First battlefield scene done. Maybe.
It wasn't as hard to write as it waould have been if I had tried to write it before futzing around for two weeks, looking at pictures, picking people's brains, reading stuff, making six or seven false starts. But it wasn't easy, and it will certainly need a lot of attention in the revision.
The next thing is between battles, and the one after that is another battle, worse than the first, and then an I don't know part to cover almost three years of more of the same (honestly, do you expect me to write scene after scene of this? in a book that isn't even about war?) and then the last battle my guy is in, and his capture, and then . . . I'll complain about that part when I get to it.
Some people I was talking about were surprised I needed to know all this stuff to write this. This surprised me. What if I wrote that a howitzer shell grazed his ear and made him look, when it turns out he'd never survive that? What if I wrote -- as I nearly did -- that they were carting their large artillery back and forth every day? What of I wrote, I don't know, any number of impossible scenarios? What would I do when people who know better said they couldn't believe the story? Just say "it's fantasy, man, get over yourself?"
Or I suppose I could just go "They battled all day and then it was night and they had conversations."
I think if I had had an ounce of military history buff in me I might have been able to wing it -- though that might have been dangerous, because what you don't know doesn't hurt you nearly as badly as what you think you know that isn't true -- but the fact that I have been resolutely cold about the whole subject for a parrot's lifetime means that I have to have a more humble attitude to this stuff.
on another front, two irreproducible recipes for you:
1. Something sweet with tahini, yogurt, and meyer lemon marmalade
Mix them together in proportions of about three parts plain yogurt, and one part tahini and one part marmalade. Eat. Maybe you could put it in the freezer for a few minutes, but not actually freeze it. The tahini and marmalade are slightly bitter, so it's really good.
2. Something inexplicable with green garbanzos and other vegetables
Lots of olive oil in the pan. A 12-ounce bag of frozen green garbanzos. Roughly equal piles of diced peeled broccoli stems and turnip, green onions, and then some amount of garlic and arugula. Sautee these until they are as tender as you want. Mix in massive amounts of pesto. You can use any combination of vegetables, and you can also use less olive oil if you are scared of it.
On still another front: just in case I might be capable of forgetting about being allergic to rats, I keep finding old sign of rat in corners I haven't poked into since before the last invasion. When I'm cleaning it up I get the prickles, and the next day I am congested and stupid. It would be worse if I didn't take antihistamine as soon as I see or smell the stuff.
The next thing is between battles, and the one after that is another battle, worse than the first, and then an I don't know part to cover almost three years of more of the same (honestly, do you expect me to write scene after scene of this? in a book that isn't even about war?) and then the last battle my guy is in, and his capture, and then . . . I'll complain about that part when I get to it.
Some people I was talking about were surprised I needed to know all this stuff to write this. This surprised me. What if I wrote that a howitzer shell grazed his ear and made him look, when it turns out he'd never survive that? What if I wrote -- as I nearly did -- that they were carting their large artillery back and forth every day? What of I wrote, I don't know, any number of impossible scenarios? What would I do when people who know better said they couldn't believe the story? Just say "it's fantasy, man, get over yourself?"
Or I suppose I could just go "They battled all day and then it was night and they had conversations."
I think if I had had an ounce of military history buff in me I might have been able to wing it -- though that might have been dangerous, because what you don't know doesn't hurt you nearly as badly as what you think you know that isn't true -- but the fact that I have been resolutely cold about the whole subject for a parrot's lifetime means that I have to have a more humble attitude to this stuff.
on another front, two irreproducible recipes for you:
1. Something sweet with tahini, yogurt, and meyer lemon marmalade
Mix them together in proportions of about three parts plain yogurt, and one part tahini and one part marmalade. Eat. Maybe you could put it in the freezer for a few minutes, but not actually freeze it. The tahini and marmalade are slightly bitter, so it's really good.
2. Something inexplicable with green garbanzos and other vegetables
Lots of olive oil in the pan. A 12-ounce bag of frozen green garbanzos. Roughly equal piles of diced peeled broccoli stems and turnip, green onions, and then some amount of garlic and arugula. Sautee these until they are as tender as you want. Mix in massive amounts of pesto. You can use any combination of vegetables, and you can also use less olive oil if you are scared of it.
On still another front: just in case I might be capable of forgetting about being allergic to rats, I keep finding old sign of rat in corners I haven't poked into since before the last invasion. When I'm cleaning it up I get the prickles, and the next day I am congested and stupid. It would be worse if I didn't take antihistamine as soon as I see or smell the stuff.