PB story continues...

[j_cheney]

19K, and the horses are at the starting line....I do know which horse is going to win, BTW. I expect to finished the hideously sloppy first rough draft tonight, and it should clock in between 21 and 22 K.

Then I'll let it sit for a while, do some desultory research on horse racing and how you go about replacing your jockey at the last minute. (in terms of whom you have to tell...The Saratoga Racing Association?)

I'm dethroning the horse who actually won the Hopeful Stakes in 1905. However, I'll bet there would be a high percentage of people (if this ever gets published) who:
a) don't even know that there was a Hopeful Stakes in 1905 (say, 85%)
b) don't know there was horse racing in Saratoga Springs in 1905 (70%)
c) don't know that there really is a town called Saratoga Springs (60%)
d) don't know what a stakes races is (60%)
e) don't know what a jockey is (20% probably need the word 'disc' in front of it)
f) don't care about verisimilitude anyway.... (10%)

It's a terrible rough draft.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Embarrassed to admit that (a )and (b) apply to me**, despite having grown up a mere half-hour from Saratoga Springs, and in spite (as a consequence of my proximity to the town) of loving to sing "You're So Vain" at the top of my lungs (the line that goes "Well I hear you went up to SARATOGA where your horse naturally won/Then you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia to see a total eclipse of the sun"....

... we should research if there was ever a total eclipse of the sun visible from Nova Scotia in the past 40 years. Carly Simon may have fallen down on her research there.

**although I would be equally likely, with regard to (b) to have assumed that there had been horse racing in Saratoga Springs from its inception. ....was there?

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

The track went in in 1863....so it's been around for quite a while ;o)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

sweet!

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

No clue about Carly Simon, though....I never actually liked that song, although I can't pinpoint why...

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

My parents had an aversion to the line "clouds in my coffee" and my mom thought it was stupid that it said "You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte," because, she said, whoever gavottes these days?

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Pbbt!

You know, there's probably a gavotting club somewhere, plus Gavotter's Monthly Magazine. People have weird hobbies ;o)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

They (we!) sure do, and the Internet lets us all find each other. Dear, dear Internet :D

[renegade500.livejournal.com]

See, I'm one of those readers who loves the attention to detail and the authenticity. Even if I don't know much about a subject, I think a good reader knows when a writer has done their part to bring that authenticity to a story and I for one love it!

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I hate reading something that's patently WRONG.

[alaneer.livejournal.com]

Seems like you already done a lot of research. Good luck with finishing.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Ah, thanks. Now if only I can think of a market....wait, there's Alembical, and I'm sure klingonguy is the sort who's really into horsy-set romance novellas....

[snickelish.livejournal.com]

It turns out I'm just (a) - I think I would have guessed that there was horseracing there in 1905. But then again, I read a lot of horse books when I was younger.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Ah, one of the few....I salute you!

I read all the horse books too. ;o)

[snickelish.livejournal.com]

Seriously, "horse books" might as well been their own subgenre. Judging from my children's librarian days, they don't seem to be as popular anymore - at least, the little being published seems to be mostly in series aimed at younger readers than I was when I lost interest. And I'm not quite sure what all that horsey literature did for me, except that I do know what a stakes race is...

(Also, to this day, I can describe all the genetically possible color combinations for offspring from a given pair of horses. Highly transferable skill, that. :p )

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

And you probalby actually know what a sulky racer is... ;o) How about that for an obscure term.

[snickelish.livejournal.com]

Gotta confess, I had to Google this, and then I remembered what it was. I knew the concept but had forgotten the term.

Tee hee. I just saw The Music Man last week and Robert Preston's line from "Ya Got Trouble" always makes me giggle: "Hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin', not a wholesome trottin' race, no, but a race where they set down right on the horse!" And everybody gasps. :p

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

So many things that today's high schools students have no chance of understanding....

[snickelish.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I hearby volunteer for a first read/critique, if you need one. Apparently I still have a bit of a soft spot for fictional horses...

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks. It might be a whiel before I get to it. I'm going to let it sit for a bit, now. ;o)

[nezuchan.livejournal.com]

The track stewards are the one's you go to for a jockey switch.
I do know folks who've been involved in the racing industry, btw, if you need some first hand input. Been following racing since I was six myself -- I love a good racing story.

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

That's really helpful. I'll have to look up track stewards!

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Re your icon -- plot bunnies made of stone? Well there's your problem!

Dr. Phil

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

;oP