Wonder Star.

This week’s pages introduces the subplot of a British TV show called Wonder Star that the plump, nerdy character, Ben Plug, is obsess with (I’ll leave it open ended for non-UK readers as to whether this show actually exists or not here in England.) I have to confess, this was an idea that was meant to be a little bit bigger in the book, but got edited down slightly as time went on. This scene and scenario is very loosely based on a time a few years ago when I was chatting up an American girl, when she mentioned she watched Doctor Who, and I quickly lost focus and started to nerd out about that instead of trying to woo my way into her affections. I don’t remember it being as bad as it’s portrayed in the book, but it still wasn’t a proud moment. She was that rare thing (at least to me) of quite a frisky flirtier, and I just throw this massive nerdy speed-bump right into the middle of our conversation. She was talking about why she prefers to take long showers instead of baths, and how she had a an overly familiar relationship with her female flatmate, and I’m asking stuff like if they have ad breaks while showing Doctor Who in the United States? If I really did have a Tardis, I’d probably travel back to that exact moment a few years ago, and hit myself over the back of the head with a (fifth Doctor style) cricket bat.

Wow… fourteen pages in already. Just over halfway through Chapter One now.