I’ve been working on a short story for so long I feel as if it’s been one word a day. Not quite right (or write?) since it’s around 8,000 words and it hasn’t been 8,000 days.
So I went and looked. It has been nearly three months, which ought to be about sixty writing days. I started this story when my novel got stuck and then when a different short story got stuck. It is set in a different time period than the present, which necessitated looking up almost anything I tried to write about.
Can roses be shipped across the country in 1925? Yes! Railroads introduced refrigerated cars making this very doable. And done. What about garden hoses? Yes, but they were very heavy. I read a magazine story that included details about how to start an airplane, including the part where when someone swings the propeller to start the engine, someone else has to grab them and pull them away; they can’t move themselves out of the line of the propeller fast enough. Blink! Rice Institute math professors. Not a university until later.
I read about the art scene in Houston in 1925, and none of it made the final cut on the story. Ditto with the Post Office and Airmail. Common law marriages. Phrenic nerve paralysis as a treatment for tuberculosis. Where the Sanatorium in Texas got its nurses. The Lammes candy company in Austin; inventor of a soft caramel pecan treat. (This one was a bit sad. This company just went out of business forever!) Local flour mills. Horses. So much to think about and then let go.
But I also found this story about the painted churches of Texas and it is so lovely that it should just be looked at. These churches have the exquisite wooden altarpieces with niches for saints and angels that are classically German heritage. Then the walls and ceiling are painted with bright colors which is either Slavic or Hispanic. But very fun. Take a look! The outsides of these churches are quite plain…
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