Book # 2, where are you?

In case the title of this post seems vaguely familiar – and you have to be pretty old for that – it’s a play on the 60’s TV comedy, Car 54, Where Are You. In case some dim memory has been stirred, I’ve included the lyrics to the theme song[1].

Let’s get down to cases

You’re probably wondering just where book # 2 – the working title is Syrena – happens to be. After all, I’ve been saying “almost there” for months and months. Well, I was about to send a sample off to my publisher when I discovered I wasn’t happy with things the way they were. Oh, I’m happy with the book in general but there are a few things that need to be changed.

Issues and answers

For one thing, I added something to the plot which was meant to be a running gag. The idea behind that was:

  1. To show Penelope is just like her mother; a bit over the top at times.
  2. To show that the folks on Colony Island can be real copy-cats when they put their minds to it.

The residents are indeed copy-cats It’s a survival mechanism for living on land; do what the locals do so you can blend in and not give away the ‘secret’. Penelope is indeed just like her mother, but I already had one example of Penelopine over-the-top-ness and that is enough. The running gag just made things a bit too silly. The folks on Colony Island are a bit odd but they are definitely not silly.

Another problem was that I needed to do some more character development on Peter’s friend, Billy King[2]. I also need to do a bit of work on Penelope’s character as well.

And in conclusion

There are a few other bits & bobs like that as well. I will probably still send that sample off to my publisher. Nonetheless, I need to figure out how I’m going to go through all the stuff I’ve written and make it better. That’s the hard part.


[1] There’s a holdup in the Bronx, 
Brooklyn’s broken out in fights.
There’s a traffic jam in Harlem
That’s backed up to Jackson Heights.
There’s a scout troop short a child,
Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild
Car 54, Where Are You?

[2] There’ll be more about Billy King in a later post.

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