When I started this I thought the personal narrative form might be boring, and wasn't sure in the first installment, but now I'm loving it. This was my favorite thus far, even though there are a few questionable facts. For example, that the English hadn't been attacked from the air before. DJT said the Americans secured the airports in 1776, so there must have been a thriving aviation industry then. This is perhaps little known outside of the U.S., that we had a fleet of airships navigating by the stars, struggling along on wings made of feathers toward England. Unfortunately most were lost because of cloud cover or we would have defeated England quickly and decisively. One of them dropped a bomb on London, though it did little damage because — you know — weight limitations …
I was curious to see how I’d get on with delivering a whole novella as a first-person monologue, whether I would find it limiting. Also whether I’d be able to fill the cumulative gaps of my 50-year-old memories, my adolescent inattention, my Nan’s 60-year-old memories, the stuff a 75-year-old woman of her generation wouldn’t say to an 11-year-old boy, and the fact this was never conceived or delivered as a chronological narrative. And still end up with something faithful to both my Nan’s personality and the key points of her quietly remarkable life and very odd relationship with my grandfather, who I never knew. It seems to be going okay so far. It helps that I have her voice in my head and that she was a very articulate woman (whose formal education pretty much ended at 14).
She may have been unaware of the aerial bombing of Buckingham Palace in 1776; we don’t like to speak of such matters in my homeland, preferring to celebrate the burning of Washington’s wooden gnashers in the glorious War of 1812.
You are a true professional, and a hard working writer. This is a challenge in terms of form as well as requiring research, I'm sure. As I recall you are a professional researcher. It's interesting that an articulate voice stays in your head more easily. :-)
Thank you Dan, coming from another professional writer, that really means something. However, I'm just doing penance for being such a lousy listener 50 years ago :-)
Love this Steve! Those small details about everyday life really brought it home - the typewriter maintenance, the foggy London streets, those nine-inch hatpins. Makes you realize how real it all was, beyond the dates and facts we learned in history class. Great piece of living history here.
Thanks, Neela. I was aiming for realistic detail while trying not to cross the line into tedious detail. It can be a fine line and not the same for everyone, so the feedback really helps 😊
A really good read.
Thanks 😊💛
When I started this I thought the personal narrative form might be boring, and wasn't sure in the first installment, but now I'm loving it. This was my favorite thus far, even though there are a few questionable facts. For example, that the English hadn't been attacked from the air before. DJT said the Americans secured the airports in 1776, so there must have been a thriving aviation industry then. This is perhaps little known outside of the U.S., that we had a fleet of airships navigating by the stars, struggling along on wings made of feathers toward England. Unfortunately most were lost because of cloud cover or we would have defeated England quickly and decisively. One of them dropped a bomb on London, though it did little damage because — you know — weight limitations …
I was curious to see how I’d get on with delivering a whole novella as a first-person monologue, whether I would find it limiting. Also whether I’d be able to fill the cumulative gaps of my 50-year-old memories, my adolescent inattention, my Nan’s 60-year-old memories, the stuff a 75-year-old woman of her generation wouldn’t say to an 11-year-old boy, and the fact this was never conceived or delivered as a chronological narrative. And still end up with something faithful to both my Nan’s personality and the key points of her quietly remarkable life and very odd relationship with my grandfather, who I never knew. It seems to be going okay so far. It helps that I have her voice in my head and that she was a very articulate woman (whose formal education pretty much ended at 14).
She may have been unaware of the aerial bombing of Buckingham Palace in 1776; we don’t like to speak of such matters in my homeland, preferring to celebrate the burning of Washington’s wooden gnashers in the glorious War of 1812.
LOL
You are a true professional, and a hard working writer. This is a challenge in terms of form as well as requiring research, I'm sure. As I recall you are a professional researcher. It's interesting that an articulate voice stays in your head more easily. :-)
Thank you Dan, coming from another professional writer, that really means something. However, I'm just doing penance for being such a lousy listener 50 years ago :-)
Love this Steve! Those small details about everyday life really brought it home - the typewriter maintenance, the foggy London streets, those nine-inch hatpins. Makes you realize how real it all was, beyond the dates and facts we learned in history class. Great piece of living history here.
Thanks, Neela. I was aiming for realistic detail while trying not to cross the line into tedious detail. It can be a fine line and not the same for everyone, so the feedback really helps 😊