Well, dear readers, here’s a funny little story for you. As you know I have been talking about the new book and all the changes I made because Muse Margaret had issues mostly with part one of the book – she just wanted to like the character more and I’d written it in such a way that there were obstacles to that. So, I made lots of little changes and cuts and additions and she began to like the character better and over this entire time of my two proofings I continued to make adjustments, and the last set of them finally did the trick for her. The part two issues were more mine than hers, but she really liked all my proposed adjustments – just minor cuts and fixes and the ending, which I do think I finally got just right. And all this time I’ve said to Muse Margaret and to you dear readers that we’ve never really had anything like this with previous books. But, that is actually not the case, although I had no memory of this until in scrolling to find this document I saw one called “Adriana” – it was Murder at Hollywood High (original title was Adriana), the first four chapters. And the minute I began reading them it all came flooding back to me – and if I thought this was a lot of little changes, with Murder at Hollywood High it was virtually rewriting in total about seventy percent of what I’d done. I had gone a certain way and it was all too smart ASSY and glib. She hated that. And Adriana wasn’t a journalism student she was a drama student. She hated that. I was very confused by all that, but I immediately went back and the next day rewrote just about all of it, changing her to a journalism student, removing everything glib, starting it on a much more engaging note, changing Billy’s last name and changing the names of a lot of the smaller characters. In other words, the entire tone of the book changed in a much larger way than anything we did with this book. So I now feel much better.
And that wasn’t the only time we did major work, although never THAT major. With Writer’s Block there were many more song lyrics in the original draft of the first third of the book and they drove her crazy and I cut most of them. And with Rewind, a book she absolutely loved until the last chapter, which she hated. Again, it had to do with liking a character, which she thought I’d ruined in the final chapter. I couldn’t see it, but eventually did and the rewrite of that literally took about six minutes and that fixed that. With the first memoir, the final two chapters just didn’t work for her. When we finally cut through everything it really had to do with length and a lot of stories that were impeding the flow and getting us to the ending and staying on point. I ended up cutting almost thirty pages and then it all worked well. And in Album Produced By she didn’t like several portrayals because she felt I got too mean about it, and even though that had been my intention I softened it all and it was better, her point being just write it and don’t editorialize, let the reader figure it out. Those were the biggies, but I’d forgotten all about those struggles. So, there really wasn’t anything all that out of the ordinary with this one – I just wish I’d remembered it a week and a half ago.
Yesterday was a Thursday. Much Group Rep drama and I know how I would like it to turn out and I think many are in agreement with it. There is a lot of duplicitous behavior and it needs to be stomped into oblivion. The garage organizer came at eleven – the alarm hadn’t gone off at ten and so I woke up to the sound of the doorbell – really irritating. She went to work and I answered e-mails, then went and picked up a package, then did some banking. I came home, did some work at the piano and on the computer. She was here for four hours and then I had to go to the editing room to see a cut, which I did and enjoyed very much – only a handful of notes from the likes of me. Then as I was driving home, friend David Wechter called, so he came over and saw the new house, which he loved, and we went and visited next door with Grant for a little while. Neither of us had eaten so we went to a local Japanese jernt that had good Yelp notices. And good it was – a little hole in the wall where you order at the counter and then sit at one of the small number of tables. I had what I always have in Japanese jernts – teriyaki chicken and tempura – this combo also came with a California roll. It was all quite yummilicious and we had fun catching up. Then I came home, answered more e-mails, did more work at the piano, and then just relaxed, listening to music.
The other night I’d heard the first symphony of Charles Gounod on the radio before bed. Even though it’s not my favorite era of music, I really found it delightful, so I got a CD of his two symphonies and ballet music from Faust. And the entire CD is excellent. I knew nothing of Gounod other than Funeral March of a Marionette, aka the theme for Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Anyway the CD is thoroughly enjoyable.
Today I must be up by eight, get ready and then go to LACC for a ten o’clock meeting about the Robby Awards. I’ll give Levi CDs to whatever cast members happen to be around. Then I’ll come home, eat the first of my two Freshly meals, do work on the Kritzerland show (only one person left to cast), then relax.
Tomorrow I’m seeing the Hamilton High production of Guys and Dolls with an old high school chum I haven’t seen in over thirty years, so that will be fun. Her daughter and her daughter’s husband and family are also attending, so we’ll all grab a bite to eat after.
Sunday I’m not sure what’s happening, and then next week is all meetings and meals and dealing with more merde, which is beginning to grow rather than lessen.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have an early meeting, hopefully pick up packages, eat, work on Kritzerland, eat, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray player? I’ll start – CD, Gounod. Blu-ray, no idea. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to know that a few of my previous books were also subject to changes much larger than the new book.