That is so bizarre! I sent two emails to you. One verifying that I got your email on the mistake in my original brief and one with my chapter in it. It sounds like some crazy glitch or something from either my computer or my ISP.
I will definitely send along my chapter! Thanks for going to the trouble to do that for me. I’ve been having the week from hell, so I’m not surprised that something like this happened.
Hi Mark! It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one who felt like this!
First of all, the email arrived without the attachment containing the brief so I had to request it from Mr Pigfender, after checking that it definitely was missing. It was! Then, when I received it I couldn’t sleep for wondering what the Fourth Amendment was, and pondering how to write about an intern researching a hit and run accident without mentioning or disclosing any details!
I didn’t get into the ‘writing zone’ until lunchtime, but necessity being the mother of invention, somehow the story seemed to write itself.
I kind of turned it into chick-lit and made the intern into a wannabe pop star.
Yeah - a small handful had problems with the attachments initially. I suspect it had something to do with first checking via phone, but we were able to resolve quickly which is the main thing.
On the 4th Amendment, though… you saw the research note in your brief that said what the 4th Amendment is, what it says, and how it applies, right!!!
Yes! I had a happy hour or so checking out the charts from the first half of 1991, the films that were new out, etc… Only Silence of the Lambs, Bryan Adams and Lenny Kravitz made the final cut sadly. I did write to a soundtrack of 1991 for a couple of hours though.
Yes, after the initial panic I noticed that you had summarised the meaning of the 4th Amendment in the notes. You were also extremely prompt in sending the missing attachment, and in answering a few questions I emailed you regarding the brief.
I think the hardest part of NiaD is not the writing but the research. It’s a challenge to write something for an unfamiliar genre outside one’s ‘comfort zone’, but the stress and urgency are all part of the fun!
The best part, of course, is reading all the novels after midnight.
Thank you, once again, for organising this wonderful event!
These are the wildest sort of challenges in the NIAD! I once had a case where a woman had called in saying she had crucial info on a case and my scene was supposed to be her being interviewed by the police, but I had no info about the substance of what she had to report! OMG that had me running and jumping through some hoops!
This web-based setting of the novel includes every version of every chapter in a form that makes them easy to browse and select and read, so you can mix and match your own bespoke edition of this extraordinary novel.
Thanks to Pigfender and Rog for another incredible year!
gr
Note: I like to “buy local” including my ISP, so sometimes your initial visit to the site can be slow to load. (What? Does their server have to wake up? Am I their only client? I don’t know. ) Sip some tea.
It’s such a great writing exercise. I look forward to it each year.
) Sip some tea.