The new novel is already taking form

I have a basic storyline now (and this is still prior to any formal note taking). The premise is a blend of historical fiction and social commentary explored in the context of a murder mystery. If this were a movie--and I almost always envision my writing as a film unfolding in my mind--it might be described as "Merchant Ivory meets Alfred Hitchcock."

The year is 1921. The setting is Australia.

And those are about as many plot details as I'm ready to divulge at the moment.

I've also figured out how to work in the feminism angle, for the most part, and I'm fairly certain that I'm going to write in a first person voice using the epistolary form (the main character chronicles her experiences and perspectives in a journal). My previous novel was written in the third person limited. Now I'm excited about using the epistolary form because I can tell the story as it unfolds within the main character's mind: her emotions, her reactions, her speculations, and her secrets. Diary narratives are also handy because you can get away with "telling, not showing" rather than the other way around.

Breaking literary rules can be so much fun, especially when the story works better that way. This is a mystery, after all. It's difficult to show that which remains largely concealed.