Paragraphs from the past

[eurydicebound]

I've been looking back over my files to find material for my website today. It gave me reason to look at some things I hadn't set eyes on in a while, and I'm pleased to find a lot of it stands up to time fairly well. Naturally, you want your samples to be recent, so I'm not putting anything old on there.

At the same time, I think one of my favorite pieces was from the first book I ever edited. I had to do a lot of rewriting and additional writing on this project, enough that it's my first actual writing credit. At the same time, I know almost no one ever saw this book. I enjoyed the hell out of it, though, even though it was incredibly frustrating. This is a very short piece, but I think it reads creditably (and faithfully to its inspiration) even now. I'm going to put it up here, just because I think it deserves a shot at what limited bits of limelight I can give it. It appeared in Pride of the Republic, published by FASA for Crimson Skies.

Will Rogers and the Pirate Gang

Of all the arguments made for the adoption of Oklahoma into the Republic of Texas, one of the best had to be that Will Rogers would officially become a Texan. I knew no comprehensive effort to depict Texas culture would be complete without his contribution, so I wrote to Mr. Rogers and asked for his help. He sent back the following anecdote.

"Back when I was first learning to fly, I took a ride with Wiley Post, with the idea of visiting Hollywood. We weren't but about halfway there when we got buzzed by some pirates and forced to land. They never fired a shot, though, as Wiley didn't have any weapons on his plane; he doesn't believe in shooting folks he doesn't know. I was a bit nervous at first, but all that buzzing around and blustering the pirates were doing reminded me of the politicians down in Austin, so I felt right at home then.

"Well, we landed safely enough, and a little man got out of a plane and headed right for us. I knew he was the leader because he looked the most hen-pecked of the bunch. He asked us if we'd kindly put up our hands, as this was a robbery. I was amazed at the politeness of the outlaw, so I asked him how he came to be in such a trade. He answered that his daddy had been a U.S. senator, so it just seemed natural to continue in the family business.

"Me, I was amused by his reply and chuckled. He recognized me then from the radio and Wiley from his eyepatch, and apologized for holding up our trip. I allowed as it was no great delay anyway, given that it proved my theory that the only difference between piracy and politics is that one takes place in the sky and the other on the ground, and that of the two, the common man has a better chance with the pirate."

Comments

[eynowd.livejournal.com]

I actually have that book at home, but I'll admit I've never read it. It came in a huge box of books from FASA several years ago, and most of them went on the shelf where they still sit.

At least your work actually showed up in a CS book. Mine got dropped just before the book went to press, when FASA closed up shop. Had some good plane designs in there too...

[anaka.livejournal.com]

Well, my work showed up in that book because it was dropped on my desk as a newbie editor with Sharon saying "Davidson and I have both gone over it until we're sick of it and it still sucks. See what you can do with it." And yea verily, it did suck like a hoover was attached to it, using the pages as a filter. Particularly riling was the idea (being from Oklahoma as I am) that Oklahoma would be pleased and proud to be part of the Republic, as it didn't count for much anyway. The rewriting was really just part and parcel of the recovery (note: if a book shows up with an editor receiving additional writing credit for a section or for the whole thing, that's code for "my god, this stunk so badly we had to basically rewrite the damned thing in-house").

These days, I don't know that I'd put as much into something, especially as a freelancer. When your only assignment is "make this good" and you're getting paid for your time no matter how much time you put into it or what you're working on, it's all well and good. When time is money as it is in the freelance world, though, it's an entirely different set of priorities. Back then, I felt like it was sink or swim, so I swam.

[anaka.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

[eynowd.livejournal.com]

It probably did you the world of good too :) Sometimes you can learn a LOT from having to polish a turd. But you only tend to do it when you're new and still keen. Having had to polish my fair share of turds for DEMONGROUND over the years, I'm throughly over the whole things now, and far less forgiving than I used to be.

I haven't read PotR, and probably wouldn't be able to spot the politcal gaffs in it, knowing 4/5 of sod all about politics in the region (and to be honest, caring even less :)

I remember the guy who wrote it trumping it up in the CS forums, and talking about how good he was.

I don't feel so guilty for not reading it now :)

[tsob.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's where I first encountered your work, from you trying to save that... book. The first draft of it is the source of two of my favorite horrible sentences.

"It dwarfed it."

and

"Now that helium is free to all, it's price has skyrocketed."

They're burned in my brain.

You did a fine job on that one, especially given the raw material.

[metallian.livejournal.com]

Wow, you really nailed the "voice." And I always love ragging on politicians. :)

[anaka.livejournal.com]

NOW I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!!!! Oh cool!

I'm so dumb.

Uh, hi! *grin*

[anaka.livejournal.com]

One thing I discovered when I was researching Will Rogers before writing the above snippet was how much writing he really did. He published six books and years worth of weekly columns, and yet they're almost impossible to find in print anymore. He was really one of the great voices of the time, politically and socially as well as just being funny, and yet so much of his work has just vanished. It's sad.

[tsob.livejournal.com]

Hi!

We'll probably meet up at Gabbi & Eric's store one of these days.

[anaka.livejournal.com]

Most likely. :) I really do feel pretty silly. Somehow I just didn't put the name and the LJ and the past all together until you mentioned that. Then wham, straight between the eyes with the clue-by-four. Such is the way of things.

[metallian.livejournal.com]

That is sad...I hope his work at least exists in libraries so it can eventually make it into the public domain and survive online or something.