I read an article in WSJ today by Joel Queenan about the Bourne Legacy movie. It wasn't the best article I've ever read, but it made me think about this years National Novel Writing Month because of this line:
"The Bourne Legacy" excoriates a government that tries to pick winners and losers, a job best left to the free market. Who decided that a covert program training super-assassins was even worthwhile? Why would anyone think the government is best suited to implement such a program? Wouldn't it make more sense to farm this out to organized crime or battle-tested mercenaries? Those guys are really good at this stuff.
I latched onto this line because of my grandfather's business, SSI, Space Services Inc. He started it back in the late 70's or 80's as a privately owned rocket company. I've always thought his thoughts were that why leave it to the federal government to do something that private enterprise could do better and cheaper. It's very much like Steven Pressfield's The Profession, but instead of whole private mercenary armies, this story would focus on a person in the battle.
This seems like a good idea to build on for NaNo. A corporate spy who is tasked with international corporate espionage. I could write it so that he sees something of national import, but that would counter to his task for the company and he could be torn between the loyalty to his multi-national company and his home country. Or, due to the aggressiveness of the multi-national company the CIA or other covert agencies could target him for death.
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