Forward movement is good, even if slow...

I've gone through another chapter of APoS, making notes and adding to consistency for the characters and story. Little things that will matter, later. Brendan is telling the story in first person, so I can't do too much in the way of revelation except when he's there and aware. But that works fine, for me.

By keeping this as completely Brendan's POV as possible, throwing in info as if it's something he knows or learned, it helps me get past the worry that I'm not handling Derry people properly. He's got a bit of an attitude and I think he's hinting at being functionally autistic. Not sure where that came from, nor would he know the term. Back in the 60s, autistic people were just considered shy or special or mentally deficient. And his mother does refer to him as simple, though she means dumb. Be interesting to see where this goes.

I have found a way for him to learn more about her, aside from the second-hand snippets he catches when the neighborhood ladies are talking about her and don't notice he's around to hear them. I'd already established his mother and aunt, in Houston, wrote each other, regularly. Aunt Mari even sends a little money with each letter, something Ma was keeping secret till his older sister, Mairead, pried into a letter and found a couple of 20GBP notes. Now, at the end of the Houston section, he's going to read some of her letters to Aunt Mari. Maybe at the beginning of Return. Not sure, yet.

American Express used to offer the ability to get foreign money, at some of their offices. I did that the first time I flew to Europe, form Houston. There was an office on the 3rd floor of the Galleria down a hallway where you could get Travelers Checks and some foreign cash at a better exchange rate. Especially if you had an Amex card. I also used their office on the Champs Elysees when I needed to get some cash. Banks were too much of a pain. God, that was 35 years ago...

Now you can just go to any ATM and withdraw cash. I've done that traveling to Hong Kong, the UK, Ireland, Canada, Portugal and Germany. Just go to an official bank one, not one of the free-standing bandits; those charge a massive fee while the banks are less criminal.

God...I miss traveling around the world...