Last night’s episode of the podcast Coverville included a Timely Persuasion themed musical trivia segment that I submitted. Check it out at the link below: Coverville 465: My cover requests are like a button – I can’t stop pushing it. My portion starts at the 41:04 mark (or go to the last bookmark if you…
Author: LBDG
Commentary 13: No, For The 13th Time
If the deleted scene at the 1946 World Series is the “lost chapter,” then the Hearts tournament would be the “found chapter.” Why? Because I forgot to write it the first time through. It was in my original notes and outline, but for some reason I skipped over it when doing the first draft in…
Commentary 12: Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Stopping the wedding was one of the first ideas I had for the book and ended up being among the first scenes envisioned and outlined. The movie cliché is to have someone who is secretly in love with the bride or groom object, but I thought having a blood relative with an equally impassioned statement…
Commentary 11: Won One
The idea to name the chapters after song titles came to me out of nowhere at 2 o’clock in the morning, and I immediately got out of bed to start brainstorming. It ended up being an easier exercise than I anticipated, though number 11 was the one I had the most trouble with. “Eleven” by…
Commentary 10: 10 A.M. Automatic
Our hero pays a visit to his sister for a progress report, and ends up in a place that was as surprising to the author as it was to the character. Read on… Observational blinks alternate between being up high, down low, or (almost) just right to keep things interesting. I tried to fit in…
The Universal
Just got back from a weeklong trip to Boston for Jon Mack’s wedding. Chapter commentary posts will resume tomorrow, but due to popular demand I’m posting my best man speech below: Can I have everyone’s attention? I’d like to take a moment to thank all of you for coming together today to celebrate the marriage…
Commentary 9: Drivin’ On 9
Everything before this was setup and foreshadowing. In this chapter we finally kick off the mission that will be the focus of the main story. Other tidbits: I really liked the idea of placing the sister’s death on 9/11 by pure coincidence, as I’m sure there were other real life passings overshadowed by the gravity…
Commentary 8: Eight Days A Week
For some reason I’m drawing a complete blank in trying to write an introduction to the commentary for this chapter, so I guess I’ll just jump right in with the tidbits. I’ve always been partial to the brilliant simplicity of “and/or” when I write. Surprisingly it only shows up three times in the final draft,…
Commentary 7.5: Seven and a Half Cents
Changing things up today, I thought it would be interesting to dissect the longest deleted chapter since we’re at the point in the book where it would have appeared. I’m also hoping that a baseball post will help snap the Red Sox losing streak 🙂 As I’ve said before, this was intended to set up…
Commentary 7: Tram #7 To Heaven
If memory serves, I think this was the first chapter written in Luxembourg using Jon Mack’s laptop. I spent 8 weeks in Lux; taking the first week off to get acclimated, writing every weekday for 6 weeks, then taking the last week off to celebrate the first draft. So it’s somewhat fitting that chapter 7…