Kicking it with the mayor

Amusing how life imitates art. In the second book of the Pearl Series (currently manuscript), Kerri Ann informs Lee she’s flying from Fresno to Vancouver for the mayor’s campaign kickoff. In real life it unfolded tonight and I trounced through the crowd to make sure I captured cool pictures for the blog. Yes, I’m perfectly capable of embarrassing myself in any social venue. Just give me a camera and two hundred toes standing too close together.

<--Me.

Falling over three people to get a good shot.

Yeah!

Got it.

Confession: life not really imitating anything here. So, let me try that again. “Amazing how life imitates existence. Here’s some amusing art with life.” (Note white blob next to mayoral candidate).

That’s right, I didn’t fly up from California, more like lead-footed-it over from library, swooped in just as the speeches drummed the crowd for support, and not that inspiring, even so plenty of time for a donation envelope to be stuffed in my hand, and wasn’t that the point, and one piece of crusty, cream-cheesed bread dotted with mushrooms. Haute cuisine is not my thing. Chicken and jo-jo’s, cheese smacked between white bread, bowl of rice with butter, umm budder. We really go for the good stuff at our house.

BTW, I bypassed the wine. Not that much of an imbiber when one glass lulls me into thinking it’s nap time, but I did grab a cup of joe to make sure I’d be able to stay up past bedtime and finish the bloggggggggggggg. Goll. Lee. Hope I get to sleep tonight. Excuse me, I’m getting that wine.

Strategy.

For a fine campaign speech...

insure everyone else is boring.

I’m kidding!

Okay, I’m not.

Highest ranking guest award goes to Mike Gregoire, the governor’s husband. Custom suit, carefully tanned, smart, snappy remarks, and heartfelt greeting from the Guvnah. Yes, our state is steered by a woman. Watch out world. Oh, right, you already heard us coming, we were that fifth state to give women the right to vote. We’re celebrating that next year, 100th anniversary and all.

Least interesting guest award goes to my neighbor Bob, prez of the community college. I can visit with him any old time. I just NEVER see him in the neighborhood. Worse, I think I tailgated him home. I truly wish I was more polite.

Interesting how ‘Pollard’ on fire fighter posse shirts makes me think of pollen and color combo makes me think of bees…

Also in attendance, a half dozen guests I dined with exactly one week ago with Kweisi Mfume (read here). I need to widen my circle, half these people are old, like twice my age. Oh, haha, that old thing, she’s me! And this wine sucks. It’s left over from my birthday. Now, that was fun. (No, it wasn’t).

Politics. Can’t see myself ever running for office, but then again, no one’s chasing me for anything but my vote, and furthermore, I think mayor’s position only pays $25k a year. That’s almost forced community service.

Therefore, to wrap this up I’d like to make a toast with the last remnants of the Pinot Gris. Cheers to those who serve, who dodge the daily bullets of criticism from all corners, who navigate hyper-vigilant reporters hovering, hoping you’ll say something stupid, to people who plunk down cash so good people can afford to run for office and starve on local politician pay. To friends who support friends.

Yes, Royce, my friend, I’m voting for you. And as soon as I finish this wine I’m pounding that sign into the yard, or better yet, I’ll get Bob to do it. He probably knows how to handle himself around a hammer. Right now I think the most I should handle is nap.

Top

Surprise! Meet your new Korean family, or Ack! What did she get herself into?

Okay, if you’re not reading the book you don’t know there was a proposal between the last post and this one. Kerri Ann has followed Lee to California and see’s the house he’s chosen for them, he gives her a list of repairs and renovations needed on the bungalow, hands her a household budget to follow, and ignores her questions about the closest college. He’s got a plan for life, and at the moment that doesn’t include her doing anything except taking care of the home front so he can concentrate on building his real estate business, nor does it include introducing her to his parents before the wedding.

“Would you like a job?” he asked.

“You bet, when do I start?” I replied excited.

“Right now. Your job is the house. We need everything: living room furniture, table, pots, pans, dishes, linens, maybe new drapes.”

I glanced at the sun-blotched cloth hanging to the sides of the den window, approached them and tried to hide my disappointment, I thought he had a place for me in his business. I gazed out the window at the sliver of backyard and fingered the frayed cloth. I heard Chloe’s mom whisper, ‘Do a good job where you are, and good things will happen.’ “Okay, you got it. What’s the parameters?”

“What are the parameters,” he corrected softly.

I heard and understood. The man who spoke English as a second language had better grammar than the English major. (A Single Pearl, Chapter 6).

Here's your chance to be part of the book. I need a color for the drapes. Any suggestions?

Lisa: +stifling house; -concise, clear handwriting (don’t need next reference); +leases (what do you like to read?); +Chloe’s mom whispered; Yikes, Lee seems controlling. Chap 7 I think Chloe would have a different response to marriage; +Lee’s mother’s response; What was finger gesture?; +soap opera and the whole family in Korean; +volunteer at elementary school; +it wouldn’t be cooking (for fun) + can’t wait…

Melanie: +Good tension—parents not coming to wedding; +Like to read leases (character development); +Tension—he wouldn’t tell her where college—not good. +Love the mother’s wailing. +Gifts a payoff. +Embarrass about no ring for Lee. It wouldn’t be cooking. Call between Chloe and Kerri Ann.

Pam: What sports car—make? Ah!! Corvette-nice. Within budget? What is the budget? ! I’m beginning to have second thoughts about Lee—. +”Eyes disappeared into a grin.” Ch 7 +Pretty dress!! (In my mind). +Kind of like the dad, +interesting mom, +great visual of parents’ house. +And I like the cleaning of their own house for the new beginning. Why would tuition be out-of-state?

Peggy: +Staring at her shoes…has reader wondering and then realize it’s the song :-), The whole shoe thing’s cute. +He quirked an eyebrow…”No.” Sorry I missed so much :-( Send it to me, please!

EDITS: Sometimes you know what happens, but you don’t always have the right characters handling the action or spelling out the dialogue. In one instance, I changed the speaker to make better sense within the lines of characters already drawn. Melanie also steered me over the bump of the entire reveal of meeting the parents happening during a phone conversation between Kerri Ann and her friend Chloe. Mel wanted to see the drive over to Lee’s parents house and the scene blossomed.

The feedback makes mention of a song Kerri Ann listens to. In real life I was cleaning the kitchen and listening to 89.10 FM and heard this clever tune by Fats Waller. It wrote itself naturally into the manuscript, outlining the tight financial situation KA had at college, and brought in an exchange between Lee and KA that answers the question: why he is so driven to make money? You won’t get any answers from the YouTube tune, but it's still fun.

Since beginning Pam has been questioning if Lee was too good to be true, this chapter was her first cloud of doubt. The teeter-tooter continues through chapter after chapter. She likes him, she hates him. If I’ve done my job right she’ll feel about him the same way I do at the end. Looking forward to finding out that outcome!

Okay, now help me -- what color are those drapes?

I need coffee, then I'll think about revising…again

“Are you changing the subject?” I asked exasperated.

“Am I?”

“Do you always answer a question with a question?”

“Why?”

I laughed not knowing what else to do, and realized how much I didn’t know about this man, and wondered why it didn’t worry me. (A Single Pearl, Chapter Three).

Scene : Lee and Kerri Ann go eye-shopping in Hawaii. At coffee she shares tid-bits about island history that cover California Longhorns to Captain George Vancouver, and in-between they rush through blaming white people for taking over the islands, differ on the death penalty, and we discover Lee’s distaste for women using bad language. After a stroll they slip into an ‘interesting shop’ (to quote the manuscript prior to edits).

Late one afternoon we stumbled onto a narrow street with small shops pulsing with international undercurrents and sweltering activity. We walked into every one. The last one was a pearl shop. I knew better than to go into a jewelry store with a date. That was a sure fire way to send a man packing. I kept moving, Lee stopped, and I teetered bound by his hand.

“Missed one,” he said, and he coaxed me inside.

Ions: plus sign ‘+’ to denote good, minus ‘-’ not, and a ‘?’ for obvious.

Lisa: I like that Kerri Ann read out of a book to him, ‘tropical temperature…’ like that she wanted public transport, like the jewelry store.

Melanie: good about Montana milk-toast culture. +Bus great, good description of jewelry, stepping on foot.

Pam: good banter between the two characters, cleaver humor, ‘interesting shops’ how?

EDITS: This whole section got a complete overhaul before bringing to the group: roughed out, flushed out, enhanced, expanded then honed down, repeat the cycle. I uncovered Kerri Ann’s love for ‘tid-bits,’ little pieces of information about places and things, and her fascination of powerful women. It introduces Vancouver, Washington, which will appear later in the book.