 1930s.
I’ve decided that the Macguffin (that which drives the plot–look it up, it’s a term Alfred Hitchcock used) is going to be a map. Schafer (I may rename him for the story) is actually working for the Thule Society, and believes the map is of Ultima Thule. Lazarus knows it is not, but the map does correctly place the lost island of Atlantis. Then the reveal: Nemo’s eternal power generators are fueled by a mineral found only at the site of Atlantis. The Nazis can’t get their hands on that!
Yes, I have not actually done any actual writing.
So, I have the idea and I’ve done the research. It’s all ready to go . . . I just have to write the damn thing.