I spent a couple hours this afternoon with a friend who has read J'S GIRLS, the first novel, twice. Once for fun and then the second time with an editor's eye, she intended to hand over the copy but has now started to read it again. Guess she liked it. Used the term Film Noir, called the characters and episodes vivid. Wanted to know how much of the story was personal experience, and we talked at length about the male character I wrote about yesterday.
We also talked about the current book and the real life drama that is swirling around me regarding the man who's about to come up for parole. She met me soon after that original incident happened but I did not tell her about it at the time. We haven't seen each other in many years, we're part of the army of grownups who are finding long lost old friends on Facebook, so it came as a shock as I revealed the whole scary story today. It explained a lot, why I seemed so sad and was always crying.
Alex at Opla Plaza emailed me today saying he just finished reading the unedited version of J'S GIRLS as well. He got it in pieces before it was proofed, and was very patient with me through all my panic and changes. I'm feeling rather adult about it at the moment, but I do see the need to add one more chapter to clarify the resolution. I can add it to the project of getting permission to use the series of song lyrics that are essential to an important scene. Suggestions, anybody?