Futher Serendipity

Did more edits and managed to squeeze out another 2 pages on chapter 2. There's this one section in chapter 1 where I sweartagawd my eyes just hydroplane over the words. lol. Not sure if it's good or bad. It could be that edits on that section are close to perfect. The rhythm and pace are dead on, and coupled with all the info I've crammed in there, it makes your eyes wanna start rolling back in your head. :-P Or it could be that there's too much info in there period, which makes the narrative feel a little off center, and that in turn caused a vague impulse to start skimming.

Yes, I analyze things to death like this All The Time.

Anywho, serendipity hit when I had to break to do some googling on Odil's work. He sculpts wood. Actually 'sculpts' sounds too delicate, I more pictured him with a big honking chainsaw just ripping into a chunk of wood and creating something very primitive. *g* And, as would happen in real life, the notoriety of his time in jail just added to the demand for his work.

The first site I came across was for a sculpturess(sp?) who does life sized pieces, mostly corporate and private commissions. She had pics posted for certain works as they progressed through the stages from raw block of wood to finished pieces, along with accompanying commentary. Great research material for me to see the tools, her work area, and read about her methods, preferences, notations on wood types, ect. Really hit the jackpot there. I'm going to contact her and see if she's willing to answer some questions by email. er, once I come up with the questions....

I also came across a site that detailed the rich history of woodcraving in Quebec. How whole families pursued the craft for generations, producing mastercraftsmen, until demand dwindled and the younger generations weren't interested in barely ekking out a living, so the skill almost died out as well. Now this was a major bonus(!) because Odil is from Montreal, and I didn't even make the connection that his skill was something he could have learnt from his father. This opens up a whole new layer of the man's history to me and gives him more depth.

I can see now, that he not only moved to the old house because he wanted to be alone, he loves that darn place, with all it's beautiful wood panelling, wide plank flooring, carved balustrades, etc. Plus the property is only surrounded by an couple of acres of forest. duh. A-freakin-mazing the stuff your subconscious plots out for your stories when you're not looking. :-)

Like I said, serendipity.