I'm back home after a whirlwind trip to a place I'm not allowed to speak of for a client who insists on anonymity. Dammit. What I can say is, it was hellacious. I was expecting 75 boxes so allowed for 80; turned out to be 160 boxes and some loose items that were very fragile, not to mention a slim mounted piece of art that's 75 inches long. A 1-day job turned into 2 and the weight of the shipment doubled.
Fortunately, I'd booked my return to Buffalo on a redeye so I'd have time to visit a book dealer's new location. Well, that didn't happen. Instead, I was out by the airport all day and nowhere decent enough to be around to visit with anyone. I used the men's room to clean up a bit and put on a fresh shirt, at least. I had a t-shirt I'd brought along, just in case.
On top of that, I was so exhausted by the time the pickup and repacking and reconfiguring was done, I actually dozed on the plane instead of staying awake to work on Place of Safety. Totally zoned. Helped that I had a comfortable seat, for a change.
Such is life in the big city. One thing after another.
On the trip over, I did get some reworking of the bit revolving around Brendan's first interrogation done and have it closer to what I want. Still not there, yet, but now I can see a good direction for it and can let it sit while I shift over to other aspects of the story.
I'm headed over to Derry a week from Tuesday, and already I've got dozens of details I need to get answers for -- how were buses handled when coming from Dublin? How did goods arrive into Derry? What were the wages of the girls at Tilly's Shirtmaker? When did the last buildings along Fahan get torn down to make way for redevelopment? On and on and on. I could spend months there.
I made up a street for Brendan's family to move to not long before he winds up in America...no, that has to happen before Internment begins, in August 1971. It will be away from the area where Bloody Sunday happened, at the end of January 1972...just days before Brendan's 16th birthday.
I may work on the Bloody Sunday section, next. Get that done. It's a rough one, but necessary, because it's here that Brendan starts thinking he and Joanna should leave so they can live in peace. At 16 he could get a full-time job at a decent wage and she could go on to university. The one big thing is, her experiences as a Protestant girl, have been vastly different from his, and that makes her feel the need to step away from the chaos less intense. Plus she still has another year of school to finish.
God...just when I think I'm making headway I realize how much is left to do.
Fortunately, I'd booked my return to Buffalo on a redeye so I'd have time to visit a book dealer's new location. Well, that didn't happen. Instead, I was out by the airport all day and nowhere decent enough to be around to visit with anyone. I used the men's room to clean up a bit and put on a fresh shirt, at least. I had a t-shirt I'd brought along, just in case.
On top of that, I was so exhausted by the time the pickup and repacking and reconfiguring was done, I actually dozed on the plane instead of staying awake to work on Place of Safety. Totally zoned. Helped that I had a comfortable seat, for a change.
Such is life in the big city. One thing after another.
On the trip over, I did get some reworking of the bit revolving around Brendan's first interrogation done and have it closer to what I want. Still not there, yet, but now I can see a good direction for it and can let it sit while I shift over to other aspects of the story.
I'm headed over to Derry a week from Tuesday, and already I've got dozens of details I need to get answers for -- how were buses handled when coming from Dublin? How did goods arrive into Derry? What were the wages of the girls at Tilly's Shirtmaker? When did the last buildings along Fahan get torn down to make way for redevelopment? On and on and on. I could spend months there.
I made up a street for Brendan's family to move to not long before he winds up in America...no, that has to happen before Internment begins, in August 1971. It will be away from the area where Bloody Sunday happened, at the end of January 1972...just days before Brendan's 16th birthday.
I may work on the Bloody Sunday section, next. Get that done. It's a rough one, but necessary, because it's here that Brendan starts thinking he and Joanna should leave so they can live in peace. At 16 he could get a full-time job at a decent wage and she could go on to university. The one big thing is, her experiences as a Protestant girl, have been vastly different from his, and that makes her feel the need to step away from the chaos less intense. Plus she still has another year of school to finish.
God...just when I think I'm making headway I realize how much is left to do.
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