OGH Commentary

[Dave]

This is the place for comments, thoughts, suggestions.

[fiona]

Dave: thank you for posting this great thread and ongoing body of work. I know by keeping this area open and locking the other, that the work will be cleaner and have a nicer flow to it:ie: it will be readable, as in book fashion. I am aware of the nature of the internet and a forum and how hard, at times impossible, it is to moderate posts. As one of the authors and creators of On Genesee Hill, I have a vested interest in keeping the work as professional as possible. I am therefore asking that the chatter be kept down to a minimum in the thread where the novel is being posted and that posters stray not to far from the original subject matter. Also, this new forum is a wonderful place to have a new start to the project. It is my belief that when Jon, you and I began this project a year and a half ago, we ( none of us) had any idea just where it would go. We were randomly posting what we could find because we had no other choice. This new start is a great time to get organized and I am sure our readers will appreciate it. The Oneida County Historical Society is now aware of the project and I have been there several times showing the research assistants how to access the information. As I also mentioned, in September of 2010 I will be speaking about the project in one of the Saturday Lecture Series that OCHS provides as a public service. As time goes by and this project becomes more jelled I will be announcing and blogging about it. Therefore, it will behoove all of us to bring the project to life. We each have our special areas of strengths and weaknesses, but work together as a great team. Thank you Jon for your endless hours of research and difficult transcription of often hard to read documents and your wonderful visual postings: postcards, photos, ect. Thank you Dave for your insight into the difficulty of "keeping all your balls in the air", and for understanding that the writing is sometimes difficult for me. I thank you also for your great additions to the story line, shorts, essays and what not as well as your illustrations and other postings. Last, but not least, we need to discuss the fashion in which we will bring over and post the research. Any thoughts on this process would be appreciated.

[Dave]

Fiona, I think that we can immediately move the written pieces and graphics from the web pages we constructed to this thread. I can do that, but I want to verify the order in which they should appear. I think each has a title. If not, we can use as a title the first half sentence, as Jon and I did when citing the newspaper articles. If you would like to peruse the webpages and make a list of the written pieces, I will move them to the locked OGH thread here, along with illustrations. That will make the web pages slicker, as a side benefit, and open up their use to potentially some other aspect of the project.

For the benefit of others, I'm referring to the On Genesee Hill web pages starting here:

CLICK:
www.windsweptpress.com/ogh1.htm

Dave

[fiona]

Dave: I am about halfway through the bio of John. I want to tell the rest of his and Sarah's story, before going on to the "Sullivan," in short vingettes. What do you think?

[Dave]

Yes, I agree. We should have a full picture of the Wood's so we can see what Annie is getting into when she enters their lives. We may later break each of their stories into segments and dole them out to the reader in alternating chunks as the characters move toward each other, their lives merging together in the Genesee Flats.

[fiona]

Dave: page 5 looks great. I had a hard time with Julia's character and her dialog, though. She is going to be an enigmatic character, who shows one face to the outer world and has a rich private inner life as well. I have to listen very closly when she is speaking too me, as there are hidden innuendos and I hope I can do her justice, as well as serve her memory in the proper fashion. I am learning a lot from her. A very great lady.

[Dave]

She may speak in riddles. Not Julia maybe, but take a look at this:



Evidently it's Scully's Theme from The X Files.

[fiona]

That is exquisite. thank you.

[Dave]

Fiona, although I had quickly skimmed and uploaded your latest chapter, "Julia Conkling sat alone" to the workbook www.windsweptpress.com/ogh5.htm I didn't really read it until this morning. It's quite lyrical and your descriptions are beautiful. I noticed the reference to fire, and I thought this quite clever, "He came and went in her life like smoke and one could not hate smoke, for it was the remnant of fire and without fire nothing lived." And I really liked the ending, "... God had done excellent work in removing the Senator to Saratoga Springs where he could take the waters, instead of being here to simply muddy them." Hahahaha!

By the way, have we chosen a villain? Every novel probably needs someone to hate. I suspect we like most of our historical characters, so we may have trouble choosing the bad guy.

[fiona]

Dave: in an upcoming segment I will have the head cook expressing her intense dislike of Roscoe Conkling. I think you will find it quite interesting. Also, in a scene further on, Julia will tell us her personal story about she and Mr Conkling. I am not quite ready for this yet. She and I are still discussing the best way to present the material. But no, I have not chosen a "villain": per se. As we go along, we will have to deal with Latcher, as you well know. Do you have any ideas? Thank you for the moral boost. I appreciate your feedback. A character like Julia Conkling is quite complex, from what little I know about her, I have to assume the rest, that she thinks about things in an allegorical way. I will have a new piece for you tomorrow night. Be well.

[dicknaegele]

My only complaint with OGH is the fact that I have to WAIT from one installment to the next. It is like watching a great story on television, and when it is getting to an exciting part, the notice flashes up on the screen notifying you that it it "To be continued". LOL. The anticipation is a killer. I open this page everyday, hoping to find a new installment. You are all doing a great job, and the story is wonderful. Fiona, the quality of your writing is exemplary. I love it. You capture ones interest and hold it. It is wonderful that you have all found a common bond, and that each of you contributes in their own way, whether it be the writing, the illustration, or the research and publishing. Just want to let the three of you know that your work is appreciated.

[fiona]

Mr. Naegele: The new piece is up at www.windsweptpress.com. please read and comment. all comments are appreciated.

[dicknaegele]

Great piece Fiona. Looking forward to the next installment. Nice work, and very enjoyable reading.

[Dave]

Rather than duplicate the workbook and the thread here, we decided to put pointers here to the workbook. But now that I think of it once again, I guess there is no reason why it can't be duplicated. The space here doesn't cost anything.
Dave

[fiona]

Dave: are you saying: Post the workbook to this new Genesee Hill space? I thought you wanted it to be locked? By the way, I am all for that, putting it in three places ( Clippers) where some of (most of it ) already is, here as well as the workbook. I have pictures and other documents waiting on my desktop all se t up to go, to augment and illustrate the story. I didn't send them to you because you indicated you were short of space on your rented website and I didn't want to put them in the OGH thread (here) as I felt they would cause confusion and be meaningless, outside of the thread (printed format) of the story. So, yes, go ahead.