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Okay, I think I invited everybody I know. Not that they're gonna wanna waste their time here!

I have a vision, but it's blurry. I'm constantly going backwards to try and establish the meta-fictional groundwork. Like I just done tonite, by publishing a new version of the Introduction. I'm serious about this being less a novel than a long, long, stand-up comedy routine/lecture. But that's just me.

You want me to stop and read Heinlein now, GP? Aren't I already driving you nuts with my lack of productivity?

Don't assume I'm sober, GP. I rarely am when I'm on the internet. This is my party time, you know. Well, it's not all that drastic or drunken. Wanda knows to leave me alone once I log on, but she also knows that I'm easily distracted. Like right now. She can't get the Netflix to work so I gotta go deal with that. And if I can't get it to work for her then we'll hafta have sex with each other. Which, frankly, should only take me a couple of minutes.

Duran Duran aren't as lame as we think they are. I'll leave it at that. God knows you don't need me writing another essay extolling another band's musical virtue!

So, I don't like the idea of going back and forth too much, either. I flat out don't like flashbacks. Unless they're anecdotal and neatly meld into the ongoing narrative. But when you're trying to tell a story that spans decades, like yours and mine do... What to do?

Personally, I've decided to utilize an overbearing narrator. ME. Meta-fictional John Hamler speaking frankly and straight to the reader's face. Yada, yada. How are you gonna do it, though? Because, like I said, I'm invested in the teenage Genesis now and for you to suddenly pull the rug out will kinda/sorta piss me off. I never read the Kite Runner so I'm curious. How did he do it?

Yeah. Now I'm having second thoughts about giving you advice about slowing down or whatever. The whole writing as you're workshopping thing might not be the best course of action, see? I mean, just look at me. Eight years on this sucker and what have I got to show for it? Well, besides this wonderful forum, that is.

Sometimes I think I'd get more done if I just shut down the internet and wrote with a pencil, but then again I don't really give a damn. I just like writing to amuse myself and stay outta trouble. At least you have a clear picture of your story, GP. So don't let me or anybody else interrupt your flow with opinions.

Having said that... Have you considered alternative approaches to your narrative? You know, to handle the flashback stuff. Is that how you view the Sturton material, as flashback? Maybe a hypnosis session with a therapist and a tape recorder, dredging up Gennie's repressed memories.  That way you could stay in the present adult Gennie world with vignettes every so often. I dunno. Just throwing ideas out there. Don't let it drain your flow! Or whatever..

Also, the other night, I saw this kid sing Ordinary World by Duran Duran for The Voice and it was really good. And now I'm suddenly a big Duran Duran fan all of a sudden. Back in the 80's, when they were big, I thought they were lame. So, you know, go figure.

Allright, I found it. Cool. Ummm... Yes, I got cut off mid-sentence for some reason. I dunno why. And, yes, I think I like the IN-LINE feature.

Anyway, it seems to me that you wanna use Genesis' rather tragic backstory at Sturton as justification for any sins she might commit as a hotshot attorney later in life. Or am I misguided in that assessment? If she wasn't raped, as a schoolgirl, she was certainly manipulated. Not only by Sanchez but by the bureaucracy itself. How does that shape her professional purview? Well, I dunno. Yet. Because I was kinda under the impression that the STURTON EXPERIENCE was gonna be the gist of the novel.

You see, GP? The shit-luck thing about this website's format is that we're often reviewing an author's novel in-progress. When that's the last thing we oughta be doing. And that's why I try to keep my critiques strictly about the prose and not the story, but... Well, the mind naturally wanders and jumps to conclusions.

My point is... I'm kind of invested in Genesis' trials and tribulations as a teenager at this point and if you suddenly switch gears to her adult career? Well, I might lose the momentum you've built up for me. As a reader. I don't need a resolution, particularly, but then the segue has gotta be super smooth. A smoother transition than you or me can even comprehend, I think. I think it won't work, is what I'm saying. The book, THIS book, should be about STURTON. PERIOD. Therefore, my advice about slowing it down and relishing the details is still solid.
I think.
I dunno.
One thing I'm loathe to do is intrude upon another writer's creative vision. Hell, my own ANTAGONY narrative is six-times as schizophrenic as yours is. So it's a case of do as I SAY, not as I DO.

If you know what I mean.

If not? Blame it on the alcohol.

Cheers

John

Hola

See?! You like the name HodgePodge. We can even faction into two groups --Podgers and Hodgers-- and get about as much accomplished as Congress does!

Or not.

I dunno.

Hey, Vern! Welcome!

Okay, I changed the image from a piece of poop to the guy from Breaking Bad. I think that "Hodgepodge" is just the name of the forum, but anyone can start a new thread within it. Or is it just people that I expressly invite? I dunno.

Let's get a close up of that dog, GP. By the way, my sister's dog died last month and so she got a new one. A great pyrenees, no less! Well, half pyrenees half mutt of some sort. She rescued it from Texas. Apparently they put down a lot of dogs down in Texas and so there's a program where you can rescue them and then they fly the dog to you. Or something.

Okay, so you revised chapter 8 and it cost you points? Or do you mean you re-published it? There's a difference, I hope. And I dunno what Vern is talking about with the group that doesn't charge points to post thing. I haven't quite wrapped my mind around the idea of "groups" yet.

Cheers

THE NEXT BIG WRITER: helping make it you...

I dunno, Sol, but that puts me off a bit. The syntax, I mean. Work on it.

How's that for some irreverent literary criticism?!