Guinness is the cure...

Took me damn long enough to find out that a single Guinness can realign my emotional and physical state and bring be back to the red pen edit of APoS. I'm through chapter five, and seeing it shift into a more realistic portrayal of people living in Derry at the time is making me feel even better. Just had hot tea and DPZ, today, but we'll see what happens tomorrow,

Oh...DPZ is Dr Pepper Zero, not some drug...though it is an addiction of mine.

I'm through APoS to the summer of 1968, then things were getting heated up. The civil rights groups had begun not only demonstrations but staging situations that brought attention to the plight of people needing homes in the Bogside. Sit ins. Moving a small caravan into the middle of a main road on a Saturday to highlight how John Wilson's family of 4 was living in something that was smaller then a walk-in closet, blocking traffic. Confrontation instead of asking and negotiating.

The next chapter leads up to the October 5th march...or the attempt of Catholics to march on that day. It was kind of a mess, to start with...but then the Royal Ulster Constabulary stupidly and viciously attacked the marchers with batons and water cannons, causing many to be injured while arresting others. All in front of news cameras. Showing them off to the world. And this is when things began spiraling out of the  control of Protestants.

In this part, I think I have things better aligned with how the world was, there. It's the first five chapters, where I'm setting up Brendan's family and relationship with his mother and the neighbors as well as his friends, that needed the most work. And still does. But now I'm focused on consistency.

Brendan's also revealed himself to be odd in comparison to other boys. He's not big on playing things like marbles and such, but takes pleasure in repairing items to the extent he gets so lost in it, he doesn't hear people who are talking to him. His best mate, Colm, does manage to drag into being goalie for their football matches because he can work out what the opposing team's players are doing to send a ball into the net...and keeps it out 99 times out of a hundred. But then...that's more like a problem he's solving than a game he's playing.

I already had this aspect of him suggested in there; now it's more overt. I just hope it's not tedious to read.