I've spent the past two days revising my latest work-in-progress, Not Bound By Blood. Other than a mild case of eye-strain, I've survived. I may need to go through the manuscript one more time, focusing on something obvious my reader pointed out--an excessive use of the word 'as.'
We authors all appear to have our favorite word, or overuse some familiar form of sentence structure. At one time, mine was that ubiquitous word 'that' and it took a bit of vigilance to break myself of the habit. So, apparently, this is another little quirk I need to bring under control.
Did I hear someone ask what Not Bound By Blood was about? Happy to oblige. I conceive of the novel as a story of a life-long friendship. It begins in high school when Blanche LaRue and Miriam Meyer meet. Blanche is a flamboyant redhead whose all-consuming goal is to become a world-famous actress. Miriam is a long-distance runner who is discovered while still a teen. With a teacher's encouragement and a lot of training, she qualifies for the Olympics which are held in Berlin in 1929.
The story idea began when I came across something about Betty Robinson who won the first Olympic 100 meter for women. I'm not sure how Blanche insinuated herself into the story,but you know how sneaky some of these characters are.
I actually began writing this story in 2000; got a couple hundred pages written then got halted in the writing because of the difficulty of taking these two friends, one in small-town America, the other in a Broadway production appearing in Paris at the time of its occupation, through the war.
The manuscript sat on a shelf for years until I made the decision this year to finish writing their story. What I'll do with it next is anybody's guess.
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