Forum: Author Hangout

I'm close to rolling out what might be called "alternate future" about the Trump Presidency. The core vehicle will be the "Wolf News Network", sex-positive and working to unify.

There are a series of chapters involving the show, and flashbacks to discussions leading to its content. I'm still struggling whether to start the story with the first show, or with a flashback setting context. Anyone interested in reviewing the draft, if only for flow, would be very welcome.

There's a little of Lysistrata meets Fox News. I'm not sure I'd call it fan fiction, but I certainly am writing about real people. In the context, it makes perfectly good sense for Tiffany and Melania to wind up in bed. Any special disclaimers?

Given that real things are happening in real time, I'm inclined to make the story short, but to plan on a series/universe -- "Ripped from the headlines" was an observation from Paige Hawthorne.

Any special disclaimers?

Writing fiction about still living real people with content they might object to has a number of legal risks.

If the real people you are using in your stories find out about the story, there are a number of torts (civil causes of action) that might be brought against you.

Libel is the biggest risk. You would need to talk to an actual lawyer, but as far as I know, there are no disclaimers that would protect you from a lawsuit.

The best defense for such a story in a libel context would be to position it as a parody. However, even an upfront explicit statement that it's a parody may not by itself be legally sufficient.

A lawsuit over a story posted here may be unlikely, because it's unlikely the people you are writing about are unlikely to ever find out about your story.

However, if it does happen, a law suit could cost you a lot of money even if you win.

You should be warned that the Trumps have a reputation for being particularly litigious.

For a variety of reasons, I like "vixen".

To elaborate, the on-air personalities address sexuality explicitly. Tiffany observes that she both has a shorter skirt, and better skill as a policy wonk, than anyone also on Fox.

They also have some sexy Scotsmen in kilts, one of whom is gay-identified.

Vixen it is.

Spoilers ahead

The general plot, in flashbacks, shows Trump getting more and more unhinged behind the scenes, including violence to several women in his family and staff. They confer, and, led by Tiffany in the family, start wondering about an obligation to the country. Others, selectively, join their conversations.

The Donald, furious about criticism, demands air time, through Hope Hicks, his press secretary. She has been with him a long time and has a reputation for calming him down. In the story, she does so both sexually, and accepting a physical attack.

Nevertheless, when he gets the airtime, his speech starts to slur, and he shows symptoms of severe stroke, falling unconscious on camera. Rushed to George Washington Hospital nearby, he is not expected to survive. The immediate problem is multiple vacancies in the succession: Pence, Tillerson, and Mnuchin all are out. The Congressional leaders, through an interesting loophole of law, choose to keep their offices.

The show actually starts after Trump's death, with a commitment to heal the nation. Can they do it in a short time, along with the new President? Certainly not completely, but the show uses the sexual weapon more strongly than did Fox, and rides the #metoo movement. Lysistrata crosses minds.

I don't intend this first story of the series to be long, simply because the background will change. Right now, it's 6000 words, which is too short, but I don't expect to do more than 8-10 short chapters.

Lugh, I hope you enjoy yourself, but you know the score for such a story will be awful, no matter how good it is.
My suggestion would be to go ahead but view all scores from either 8-10 or 1-3 as showing you succeeded, and only those in between - no strong reaction either way by readers - as indicating your story isn't working.