Resumed work on …

Murder Sings the Blues today. Picked up the printed manuscript and read 37 pages late last night. Slept on the sofa. Woke up at 4 am, couldn’t get back to sleep and read another nine or so pages more. Have 182 printed pages in total to read. Some problems with scenes but nothing that can’t be fixed. Mostly concerned about the flow between the scenes depicting the past (the flashbacks) and the present.

Note that I have to come up with a timeline for Americans’ growing awareness of the war in Europe, with September 1, 1939, the day Hitler invaded Poland and December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor Day, as major dates that got Americans’ attention, piercing even Angie’s focus on her own career. The theme of 'Double Victory campaign is introduced too late, perhaps. Maybe show Duke already thinking about joining up, show him reading about that young man’s death right after Pearl Harbor. Anyway, have to come up with a timeline of landmark events that occurred between ‘39 (may even ‘38) and ‘45, when Duke joins up.

Basically reads well. Definitely need to tighten up bits here and there and smooth out the organization but am overall happy with it. Think I’ll submit it to Lukas after all. Either as a .docx, .epub, or PDF. At least give him the chance to turn it down! 😔