I have a TON of wrap up I could do on HMLIS and really get to the nitty gritty of my inspys, but I'll keep it to the basics and things I really, really, really want to share. Also, no updates or new stuff in this post JSYK.
There were about 100 songs on the HMLIS playlist and I didn't use them all (some of them are being moved to Vice 2) so I made a mini playlist for the wrap up of the ones I didn't get to use.
The first song will display that I too copy and paste lyrics from boy bands to make my serenades too... (This 1D song is so,so,so cheesy...and I kind of love it)
The Story of The Story
The plot of this novel came together summer 2013 when I came across the documentary
The Bridge, which is about the clandestine number of suicides on the Golden Gate Bridge. After seeing some of the documentary (it's a toughie), I read the New Yorker article that inspired it,
Jumpers. Basically, hundreds of people jump off the Golden Gate each year and it's true they do require the media not to report on the suicides so they aren't glamorized. It actually happens so often, they've stopped counting them all together. In fact, to make the documentary the filmmakers left a camera nearby and waited for a month and caught a number of people jump and focused on three. Suicides are so common on Golden Gate that construction crews near the bridge say they see atleast one or two a week and make bets.
It's really awful, but also fascinating in a way. Some people travel miles or go out of their way just to jump of Golden Gate. Some walk across one bridge just to go to the Golden Gate. I was originally going to set this in San Fransciso and use the Golden Gate, but I wasn't super comfortable with that and moved it across the country and invited a bridge.
Bonus: The Golden Gate was build by John Strauss, which is why the bridge in HMLIS is called Strauss Bridge
Bonus Bonus: Yes, the answer to Abigail's disapearance was on the cover image.
The Morrow Family
Jonah's family on based on this
New York Times article about Stephen Kings family. This article is really nice and shows they are a close family, but King's wife has a line about how she told him she was going to leave him and take the kids if he kept doing drugs and that kind of stuck with me.
I decided I was going to make Jonah's Dad's book an expy of another book to make it easier. So, HMLIS (the book within the serial) is an expy of
The Emperor of Maladies, which is a biography/history cancer. And yes, the title HMLIS based on the poem by John Milton "When I Consider How My Light Is Spent". And yes, John Milton was a blind poet....SYMBOLISM.
And I think I mentioned that Matty as an idea is based on the blind film critic, Tommy Edison. I really had to read and watch some his videos about his daily life to get a sense of how to make a blind character "work".
The Poetry
So, the poerty came because I sometimes read writing blogs and I needed to learn more about character development because this book isn't really plot-y. A lot of advice says your characters need to have hobbies and passions, especially younger ones. For some reason I went with poetry for Abigail and let me tell you...I really struggled with this. I'm not a poerty person but I learned a lot.
I saw the quote from Anne Sexton: "I am a collection of dismantled almosts." and I liked it (but I couldn't find a place for it) so, a lot of the poem came from her and her contemporaries. Also, she's from Boston. She and Plath have some amazing poems, and it's kind of awful they are mostly memorized for their death.
Thanks for all your help poets.org
The Name Game
I struggled with these names, Corinne didn't have one up until I posted chapter 1. I just left it blank.
However, I had a lot of names for Ethan. Originally Ethan's name was Liam and then Phillip and then Ethan. I really liked the name Phillip, but for some reason wanted to give it to a different character besides Ethan, so I gave it to Phillip.
Also, yes, Phillip and Corinne don't have last names. I have no idea.
Abandoned Plot Idea
- I mentioned I originally was going to have more family drama and it's because of the song All I Ever Needed by Paul MacDonald. I wanted to write a 'mature' romance to that song, so I was going to give Aris and Michelle Morrow a storyline about reconciling. But then I used the song in Vice for Sara and Derek and pushed the plot back.
- In the way, way, way, beginning I was originally going to give Ethan a serious sexual assault storyline with a friend of Corinne's, but it felt like too much and I didn't want to make him that bad.
Eastham College...kind of exists ?
Eastham College is pretty much based on Williams College in Williamstown, MA. All of the building names and descriptions are from the actual college and as I mentioned all the restaurants are names of real restaurants in that area.
The trivia competition is real too, it's a big tradition at the school. In fact, all the trivia questions in the serial were from the actual Williams Trivia Contest. The January 2014 winning team was Requiem for the Blue Civic, so I crashed Jonah's car just so I could expy that name.
Other Names of Winning Williams Trivia Teams I'd Like to Share:
- Gratuitous Use of the Word "Belgium"
- Awesome Sauce: Grammar For *** Like You
- A Bunch of Mindless Jerks who'll be First up Against the Wall When the Revolution Comes
How's Vice 2 Coming ?
I think I've got it...I think.
What's Next SHV ?
Well, to be honest I kind of want to take some time and do some site redesign on the blog and on my websites. And I think you will be seeing Vice 2 sooner than later.
What was that thing you hinted at in the Q&A ?
It's flashfic for a SHV serial. That's all I'm saying. It's very much like Lile's vault.
Okay, see you all around soon !
*runs away*
