Boustan! I have to say, my preference is posting in one Big Bang Post, but it's too likely to scare everyone off for good. So, I'm going with a serialized approach again. They're kind of "quick hits" but Substack is kind of built for that.
I'm delighted you're enjoying the story. Thanks for joining the ride!
“Plantation by plantation, and bride by bride – of whom there had now been three – the timber merchant grew to be as respectfully loathed in the R— Club’s smoking rooms as he was in the provincial offices of colonial governors.” Now, that is a sentence.
What a treat! Thanks, Rona. You will appreciate this: I write a story a month and The Knuckleball Artist turned into a six-month effort which led to lots of simultaneous shifting back and forth between projects. Now... imagine having a folksy Americana narrator in your ears and then trying to shift over to this voice. It was almost impossible at times. I'd have to read what I'd written over and over to get the right voice for the right piece. It actually surprised me how much the ear starts getting tuned to a "voice" as a writer. I wonder if you have that, too?
The only reason I don’t is that I stick to memoir and personal essays. The voice evolves but is always mine. If I get back (way back) to fiction, I will return to the bottom rung of the voice ladder.
Looking forward to the next post after this extremely exciting beginning...a story one can't properly do justice to in reading in parts!!!
Boustan! I have to say, my preference is posting in one Big Bang Post, but it's too likely to scare everyone off for good. So, I'm going with a serialized approach again. They're kind of "quick hits" but Substack is kind of built for that.
I'm delighted you're enjoying the story. Thanks for joining the ride!
“Plantation by plantation, and bride by bride – of whom there had now been three – the timber merchant grew to be as respectfully loathed in the R— Club’s smoking rooms as he was in the provincial offices of colonial governors.” Now, that is a sentence.
What a treat! Thanks, Rona. You will appreciate this: I write a story a month and The Knuckleball Artist turned into a six-month effort which led to lots of simultaneous shifting back and forth between projects. Now... imagine having a folksy Americana narrator in your ears and then trying to shift over to this voice. It was almost impossible at times. I'd have to read what I'd written over and over to get the right voice for the right piece. It actually surprised me how much the ear starts getting tuned to a "voice" as a writer. I wonder if you have that, too?
The only reason I don’t is that I stick to memoir and personal essays. The voice evolves but is always mine. If I get back (way back) to fiction, I will return to the bottom rung of the voice ladder.
Doubtful. 😀
you sly dog. Spoon ready for part 2
Being plated up in the kitchen.
I’m imagining his heirs go on to Philadelphia to open a department store . . . You’re off with a bang❗️
I had to look that up! I never even made the Wanamakers connection. Boy, that's from the path. it's like Woolworth's.
As a old writing teacher says, "the story is smarter than you are"
A delightful, intriguing, start! I’m ever impressed by your storytelling skill, my friend.
This was a fun one. yes, it is a little over-the-top, but a very fun voice to go for. I'm eager to see if the plot keeps people hanging in there.
Intriguing start!