Big Meow (Spoiler Thread)

[Garrett Fitzgerald]

Originally posted by nelka35:
What is DD's Flickr id? How do I find it?

Well, you either search her blog for a reference, or you just click here.

[nelka35]

just click here.

Thanks! I didn't remember seeing it in the blog, so I didn't think to search for it there. And I didn't find it when I did a search on Flicker for DD's name(well, the lateness of the time I was doing it at may have had something to do with it...).
Thanks, Garrett!

[Peter Murray]

Aha, I knew there was a reference to pictures of the cats: it's here.

But I can't find those cats in DD's flickr. Oh well. I found some that (nearly) fit the descriptions on a stock photo site, so I'm going to make those into a page that has the characters on. I haven't found pictures for the London cats or LA ones yet, nor for Jath.

[Space Cadet]

Originally posted by nelka35:

Nope, you just do not identify with the cat traits and cat personality enough, and therefore need to remind yourself.

Actually I'm quite catlike. A nocturnal loner who likes to do a lot of nothing, anyway.

The explanation is that I am strange and going into early senility, that's all.

[Kathy Li]

Took me forever, but I finally got around to reading Chapter 3. Given my teflon brain, I had, of course, completely forgotten that DD had mentioned Helen Walks Softly before. Very nice to finally meet her. And particularly fun that DD's working in actual Chumash ("Haku!").

I wonder if DD's missing L.A., given that Big Meow and Stealing the Elf-King's Roses are both set there.

[Mitchy]

I know DD's going through a really tough time right now, so I don't want bother her with a silly question about Chapter 4, so I'm hoping someone here knows the answer.

Is it up? The email I got said to use the Chapter 3 login info and Ch.4 would be listed there. I've done that and I can't see it.

I just want to make sure I'm not doing something wrong. If it's not up, then that's fair enough and entirely understandable. DD's got more than enough on her plate right now.

[Peter Murray]

I just see chapter 3, too. I think DD must have been too busy to change the page to have links to chapter 4 on Friday.

[Mitchy]

Ahhh, OK. At least I know I'm not doing something technically challenged.

Cheers Peter!

[Peter Murray]

Yay! Chapter 4!
And, with chapters so far being 20, 24, 23 and 36 pages, it's 50% longer than the longest chapter so far.
Not sure about Rhiow's assumption about Helen, though.
Now I need to find a picture of a Duesenberg car, to remind myself what they look like.

[Buran]

What era do you want? (I still have not gotten an email -- I did a full-novel subscription --about the new posting unless it hit my spam box, but I haven't found it yet if I have, and the website said it should have been up two weeks ago -- help? I tried contacting the address on the site, but no one replied).



This is a 1929 Duesenberg Phaeton. Very classy.

[Peter Murray]

Looks much the same model as I found. I don't really know what era, but the whitewall tyres fit the description in the chapter.

I gather DD hasn't been at home for the past week to answer emails, though it took me a few days to realise that.

[Buran]

It was last month sometime, I don't remember when -- I do give people a few days. I guess I'll wait a few days and see if I hear anything.

I should note that the Duesenberg was a car for the rich and was hand-built. Coachbuilding like this is very rare today -- most cars are mass-produced and even those that are hand-built are all identical. Back at that time one would have a body built to their specific plans.

Those that survive are worth very large amounts of money and are usually seen in private collections and at shows called "concours d'elegance" -- I think that photo came from one of those.

There are a sizable number of very wealthy people in some parts of Los Angeles... (I'm assuming we're still talking about the LA area as I can't read the chapter yet).

[Kathy Li]

Period we're looking for is just post-WWII, I believe.

I'm still trying to figure out who the Silent Man is. I so suck at figuring these things out. Dashiell Hammett? (Given the throat thing, I thought for a sec it was Damon Runyon, but AFAIK, he never did any screenwriting, just had his stories adapted).

[Buran]

Most vehicles made just after WWII were warmed-over prewar models with relatively little changes. During the war, the War Production Board stopped production of civilian automobiles and all of the carmakers were making war materiel such as jeeps (Ford for instance was one supplier that made them then, where today it's a division of Chrysler that makes what we now call the Wrangler), tanks (the Sherman being the most numerous and well-known even today), and aircraft (fighters and bombers) so I would not expect to see a large difference between a prewar Duesy and a postwar one. In fact, in 1946 I wonder how many people would have been able to purchase new vehicles immediately vs. how many people were still using cars five years old (or more) so it may not even be a new car. I'll know more when I read the chapter, I hope.

It's been a long time since the home front changed so dramatically during a war -- today, we have no idea of the sacrifices our parents and grandparents went through.

[Peter Murray]

Spoilers for chapter 4, inevitably.

When I finally remembered Damon Runyon's name, I thought it was him, based on his style. However, I think I've read one piece by him, and perhaps one parody of his style by Woody Allen.
However, he's not writing a screenplay. It's more of a strange slice-of-life essay without the ending he wants it to have.

My mother and her parents were hiding under the kitchen table when a shell or something blew off the top of their house.