I am going over the copy-edited pages of the next Tess Monaghan novel — ANOTHER THING TO FALL, coming this March to a bookstore near you — and marveling over the usual things. The fact that the first “F” in french fry is lowercase. My inability to spell the name of Baltimore establishments that I adore –Vaccaro’s, in this case.
And then there is the literal age-old question: How old is Tess Monaghan? For the record, I got it wrong, but I also caught it. Then again, Tess has aged only four years in 10 books, while I have aged 10-plus. It gets complicated.
And, finally, an aside. Two people close to me got into an argument yesterday about a minor memory.
#1: It was Boston.
#2: It was Cooperstown.
#1: (louder) It was Boston.
#2: (louder) It was Cooperstown.
#1: (louder). No, I remember it vividly, it was Boston.
#2: (louder) No, I remember it, and it was Cooperstown.
Me, eventually: Do either of you realize that the assertion of the primacy of your memory in increasing increments of volume does not, in fact, make a case for being right?
Then they started yelling at me.
Makes me grateful for the guy at my high school reunion who said, “We didn’t know each other, I’m pretty sure.”
Put two siblings together and ask them to describe the same family event, and you’ll really hear some yelling.
Are you sure it wasn’t a horse or a mule?
(and why am I making constant references to musicals of late?)
What struck me as funny was “How old is Tess Monaghan? For the record, I got it wrong”
Further for the record, I would think that (at any given time) Tess is precisely as old as you say she is, period! What the hell good is having ‘poetic license’, if any idiot can come along and act as if they know more than you do, about a character you created from nothing?!
Maybe it’s TESS TEST TIME – for all the people who want to try and outscore her creator
I’m pretty sure it was Walnut Creek.
No, wait. That’s where I stay when I go to the Bay Area.
So it was probably Boston.
It was NEVER BOSTON. i can prove it by writing in all caps, which is of course the way to prove anything. Isn’t it amazing how these arguments are never about anything worthwhile?
I remember my grandparents doing this, though not at increasing volume, but as if it mattered if we got that lamp for our anniversary from his sister or as a wedding present from someone else. And? SO? NU?
sorry Jim, but I’m sure it wasn’t Walnut Creek. Castro Valley, maybe.
I think, Laura, you mighta lost ‘em at “primacy”. Too big a word – and i’m not using syllables as a measure of size here, since Cooperstown is as big.
Boston. ha. Like hell it was Boston.
And speaking of capitalizing things, why in hecky-poo is “Realtor” capitalized? It’s just another flaming profession like plumber or tightrope walker so why does it get a cap “r”?
Realtors trademarked their job description. It’s in the AP stylebook, a volume I actually miss from time to time. I knew AP style. A decade into publishing, I still can’t get publishing style down.
Publishing has a style? Just one? I thought it was a frigging free-for-all. Hmmm. Is there a book?
Ten years on and there will never be a conversation where any name/place/date is definite. And the shouting will be because neither one can hear. So get used to it!
Walnut Creek, did somebody say Walnut Creek? Hey thar’s where I spent a great deal of my older childhood the younger part was Concord not far from WC.
My grandparents used to go to Oakland once a month to visit my great aunt Marme who owned a flower shop in Oakland and since I lived with them a lot I got to go too. (this would be in the late 40s).
The big timey store there was Capwells which was very elite. Then WC got a Nordstroms and Capwell’s died a slow death which I always thought wasn’t fair cuz I loved, (as a child of course), riding the escalators in Capwell’s. And it smelled so good in there, the leather things and the chocolate and the expensive perfumes what a delightful place. There was no such thing as a cheap department store like K-Mart back then. I’m still amazed by the Walmarts and K-Marts though I’m glad for them.
I’ve come to realize that shouting in an argument or to make sure you’re making your point is simply a case of wrong thinking about tactics. Of course that’s not the only way to screw up communications but it’s the most common I think.
The AP Stylebook is why I know that it’s “drunken driving” and not “drunk driving”, and that it’s “Daylight Saving Time” and not “Daylight Savings Time”.
I’m still not sure about Presidents Day. Or is it President’s Day? Or Presidents’ Day?
But it ISN’T Daylight Saving Time which totally confused my “I’ll do this automatically so you don’t have to what do you MEAN they changed it?” computer. Which had me SO very confused yesterday because it reset automatically. I know I walk slowly but an HOUR from the kitchen to the office? Wait….
Anyone want to comment on trademarking the name of your so-called profession?
I always wanted to be a Ballet Dancer. I think that deserves a trademark, don’t you?
I prefer Cubicle Dweller
when in doubt, it was Boston
I could be wrong, but I think those might have been the original lyrics to “I Remember It Well.”
Unless it was COOPERSTOWN.
Seriously, one of the many things I find interesting about memory is the instinct to defend it.
Wait, doesn’t yelling loudly in English guarantee that the person you are yelling at in Portugal will understand you due to the increased volume?
I don’tknow if it was Boston or Cooperstown, but I agree that Vaccaro’s sure is swell.
And, if it makes you feel any better, my daughter has aged only 13 years while I have aged 100 years (and am denying to the world that I have gotten any older at all, citing the “new math”). As David Stockman said, nobody really understands all those numbers anyway.
So an age old Halloween-related multiple choice question: in what city – excluding Baltimore! – would a The Wire or Tess Monaghan (and related characters and items) costume be most appreciated?
Alternatively, in what city would a person most likely get shot, if they walked into a gas station or liquor store wearing such a costume?
A. Cooperstown
B. Boston
C. COOPERSTOWN
D. BOSTON
E. *#&%$#*COOPERSTOWN
F. *#&%$#*BOSTON
G. D and F