On a Boat

And finally, I'm at the chapter that I knew needed to be re-plotted from scratch. Which I'm working on.

Turns out there was more Italian in the last Venice scenes. I added:

Polizia
Butto salvagente (a phrase I heard while watching videos of ambulances and rescues in the Venice canals).
And a complete "E, Polepetto. Basta, basta!"

This in addition to adding "Mi" to "Mi scusi," and Signori and Signore in the first Italy scene. By the time she hits Padua there is a complete exchange:

“Buongiorno!”
“Salve,”
“Come stai?”
“Sto bene, grazie. E Tu?”

But then, Venice is also the scene where Nessun Dorma is sung, as well as La Donna e' Mobile and Vissi d'Arte is mentioned. Two words are singled out, vincero (how the aria is written) and amore (how it is often sung.) And can't forget the Acqua Alta, Piazza San Marco, calle, rio, campo, piazalle, vaporetto, osteria, fondamente, ponte, and sottoportego.

While I was at it, I went back and took the direct quote of Nessun Dorma out. So no more getting sued by Giuseppe Verdi.

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I'm having trouble finding a place I want to work with on a cover. What I need is for someone who knows format and fonts and is a pair of eyes that has done books before. They might tell me my idea for the cover is stupid, that's great, too.

Especially since I don't actually seem to have 3d software loaded on any of my machines right now, and the more I work with Gimp the more I miss Photoshop (Gimp has the functionality, but it is slower -- Photoshop is a more natural set of actions to get things done smoothly).

Here's the rough idea:

I played around with flames and riot police and Acropolis/Parthenon, and thought about doing a tholos/tomb background, but simpler works for me. Have to do a stacked render to get proper control of the volumetric light cone and the balance of the lighting effects. Done it before though.

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The only other major re-write is the third scene at the National Museum of Archaeology, and that should go much faster. The 6th of next month marks one year since I had the concept I wanted to write. I hope and even have reason to expect to have the larger edits done by then.