Another NaNoWriMo Idea

I'm not too fond at the moment of the historical novel idea for the next nano. I tried writing a short story with the correct setting and a likely character and was not happy with the result. I have been attempting to come up with something different, something that excites me, something that I can write with good results.

I think I have come up with a potential idea, code named "Devil's Walking Stick", for no particular reason. Probably because I have some growing in my backyard and I saw it last night and it got me thinking about the symbolism of that plant. This idea has plot, memorable characters, and a setting that excites me.

It's a retelling of the Romeo and Juliet story, but set during desegregation in 1970. Sometime I lived through. Instead of the Montagues and the Capulets, it's a white family and a black family. A strong grandfather figure in the white family knows some facts about the black family, namely that the boy and girl are cousins. The boys ancestors owned the girl's ancestors, and the girls g-g-grandmother was a mistress of the boys g-g-grandfather. Should be an interesting twist on an old story.

It will be a big challenge to handle the telling of this story correctly. I have no idea at this point how to tell it, but I'm confident I can come up with something. I like this idea; it excites me. It will be difficult to write, but that has never stopped me before.

I need to write a short story dealing with some of these characters and see how it goes before I make a final decision. It may not pan out; if not I have time to change my mind again before November.