Thanks, Peter. This was the piece that got me started on Hiram Falls. I had a real town's name in it and after one of the shows, one young couple came up to me and told me I had nailed it. Then an older woman told me that she and her husband were trying to figure out which house Carrie lived in and said they had figured it out. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was all made up.
But that set me to write the second and then the third and by then the novel's characters were starting to take shape.
Thanks so much, Douglas. I appreciate your having taken the time to read the piece and to have commented.
FYI, I had some help with this, something I can say with all of my writing. I had a 17-year-old girl read it and tell me whether they thought it was believable. She had some nice suggestions for improvement.
And then, when it was performed on stage, it was a 17-year-old actress who did it. From her inflections, her tone I came to understand much more about the character.
thank you so much. I had never made that connection before. Perhaps I should have, as my post on how I came to write that piece shows a darker side to the origin of the character.
I love this narrator. And I love the writing. And the performance is amazing. There's something in the style or maybe the nature of her concerns and expressed emotions that closes any time gap between the late 19th century and the present. ---Margaret Sefton
Margaret, I so appreciate your having read this and responded to it. I only posted this recently but did not send it out to subscribers. I see this site as becoming, if nothing else, a record of some of the work that has gone into creating this novel.
This is/was the beginning. It was, of course, a huge challenge for me, a then 66-year-old man to imagine myself as an 18-year-old girl living in the 1890s. It also led me to get a young woman who I had first met as a sixth grader to be one of the readers of my early draft. Her reaction to this piece was both positive and enlightening and led to a further evolution of the character which is reflected in the book.
I so appreciate that you felt her emotions transcended time. That means a lot to me.
Sorry I haven't read your posts lately, I love this diary, it reminds me of my mother, about her childhood's stories. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, Luz. No apologies necessary. Fact is, I have been away from Substack for quite a few weeks. Life has a way of doing that. Hope you are well.
So glad you liked the piece. g
I am well, thank you!
Loved reading this, Geoff. Deep insight into Carrie's plight. Thanks for leaving us with hope for her future.
Thanks, Peter. This was the piece that got me started on Hiram Falls. I had a real town's name in it and after one of the shows, one young couple came up to me and told me I had nailed it. Then an older woman told me that she and her husband were trying to figure out which house Carrie lived in and said they had figured it out. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was all made up.
But that set me to write the second and then the third and by then the novel's characters were starting to take shape.
I am not surprised people like this. You have a great voice here and I was really drawn into her story. Congratulations. I'd read more of this.
Thanks so much, Douglas. I appreciate your having taken the time to read the piece and to have commented.
FYI, I had some help with this, something I can say with all of my writing. I had a 17-year-old girl read it and tell me whether they thought it was believable. She had some nice suggestions for improvement.
And then, when it was performed on stage, it was a 17-year-old actress who did it. From her inflections, her tone I came to understand much more about the character.
As a writer, I am deeply indebted to my readers.
That's brilliant!
I enjoyed this. Has a touch of Willa Cather about it.
thank you so much. I had never made that connection before. Perhaps I should have, as my post on how I came to write that piece shows a darker side to the origin of the character.
Thanks again for reading it AND for commenting.
Be well.
I love this narrator. And I love the writing. And the performance is amazing. There's something in the style or maybe the nature of her concerns and expressed emotions that closes any time gap between the late 19th century and the present. ---Margaret Sefton
Margaret, I so appreciate your having read this and responded to it. I only posted this recently but did not send it out to subscribers. I see this site as becoming, if nothing else, a record of some of the work that has gone into creating this novel.
This is/was the beginning. It was, of course, a huge challenge for me, a then 66-year-old man to imagine myself as an 18-year-old girl living in the 1890s. It also led me to get a young woman who I had first met as a sixth grader to be one of the readers of my early draft. Her reaction to this piece was both positive and enlightening and led to a further evolution of the character which is reflected in the book.
I so appreciate that you felt her emotions transcended time. That means a lot to me.