Volume 1

The good husband had a brilliant thought this week: what if there was an IMDb for books?

You know when you finish a movie or – le gasp – a TV series and you’re in denial that it’s actually over, so you hop onto IMDb to read all the trivia?

Would this not be so much fun???

Wouldn’t it be cool to know if Harry Potter’s name was originally Steve? Or if J.R.R. Tolkien’s famous ring was based on toe-ring his wife bought on their honeymoon? Or, what if the publisher of “Little Women” had really pressured Ms. Alcott to change her title to “Dutiful Girls” but she was a pioneering feminist who said “No, these characters are strong, independent women, even if they are young?”

I visited the Gone With the Wind Museum with one of my best friends and found out that Margaret Mitchell broke her leg, got bored sitting around and was like, “Eh, maybe I’ll write a book.”

Are you kidding me????

Although “The Ripple of Stones” is still in the editing stage, I’ve decided begin a series called IMDb for Books. In these posts, I’ll let you in on little pieces of trivia that pop up during my writing process.

It is important to know that when you create, you’re going to make a million mistakes before you get to the final product. It is a kindness to admit to fellow creators that you also struggle, and that the struggle is completely normal. It is also a kindness to trot out your idiocy for the amusement of your readers.

Without further ado, I present three pieces of trivia from the eventually-published “The Ripple of Stones”

Did You Know?

Trivia

Main character Brigid Firth finds a mysterious box of polished lake stones and notations in a small closet of her bedroom at Cairn Cottage. This box is modeled after a real box the author inherited from her grandmother Mimi. This box was quite probably made by Mimi. The actual box contained playing cards which were used to play Euchre. Presently, the box sits on the author’s coffee table and contains coasters. The playing cards are in a Ziploc bag in the pantry shoved behind the Oreos.

There is a strong romance element to this story. Weather is also an integral part. There are several romance scenes beneath the light of a full moon because isn’t that so romantic and ethereal and mystical and symbolic? The problem came when the author realized she had written three full moons occurring in the span of five weeks. The author then banged her head on the table and forced herself to make a calendar for the story.

It has been mentioned that weather is a symbolic character in “The Ripple of Stones.” A storm scene in the book is based on the infamous Bow Arrow storm that hit Northern Michigan in August, 2015. This storm was responsible for extensive property damage and changed the landscape of the area, flattening acres of old-growth trees. Miraculously, not one person died.

It remains to be seen if all the characters will survive the fictional storm…

As always, dear Reader, thank you mightily for spending a few minutes with me over here on the blog. Tune in next week for our more serious installment. I plan to write a bit about becoming a minimalist. Or maybe the pipes will really break this time and I’ll write about that. Life will decide…

Happy creating!!