Music and Magic from the Heart of Our Nature
‘Tis me, Annie. Omigosh, here it is Saturday, and no Leaf! Jane wants me to tell you that the next installment will be up sometime this weekend.
Jane had a birthday a couple of days ago. Her family celebrated with sushi and roses. … oh, Santa’s yelling at me about something. I do too make sense!
Anyway, I think the Leaf is late because Jane has been having a birthday! And anyway, do check back by Sunday. She’ll have some good stuff up. I think!
This is Shell here, presenting the amazing fact that Jane has just posted the rest of Leaf 6. It’s all bundled up in that chapter, not presented as a separate installment.
When I was spying on Jane this morning I could see that she wasn’t totally happy with how that chapter is. And I know she’s been spending a bit of time with a pile of notes and some pen scrawls about this and that regarding plot and characters and stuff. I guess things will probably change around with the story before it’s totally done.
Isn’t that weird? As the main character of the story I think it’s really weird to think that Jane might change things about what I do or say and all that! It makes me wonder what reality is really like? Is someone editing our stories every once in awhile, making what we say sound more fun, or cool or wise? Are we doing that ourselves?
Okay, those are just some odd thoughts I have right now. What weird thoughts do you have about things?
This is Shell, signing off for this week!
This is Santa, your eye-witness reporter, giving you all the news that’s all good all the time. Yes, you heard it here first, folks. The next installment of the enticing, and intriguing Because Of The Red Fox is now available for public viewing. And here with me today is author Jane Valencia, for a brief interview.
Santa: Tell me the truth, Ms. Valencia. Rumor has it that you’ve been struggling a lot with this chapter.
Jane: Wow, you just cut to the chase, don’t you. Well, yes, that’s absolutely true.
Santa: And why’s that? It looks like fun and frolic is in good order here. Annie and Shell and I have a good time. The chapter is loaded with chicken stuff, after all.
Jane: Well, see. That’s just it. You and Annie maybe crazy about chickens (I am too), but our readers may not be so totally over the top about chickens. Or even if they are, we have to make sure we tell a good story and keep it moving along.
Santa: Uh, just what are you saying? That we’re boring? That our obsession with chickens is boring?
Shell (offstage): You could say that!
Jane: That’s not what I mean at all. But there’s a balance to be had. I want to include some fun details and set some things up that will take place later in the story, but I don’t want the story to bog down.
Santa: Bog … down … but how can the details of our time there bog down the story? Everything we did and saw there is important!
Jane: Well, yes and no. I know you guys had an amazing and strange time at Magic Mouse. I just want to make sure that we keep the ‘amazing and strange’ in a straightforward and clear way (if that makes sense), and not muddle it by having an overdose of detail.
Santa: But it’s important to note down every chicken we saw at Magic Mouse. They reveal so much about–everything!
Jane: Maybe and maybe not. As the writer of the story I want to make sure that every detail moves the story along in some purposeful way. Some details are important to the plot, some are fun. But they all need to present something that’s a little bit new. My difficulty with this chapter has been in deciding what’s fun and purposeful, and what just bogs things down or just makes things confusing and over-the-top surreal.
Santa: That’s harsh.
Jane: I can see why you might be attached to everything I’ve written in this chapter (not included here). And it’s possible that it all may end up in the story anyway. But for me, even as the writer, I found myself getting bored as I read the chapter aloud. There were certain places where this happened. So I’ve just posted Leaf 6, Pt 1, because I’d reached a place where I got totally bored, and couldn’t figure out how to fix it right now.
Santa: [indistinct mumbling]
Jane: Please don’t be offended. I may not have been telling the story well enough. We’ll see. But it always helps to work on something, then take a break and do something else, then come back to it. And see what new ideas have come to mind. And reading aloud what you’ve written really helps to hear where things are working and where they aren’t.
Santa: Okay … well, we’ll just have to see what you come up with next week. You are going to finish the chapter next week, right?
Jane: Yup, one way or another. The purpose of my work on this book right now is to rewrite some scenes and storyline based on what I know from writing the whole first draft, tussle with some of the problems along the way, but just keep moving.
Santa: Sounds like a whole other interview we could have with you.
Jane: Yes, indeed.
Santa: Well, thank you for joining us today, Ms. Valencia. We’ll dive deep into the inner workings of this magnificent magical adventure tale in another interview. This is your eye-witness roving reporter, Samantha Wakefield-Brown, signing off.