Warning: Some Violence and Much Strong Language.SHE WROTE: First Act Argh
This first act is making me insane.
We have twenty-two scenes blocked out for the first act, which is a lot but then the first act is the longest act, usually running just over 30,000 words in a 100,000 word manuscript. Except we’re at 27,000 and we’ve only got the first 14 scenes drafted. We’ll cut a lot in the first rewrite and Bob will scream (did I mention “In the darkness, there is death”?) but even then, this is a long first act. And this really is the first act, we can’t break it earlier with a different turning point, the TP we have is the one it has to be.
And my head is exploding from working on this.
It’s good stuff, though. Rich cast, great setting, terrific dog. And food. Agnes cooks and cooks. Which means I’m going to be cooking and cooking to get it right. Thank God for Cousin Russ the foodie who is already on board and trying to figure out what the hell Southern Mob Food is. We love Cousin Russ. We loved him before he took on the Southern Mob Food thing, but we REALLY love him now.
The thing about romantic adventure is that you have to keep the thriller plot going while you keep the romance going. And there’s a helluva lot of both plots in this sucker. This one doesn’t have the Russian Mob in it, but it has the American mob and the CIA (I think it’s the CIA, Bob may have changed that) and jealous ex-boyfriends and mothers made homicidal by a big wedding and ancient crimes and hidden loot . . .
We have to learn to simplify. I think it’s because we’re melding two different kinds of plot; that would logically mean that we’d automatically end up with extra plot leaking out the seams, but it’s beyond even that now. I’m so confused at this point, I don’t know what’s going on and I’m writing the book. Fortunately, I’m writing it from Agnes’s POV and she doesn’t know what’s going on, either. But there's one scene I'm rewriting where Shane is eating breakfast, worrying about dognappers, taking a coded call from his CIA (?) boss, and scoping out Agnes's butt. I don't know how he does it all.
ARGH.
Plus Bob needed this last week, and he’s getting it tomorrow while I go off to a booksigning. I’m hoping the signing is far enough away that I won’t hear the screams when he sees what I’ve done to the stuff he wrote. Of course, I have to face him next Friday in San Francisco, so it’s pretty much a case of I can run but I can’t hide.
Collaborating: Not a job for wimps.
7 Comments:
And now, the totally selfish reader chortles in glee: "It sounds like it's going to be a big book. A big, fat, stay-up-until-4-a.m. book! Hooray!"
...and a re-read again and again so you can catch all the nuances and the "ah-ha" moments when you remember what HsSs had to say about a particular bit...
Southern Mob food?
Spaghetti with catfish?
Grits alla marinara?
Okra pizza?
Tiramisu-filled Moon Pies?
So the thing about southern food is that if you fry it; you're golden (In fact I find it a little odd that a restaurant in New York fried the twinky first). THE BEST SOUTHERN MEAL EVER: slices of ham fried-about 1/4 in.-in a cast iron skillet. Black-eyed peas that have seasoned over night. Sliced tomatoes and vinegar cucmbers fresh from the garden. Ideally there would be fresh bread. And of course to round out this fabulous meal, a chocolate cake-a special one-with chocolate chips in it and pudding. Good luck!!!
Southern mob food:
Red beans and rigatoni
Gumbo—cuz you could hide a body in gumbo
Shrimp alfredo
Gooey cake-his mom serves him gooey cake and milk after a late night at work
From Bob's blog about book clubs:
How about some program that College Offices of Residence Life could use with co-ed dorms reading the book...it might work well at West Point and Jenny has OSU connections.
Southern mob food probably takes the old familiar classic and adds a heavy dose of snobbery -- something like Chipotle Cheese Grits with Cajun Grilled Shrimp or Banana Pudding with a Buttery Rum or Southern Comfort Sauce.
If it's a Southern Mob, you're probably not seeing an Italian influence as in some of the food suggestions above, but rather a group of good ol' boys gone bad -- something that might happen when too much new money and power run into old regional clannishness.
They would probably eat the woo-woo food to inpress and establish their power socially, but when they are alone and down and dirty, they will regress to the traditional foods. And good ol' boys, even from "good" families, ALWAYS regress...
Maybe Southern Mob Cuisine would have a Tex-Mex flavor:
Arroz con Catfish
Shrimp Chili
Refried Grits
Blackened Jalapeno Tamales
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