Plus Ça Change – May 31, 2026 Abraham Lincoln was flatboat crew in New Orleans twice as a young man, in 1828 and 1831. He really was a studious, serious young man. The author’s conceit is, he meets Marie in 1828. He’s puzzled by the strangeness that is New Orleans,… Continue reading
Plus Ça Change – May 28, 2026 It’s a tiny step, but it’s a step. The news distracts me from my writing. Not the horrors happening in the United States, that distraction is constant. This is a “smaller” thing, from history. In Laveaux: Dancer there is a scene where a… Continue reading
Plus Ça Change – May 27, 2026 In 1830 the Louisiana legislature passed a series of racist restrictions on both slaves and free people of color. Among these, a requirement that free people of color who had arrived after statehood (1812) and before Jan 1, 1825, must register their presence… Continue reading
Plus ça Change – May 21, 2026 An interesting thing happened on the way to the chapter ending. I struggled with this chapter. It took days, and every rewrite seemed to go in a different direction. There is a good word for this, thrashing. The third part was the most… Continue reading
Plus ça Change – May 17, 2026 This is what writing is like; for me anyway. Odds are really good “birl” is a new word for you. English is a fantastic language. (I know two, so I do have some basis for comparison. I love the other one, too.) Marie… Continue reading
Plus ça Change – May 13, 2026 My critique group (see Clustered Together) is still working on Dancer. We’re getting toward the end, and of late their feedback results in tweaks. Good tweaks, but the story is solid. Writing is never done. Although this goes back into Dancer, it’s the… Continue reading
Plus ça Change – May 13, 2026 I have an underlying theme that Marie experiences throughout her adult years in New Orleans. The Americans bought the territory in 1803. That started a culture war that lasted for decades, and Marie lived through it. As always there are exceptions, but the… Continue reading
Plus ça Change – May 1, 2026 Pantsing has consequences. I didn’t know who what when where why, but I expected something like this. I’m sure it’s going to happen again. At this point in the narrative, Marie’s father, Charles Laveaux, is a widow. His wife had money. She was… Continue reading
Plus ça Change – April 28, 2026 So, I’m walking with Marie down to the waterfront where she is going to see her sister Dolores off. Dolores is on her way to live her life in Paris. I know where ships docked on the waterfront. A map from the time… Continue reading
Plus ça Change – April 26, 2026 There are chapters, and then there are chapters. I suppose it depends upon what sort of “thing” you’re writing about. Mine are family stories, tales of life, the universe, and everything, set back in time. I want the characters to be real people… Continue reading
