Harrison Ford mixes it up with cute shoes

I put on my cute shoes yesterday. In total preparation for the meet and greet with Harrison Ford. It made it difficult to work. I'm sure he was as nervous as I felt, and likely neither one of us got enough paper pushing done.

Well, guess what? I think we got our wires crossed, because Mr. Ford did not meet me, he met my friend Dale Chumbley, who authorized use of the evidence. Dale's picture appeared in the local media, and after Dale begged me sufficiently, I relented and agreed to allow him to post his picture here on my blog.

Before Dale got all famous and began hanging out with famous movie-star-directors he labored with me in the local media. I gave Dale work orders and he drove the company's customer service car. Dale wasn't done with my family and went on to work with my sister. I've written about her before, she's my OLDER sister, always has been. One of the most amazing aspects of Dale is his continuous smile, joyous embracing, of life no matter what the obstacles and he's had a few, and his professional dedication to his real estate clients.

Now, real estate is something I know about (no, I don't). In fact, there's a pinch of real estate in my manuscript, commercial real estate, joint venture deals, unauthorized movement of money, a big fight between Kerri Ann and her husband Lee...

There you go, allowing things to get all sidetracked on ME, when I wanted to share Dale's good fortune. Take a look!
Thanks, Dale! You're the best. I'll be buying that cup of coffee for you now, and catching up on all your news. (I think I have that backwards, the conversation will likely be all about me, but you already knew that).

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How an Asian runs his business: focused

Reading a book out loud twelve minutes at a time equals a year in the life of an editing author. We're at Chapter 10 (out of thirty, give or take a prologue, an epilogue). Lee fires one of his young brokers, it’s as bad as any expected. He has high standards and he’s not nice when an employee doesn’t measure up. Kerri Ann, of course, believes it has something to do a brief exchange she had with the young man at the office during Lee's Saturday training.

There’s some mayhem at the house when she wakes in the middle of the night and doesn’t realize a couple of cousins are still hanging out, and she wanders into his dark den with a t-shirt that doesn’t quite cover, well, her behind. It all leads to argument and a slight to Lee’s Korean culture, not nice, but embarrassment sends down strange roads. And that’s not the end of the arguments.

“He didn’t hear me come in. The overhead was off, but the den's desk lamp illuminated the white paper he held. I positioned my thumb and forefinger in an ‘O’ and snapped the paper to break his concentration. He startled, looked over at the hemline of my tee not even hitting the tops of my legs. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. I’d never had that reaction before and thought this might be interesting. I decided to give him the rest of the view. I slithered my bare butt up on his desk, started to cozy my feet over his thighs, rolled my arms in the bottom of the tee and began to pull it off.” (A Single Pearl, Chapter 10).

I had little straggly things to fix in this chapter, bit of massaging to get it ‘right,’ keep the characters true. All better now. Here’s how my writing partners logged in…

Lisa: +good description of firing day with Lee; +great office scene with Lee and Kerri Ann; -she is very forgiving if she’s has a big blowout and then goes to the office scene; -‘you’re not coming out here like that, he asked’ seemed more like a statement. Why does she have to wear hanbok? Chap 11: ‘chains of rules with no jewels, don’t understand what that means (?).

Melanie: +your job is to hostess; ++love this scene; -lips practically petrified doesn’t fit; + of course they had to honk; + trembling into nervous apologies; + name tag announcing secretary; + description of office; + ‘who sold house?’like her reaction; + hate JOHN, what a rat.

Pam: +‘death march to the door,’ + I like this part - again! + My, KA is getting spunky! ‘Freckles…followed.’ I’m getting a kick out of the way John belittles KA. +My, KA is getting spunky! +“Freckles…followed.” I’m getting a kick out of the way John belittles KA.

Peggy: +Love Kerri Ann’s defiance and that she stood firm in how she felt; + the receipt J; + the scene with uncle and cousin wonderful details with the t-shirt; + ‘freedom from the hanbok;’ Lee’s response to her the next AM (exhibitionist comment) Does she need to use John’s name so much? Can you replace his name with him/his/he? +‘like acid over his big desk,’ ‘placid lake,’ nice similes.

Edits: I hate re-reading the scenes with John, he can be almost evil. That said, I overwrite him and have to edit half the scene whenever he and KA tussle. He has a side, we just don’t know it…YET!

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Opening to the future, closing up the past

Scene: the main protagonist, Kerri Ann, experiences the death of a family member and reacts not with grief but with stoicism. As others reach out to her she pulls away. It ends in a bedroom with a pillow discussion and a ticking clock underscoring the gravity of life, the choices made to ignore rather than face the past, and the acquiescing to routine rather than opening up to pain and moving forward through life. It’s what they don’t discuss that hangs as a mist to influence future misunderstanding, except at this point I’m the only one who knows that.

“All right,” he said, reached over and turned out the bedside light. He drew in close, sifted my hair over my shoulder, and his lips lingered in light caresses on the nape of my neck. I didn’t respond to his touch. I loitered in the past, trundled through that horrid hovel, knowing it would look worse as an adult than it ever had as a child. The mantel clock ticked a muffled beat as the rest of the house grew silent. The last light seeping under the door went dark, hurling us into blackness.

“Why didn’t you want me to come?” he spoke into the night.

Share, the clock clicked rhythmically. Share, it tocked.

Lisa: good imagery with Kerri Ann and her dad; -just “confided” good don’t need “whispered;” +”Traced my mark.” Note? Need to understand its importance, need more on that. +”Cascading concern,” +”leave it alone,” Sherrine told Chloe; +the whiff of tissues from box;” +glad Lee came; didn’t’ understand only ½ hour of people after funeral? +rude second husband; +speculation about door tight in parents house. Not sure I understand the fight between Kerrie Ann and Lee(?); I don’t care about that, I care about now (conflicts with his questions during fight).

Melanie: Graveyard scene. +Lee not coming to funeral, +++Lee arrived. +Grief of others – for her. +Guest “welcome to God’s country” scene, we knew something was coming! +Pretend jobs no one needs. +Tick Tock.

Pam: +Nice inner thoughts at the first part. Interesting that she left before he died. So she hated her mom, too? I didn’t remember that – sorry. Why is she so devastated that she can’t even function? +Great imagining at the funeral! I’m glad Lee came! Good exchange of character dialogue at the reception (I didn’t get the whole door thing). K.A. has many issues doesn’t she? I wish she wasn’t so ashamed of her past. +Breathe – tick-breath – toc’ (That entire scene is well done).

Peggy: +Dredged up murk” …ooh, I like that! ?He “walked” away again? Death? +Like a lone sentinel, + :-). +Chloe being mad about Lee not being there…And then for him to be at the funeral…Yay! + :-). +”his eyes smiled…” <-- nice. +Like the addition of the clock ticking with her thoughts. +Getting to know Kerri Ann.

Edits: The group thought I could eliminate a couple of summary references to items the reader understands from the details. Done.

There was some confusion about KA’s feelings about her mom. She didn’t hate her, and also some questioning why Kerri Ann felt the death so hard of someone she did hate. Fixed.

I moved the tissue box in the scene from the rows of well-wishers to the family row and think it tightened up the emotions.

Pam’s catch, “Interesting that she left before he died,” will give me something nice to remind her of when KA reflects in Part II why she did that. I’ll enjoy reminding Pam of how astute she was to catch that fleeting thought.

This was one of my chapters I sent to the teacher (Carolyn Rose) when I missed a class to attend volunteer orientation for Willamette Writers Conference. I used teacher's feedback to enhance the scene, but also mistakenly took the scene too far. The read to the group let me know I needed to pull Lee back, the Korean husband, soften his edges, he is not an easy character to understand. we will love him and get pissed at him from here on out. Characters tick as illusive as people who don't want to be known, or who don't know themselves well, as complicated as the inner workings of a clock.

The tick-tock they referenced is a clock beating in the background as Kerri Ann opens up to Lee, shares her childhood, how it haunts her and how she doesn’t want it to touch him. A ticking clock will show up in Part II, but that's to underscore the need to leave. This was a fun night for me to read—lot of emotion in the room, intense listening.

She's got big ideas and it doesn't involve cooking or cleaning

What is Kerri Ann up to now?
The next morning Lee showed me a 3-D drawing in the paper of one of the downtown developments his company was working on. That gave me an idea. I spent weeks at the library researching and took my list to the newspaper and bought old editions, specific dates containing bird's eye illustrations of the city's core.



Saturdays I xeroxed, sizing everything perfectly. At home I cut and pieced it together, drew in the missing areas, and made my own map with colored squares of blue to represent Lee portfolio properties. Little pieces of paper drifted and fluttered from my project. “Your mother is rubbing off on me,” I ribbed.
(A Single Pearl, Chapter 9).



The idea germinating blossomed on that decision walk. When I got home I called Lee to let him know I’d resurfaced. “I’m taking that cooking class,” I said. I went through my leftover pile of newspapers, cut out recipes, and that week cooked them as if they came from a class.

Well, I wanted to do it myself, but after telling Breena I’d set a kitchen towel on fire she swooped in for rescue; she slaved while I cleaned up the smoke damage. We froze the meals and I brought them out to thaw as needed. The dishes were actually pretty good. Lee was impressed, what a good student I was, what a great class. Then off I’d go to study—for my real estate license. (A Single Pearl, Chapter 9).

She needs college cash, has to ask him for money

Kerri Ann needs money, and has to ask Lee for it. It doesn't feel good, but wait...what does he want?

An excerpt from A Single Pearl...
...I’d decided my discontent could only be doused with forward motion, and I’d have to ask Lee for money. It chafed I’d become so dependent, but his soft words were the plink of a stone breaking the surface of my pride lake, sending out ripples of renewal. I tucked in next to him, held myself for courage and took a breath. Lee moved his arm over the back of the sofa, and kneaded my shoulder. He gazed past me, and struggled to say something.
(A Single Pearl, Chapter 9).