Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry, Northern Ireland
A book I'm working on is set in this town.

Thursday, May 10, 2018

Too busy to be busy...

When I wasn't packing archives and overseeing art being picked up for crating, I was working on four different quotes for future jobs, including redoing one that suddenly expanded. All of which had to be ready to send out today or tomorrow...and all of them are going out, tomorrow. The only time I had to actually work on PS was on the flight to Oakland and back.

At least I got some of Book 2 outlined, up to the point I needed to figure out what comes next. I've got this big blank space in the middle of it that needs filling and only have a basic idea of what should go there. But even just initiating the possible chapters helps give it a spine to start working from.

I also had an interesting argument with Brendan. The more I read of Philip Cunningham's book, the more uncertain I am that setting Brendan's early life on Nailors Row is a good idea. It was a very tight mini-community and I feel like that's setting the story up for comparisons and fact-checking that will be too hard to deal with. But he's adamant.

The area was referred to as Back of the walls, because the houses faced the south and west walls of Derry's inner city...and even that was broken down to smaller units -- like Friel's Terrace, which I think was close to Walker's Tower, the column on the right of this photo. But I'm still digging for that; so far I just know they were the last part of the houses on the street that were demolished during redevelopment.

I have a map from 1905 that shows Nailors Row wrapping around the corner, merging into Walker's Place and ending at Bishop Street, with plots of land backed smack up against the south wall...but I don't know when that was torn out. And it has what's long been known as Fahan Street down as St. Columb's Wells Street, so may not be accurate...but does show Fox's Corner, so...

I'll keep going with this...but I'm wary...

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