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?

[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!

[alaneer.livejournal.com]

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

[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.

[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.

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

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

Dr. Phil