Mary R. Davidsaver's Blog, page 14
May 12, 2017
The AnderSSon Conspiracy
There are a lot of characters named Anderson in my novel, Clouds Over Bishop Hill. I put them there for the best of reasons—I was in a hurry, and it was easier than coming up with a host of neat and clever Swedish names.
I’ve known quite a few Andersons from my time in Bishop Hill and from listening to A Prairie Home Companion, the radio show formerly hosted by Garrison Keeler. But I didn’t stop there, no, I did further research by checking out the local telephone books. Sure enough, I found lots of Andersons. Pages of Andersons. I figured I was good.
That was then. Now—I know there’s more to the story.
During my correspondence about visiting the Bishop Hill Museum in Biskopskulla, Sweden, I discovered that I was guilty of a major faux pas: I addressed an Andersson by using only one S instead of two.
I first blamed it on my poor self-editing skills. I’ve had editors, real editors, find all manner of mistakes in my manuscript. The most embarrassing was the time I mentally wanted to use the word fridge, short for refrigerator, and instead I was really using frig. Frig is not a very nice word for a cozy mystery no matter what the context. I will always be beholding to Lyle Ernst for catching that one in time.
Lyle found the mistake all right, but he didn’t catch it on the first time I used the (bad) word—it was more like the fifth time. For one thing, it just goes to show how difficult editing is. And for another thing, I must work on expanding my vocabulary.
Since I knew there are many pages of Andersons in the area phone books, I made myself go back and look for Anderssons. If there were thousands of them in Minneapolis then surely there would be a good representation of them down here. I looked through the four telephone books I had on hand and was totally shocked to NOT find a single one.
The disappearing Anderssons appears to be a bigger mystery than what happened to the last Olof Krans portrait.
I will be asking more questions about this.
I’ve known quite a few Andersons from my time in Bishop Hill and from listening to A Prairie Home Companion, the radio show formerly hosted by Garrison Keeler. But I didn’t stop there, no, I did further research by checking out the local telephone books. Sure enough, I found lots of Andersons. Pages of Andersons. I figured I was good.
That was then. Now—I know there’s more to the story.
During my correspondence about visiting the Bishop Hill Museum in Biskopskulla, Sweden, I discovered that I was guilty of a major faux pas: I addressed an Andersson by using only one S instead of two.
I first blamed it on my poor self-editing skills. I’ve had editors, real editors, find all manner of mistakes in my manuscript. The most embarrassing was the time I mentally wanted to use the word fridge, short for refrigerator, and instead I was really using frig. Frig is not a very nice word for a cozy mystery no matter what the context. I will always be beholding to Lyle Ernst for catching that one in time.
Lyle found the mistake all right, but he didn’t catch it on the first time I used the (bad) word—it was more like the fifth time. For one thing, it just goes to show how difficult editing is. And for another thing, I must work on expanding my vocabulary.
Since I knew there are many pages of Andersons in the area phone books, I made myself go back and look for Anderssons. If there were thousands of them in Minneapolis then surely there would be a good representation of them down here. I looked through the four telephone books I had on hand and was totally shocked to NOT find a single one.
The disappearing Anderssons appears to be a bigger mystery than what happened to the last Olof Krans portrait.
I will be asking more questions about this.
May 5, 2017
Character Studies
Careful, oryou’ll end up inmy novel.
I have a t-shirt that displays the above saying.
So, is it a warning?
I thought so at one time. But now I’m not so sure.
I’ve talked about how I’ve made up my characters out bits and pieces of people I’ve known. Friends, relatives, even a complete stranger or two have given me inspiration for mannerisms, inclinations, accents, and a whole host of possible behaviors that have gone into any number of the people of my novel.
Whenever I read I find myself on the lookout for the odd tidbits I might tailor to my own uses in character development.
I’ve had good results with this system and I’m rather fond of my cast of characters. The good and the bad all have enough variety to hold one’s attention. Well, mine anyway.
Therefore, I’m not so sure the t-shirt should serve as a warning any more.
I’m wondering if my t-shirt should be an invitation—yet another way to save a snapshot of someone—a small portrait, if you will. Each person has a life; has a story to tell; and who is, therefore, worth remembering. Each person is someone who must be remembered.
I have a t-shirt that displays the above saying.
So, is it a warning?
I thought so at one time. But now I’m not so sure.
I’ve talked about how I’ve made up my characters out bits and pieces of people I’ve known. Friends, relatives, even a complete stranger or two have given me inspiration for mannerisms, inclinations, accents, and a whole host of possible behaviors that have gone into any number of the people of my novel.
Whenever I read I find myself on the lookout for the odd tidbits I might tailor to my own uses in character development.
I’ve had good results with this system and I’m rather fond of my cast of characters. The good and the bad all have enough variety to hold one’s attention. Well, mine anyway.
Therefore, I’m not so sure the t-shirt should serve as a warning any more.
I’m wondering if my t-shirt should be an invitation—yet another way to save a snapshot of someone—a small portrait, if you will. Each person has a life; has a story to tell; and who is, therefore, worth remembering. Each person is someone who must be remembered.
April 29, 2017
Journaling
When I started a blog in April, 2014, my goal was to write 200 to 300 words a week about my first novel. I needed it to help me work out problems with content and technique. I composed a safety net of 6 posts and a big list of possible topics to get myself going. Still, I fretted about being able to keep it up for any length of time. Three years and an estimated 41,000 words later, I’m still going.
Before the blog—I had a journal that I worked on in intermittent spurts starting in May, 2008 and ending in late 2013.
I went back to read my first journal entries and became reacquainted with the anger that spurred me to finally write down my thoughts after a lifetime of procrastination. I was one of those folks who would think, “I’ll start writing seriously—someday.”
My very first entry was an eye-opening blast. The anger and frustration I wrote about came from several sources. The one closest to me was a very good friend. I had begun helping her out with her shopping and laundry a couple of times a week. My reward for a long and often trying outing was having a late lunch with her.
A few days ago, I had a chance to reprise one of those long afternoons. This time we started out with lunch at her favorite spot, a Chinese restaurant. We hadn’t been there for a year or more and were surprised when the waitress recognized my friend and recited her meal-of-choice, spicy chicken curry. My friend was overjoyed. Her morale needed that little boost. It helped create a pleasant afternoon of shopping and visiting.
I’m not ready to go back to journaling. I’m sticking to this blog for a while longer. But rest assured—I’ll be going back and reading my old journal entries again. There may be some good material for short stories—or who knows what else.
Before the blog—I had a journal that I worked on in intermittent spurts starting in May, 2008 and ending in late 2013.
I went back to read my first journal entries and became reacquainted with the anger that spurred me to finally write down my thoughts after a lifetime of procrastination. I was one of those folks who would think, “I’ll start writing seriously—someday.”
My very first entry was an eye-opening blast. The anger and frustration I wrote about came from several sources. The one closest to me was a very good friend. I had begun helping her out with her shopping and laundry a couple of times a week. My reward for a long and often trying outing was having a late lunch with her.
A few days ago, I had a chance to reprise one of those long afternoons. This time we started out with lunch at her favorite spot, a Chinese restaurant. We hadn’t been there for a year or more and were surprised when the waitress recognized my friend and recited her meal-of-choice, spicy chicken curry. My friend was overjoyed. Her morale needed that little boost. It helped create a pleasant afternoon of shopping and visiting.
I’m not ready to go back to journaling. I’m sticking to this blog for a while longer. But rest assured—I’ll be going back and reading my old journal entries again. There may be some good material for short stories—or who knows what else.
April 21, 2017
READ LOCAL
Here I am at my READ LOCAL event. After a couple of failed attempts at script writing, I went with a simplified list of slide titles and a couple of bullet points of the most important things I wanted to include. What I needed most was something to hold in my hand. The other hand held the clicker and laser pointer.
I couldn't use the podium because it was too far off to the side and back enough that I couldn't see the screen. And let's face it, as short as I am I'd disappear if I stood behind anything or even sat down.
The turn out was great. They had to add chairs! I gave credit to Facebook first, but then I reconsidered. I hand delivered my event flyers to the 3 DPL reading groups I belong to, a recovery group I used to belong to, made an announcement at the Writer's Studio, and did a last minute mass mailing to everyone in my Davenport neighborhood. I got a few people from all of those groups.
I don't know how many saw the MWC and BPL ads and came. I'll have to ask. But right now, I'm thinking the personal touch is the best.
I couldn't use the podium because it was too far off to the side and back enough that I couldn't see the screen. And let's face it, as short as I am I'd disappear if I stood behind anything or even sat down.
The turn out was great. They had to add chairs! I gave credit to Facebook first, but then I reconsidered. I hand delivered my event flyers to the 3 DPL reading groups I belong to, a recovery group I used to belong to, made an announcement at the Writer's Studio, and did a last minute mass mailing to everyone in my Davenport neighborhood. I got a few people from all of those groups.
I don't know how many saw the MWC and BPL ads and came. I'll have to ask. But right now, I'm thinking the personal touch is the best.
April 14, 2017
My Point of View on Preservation
My READ LOCAL presentation at the Bettendorf Public Library has come and gone, but it will stay with me as a big step forward.
By presenting a slide show of my first visit to Bishop Hill and describing the Colony buildings as they were then, 1986, I was really presenting my point of view and the beginning of my novel writing journey.
My POV was, and still is, colored by those buildings and by the people who tried to save them. Everyone I met on my walks around the village influenced me and left behind something of their personal selves. I likened my feature writing back then as slices of life, snapshots, and small portraits of my subjects in the Krans tradition.
In the course of finishing my first novel, I hope I did expand this early, literal, theme of preservation to a larger world view that included family, friends, and community.
Did I succeed? Will anyone catch the symbolism in the motives of the various villains? Or how the 103-year-old retired teacher may not have been so daft after all? Or catch the final metaphor?
As a writer, I am probably too close to the work to tell. It’s up to the readers to say if I succeeded to any degree. This is also another reason why reviews are so important—feedback!
By presenting a slide show of my first visit to Bishop Hill and describing the Colony buildings as they were then, 1986, I was really presenting my point of view and the beginning of my novel writing journey.
My POV was, and still is, colored by those buildings and by the people who tried to save them. Everyone I met on my walks around the village influenced me and left behind something of their personal selves. I likened my feature writing back then as slices of life, snapshots, and small portraits of my subjects in the Krans tradition.
In the course of finishing my first novel, I hope I did expand this early, literal, theme of preservation to a larger world view that included family, friends, and community.
Did I succeed? Will anyone catch the symbolism in the motives of the various villains? Or how the 103-year-old retired teacher may not have been so daft after all? Or catch the final metaphor?
As a writer, I am probably too close to the work to tell. It’s up to the readers to say if I succeeded to any degree. This is also another reason why reviews are so important—feedback!
April 7, 2017
BIG BOOK SALE THIS WEEKEND!
I went to the Bettendorf Public Library to find the Gilbert room and found it and every other public room on the second floor packed with boxes of books. The Friends of the Library are having a massive book sale to kick off their celebration of National Library Week.
Before, I was happy and honored to have my book be part of READ LOCAL and National Library Week. Now, I’m worried. They have to sell a lot of books this weekend to make room for me.
There’s a Friends Members preview sale on Friday 5 PM - 7:30 PM. Memberships may be purchased at the door. The main sale continues Saturday from 9 AM - 5 PM and Sunday 12 PM - 4 PM.
I’m counting on the Bettendorflibrary to have a great many friends, lots of avid readers, and some serious shoppers because this local author needs some space for Wednesday night.
The first observance of National Library Week was held, according to Wikipedia, in the second full week of April in 1958 and was sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries across the United States.
April is School Library Month.
National Library Workers Day is Tuesday.
National Bookmobile Day and Teen Literature Day are on Thursday.
READ LOCAL is Wednesday, April 12, at 7 pm in the (hopefully clear) Gilbert Room.
Before, I was happy and honored to have my book be part of READ LOCAL and National Library Week. Now, I’m worried. They have to sell a lot of books this weekend to make room for me.
There’s a Friends Members preview sale on Friday 5 PM - 7:30 PM. Memberships may be purchased at the door. The main sale continues Saturday from 9 AM - 5 PM and Sunday 12 PM - 4 PM.
I’m counting on the Bettendorflibrary to have a great many friends, lots of avid readers, and some serious shoppers because this local author needs some space for Wednesday night.
The first observance of National Library Week was held, according to Wikipedia, in the second full week of April in 1958 and was sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries across the United States.
April is School Library Month.
National Library Workers Day is Tuesday.
National Bookmobile Day and Teen Literature Day are on Thursday.
READ LOCAL is Wednesday, April 12, at 7 pm in the (hopefully clear) Gilbert Room.
March 31, 2017
Review for BLUFFING
BLUFFING, the collection of odes to river and rock by Dick Stahl, is one of those books that beg to be read more than once so every drop of nuance can to be discovered and savored.
Stahl and his wife, Helen, dedicated 10 years to personally climb, photograph, and poetize the 24 publicly accessible bluffs of the upper Mississippi River. The result is a gorgeous volume that pleases the eye and the heart with flowing style and content.
Many of the poems reminded me of my own visits to some of the same parks. I have the urge to go back and experience those vistas of water winding its way around islands and sandbars all over again. Now I have Stahl to enhance the fabric of my memories with his photos and words.
“What generosity for the old settler to share his bluff with friends and say everything without saying a single word …” (Old Settler of the Bluff)
Or appreciate how he captured the mood of powerful and restless waters.
“The hungry river writes its own story in lush islands, made and unmade, as the swirling sands underneath surface with a line of text that suggests everything and nothing at a glance.” (River Writer)
That’s how I remember the Des Moines River below Ottumwa, Iowa. Remembered but never articulated.
After reading this book, my viewpoint has changed. I have a better appreciation for such old treasures as Pike’s Peak, Effigy Mounds, the Palisades, and Gramercy Park. I look forward to taking time to search out Pulpit Rock at Bellevue State Park. There’s adventure to be found there outside the tranquil butterfly gardens.
And who is Harriet Goodhue Hosmer? Did she really win a footrace to the top?
I’ll have to believe in Stahl’s version of the story.
Surely, he’s not bluffing.
Stahl and his wife, Helen, dedicated 10 years to personally climb, photograph, and poetize the 24 publicly accessible bluffs of the upper Mississippi River. The result is a gorgeous volume that pleases the eye and the heart with flowing style and content.
Many of the poems reminded me of my own visits to some of the same parks. I have the urge to go back and experience those vistas of water winding its way around islands and sandbars all over again. Now I have Stahl to enhance the fabric of my memories with his photos and words.
“What generosity for the old settler to share his bluff with friends and say everything without saying a single word …” (Old Settler of the Bluff)
Or appreciate how he captured the mood of powerful and restless waters.
“The hungry river writes its own story in lush islands, made and unmade, as the swirling sands underneath surface with a line of text that suggests everything and nothing at a glance.” (River Writer)
That’s how I remember the Des Moines River below Ottumwa, Iowa. Remembered but never articulated.
After reading this book, my viewpoint has changed. I have a better appreciation for such old treasures as Pike’s Peak, Effigy Mounds, the Palisades, and Gramercy Park. I look forward to taking time to search out Pulpit Rock at Bellevue State Park. There’s adventure to be found there outside the tranquil butterfly gardens.
And who is Harriet Goodhue Hosmer? Did she really win a footrace to the top?
I’ll have to believe in Stahl’s version of the story.
Surely, he’s not bluffing.
Review for Bluffing
Bluffing, the collection of odes to river and rock by Dick Stahl, is one of those books that beg to be read more than once so every drop of nuance can to be discovered and savored.
Stahl and his wife, Helen, dedicated 10 years to personally climb, photograph, and poetize the 24 publicly accessible bluffs of the upper Mississippi River. The result is a gorgeous volume that pleases the eye and the heart with flowing style and content.
Many of the poems reminded me of my own visits to some of the same parks. I have the urge to go back and experience those vistas of water winding its way around islands and sandbars all over again. Now I have Stahl to enhance the fabric of my memories with his photos and words.
“What generosity for the old settler to share his bluff with friends and say everything without saying a single word …” (Old Settler of the Bluff)
Or appreciate how he captured the mood of powerful and restless waters.
“The hungry river writes its own story in lush islands, made and unmade, as the swirling sands underneath surface with a line of text that suggests everything and nothing at a glance.” (River Writer)
That’s how I remember the Des Moines River below Ottumwa, Iowa. Remembered but never articulated.
After reading this book, my viewpoint has changed. I have a better appreciation for such old treasures as Pike’s Peak, Effigy Mounds, the Palisades, and Gramercy Park. I look forward to taking time to search out Pulpit Rock at Bellevue State Park. There’s adventure to be found there outside the tranquil butterfly gardens.
And who is Harriet Goodhue Hosmer? Did she really win a footrace to the top?
I’ll have to believe in Stahl’s version of the story.
Surely, he’s not bluffing.
Stahl and his wife, Helen, dedicated 10 years to personally climb, photograph, and poetize the 24 publicly accessible bluffs of the upper Mississippi River. The result is a gorgeous volume that pleases the eye and the heart with flowing style and content.
Many of the poems reminded me of my own visits to some of the same parks. I have the urge to go back and experience those vistas of water winding its way around islands and sandbars all over again. Now I have Stahl to enhance the fabric of my memories with his photos and words.
“What generosity for the old settler to share his bluff with friends and say everything without saying a single word …” (Old Settler of the Bluff)
Or appreciate how he captured the mood of powerful and restless waters.
“The hungry river writes its own story in lush islands, made and unmade, as the swirling sands underneath surface with a line of text that suggests everything and nothing at a glance.” (River Writer)
That’s how I remember the Des Moines River below Ottumwa, Iowa. Remembered but never articulated.
After reading this book, my viewpoint has changed. I have a better appreciation for such old treasures as Pike’s Peak, Effigy Mounds, the Palisades, and Gramercy Park. I look forward to taking time to search out Pulpit Rock at Bellevue State Park. There’s adventure to be found there outside the tranquil butterfly gardens.
And who is Harriet Goodhue Hosmer? Did she really win a footrace to the top?
I’ll have to believe in Stahl’s version of the story.
Surely, he’s not bluffing.
March 23, 2017
Reviewing Reviews (part 2)
One longer and more comprehensive review of Clouds Over Bishop Hill brought up a series of questions worth discussing:
“…there are no headlines in the newspapers and no radio or television reporters swarming the village.”
In my time, most Bishop Hill events were covered by a single reporter with a camera. Sometimes a reporter brought a camera person along, but that was rare. The best coverage usually involves Swedish royalty. Remember: Bishop Hill is the epicenter of a corn-field triangle formed by the Quad Cities, Peoria, and Galesburg. Most of the papers in that triangle are weeklies and understaffed. However, it’s a good point for me to remember.
“…the tourists are absent.”
On most days the tourists come late and leave early. Late May and early June are times when the schools are still in session, therefore it’s not yet peak season for visitors. Again, it raises another point for my next book.
“None of the male characters … are developed.”
At one point I had four POVs and two were males. The guys suffered when I switched to focusing on Shelley’s first person POV. It’s one of the flaws of only using one POV.
“Shelley calls him [Roy Landers] Uncle Roy, but he’s her adoptive father and separated from his wife, Christina. …Her family history is unbelievably complicated.”
Yes, it is complicated. There was a huge age difference between Roy and his sister Nora, Shelley’s birth mother. I needed Nora to be out of the way with a little mystery. If Shelley felt like an orphan, that was good. I was always impressed with the stories I’d heard about the Colonists taking in orphans and wanted to use that fact in some way.
“Shelley seems cold and calculating.”
The steps I use when I’m building my scenes: I begin with the dialog. I create the physical setting. I set people in motion within the setting. I add bits of business for color and interest. My last step is adding appropriate emotions. Emotions are something I struggle with. Remember that Shelley at age twenty-two is a New Adult whose personality is not fully formed and set. She has no prior experience with serious crime, and then I’ve asked her to witness Herb’s death and become an amateur detective—that’s a tough character arc for anyone. Also, it is a mystery with a puzzle to solve.
“A character description would have been helpful.”
Yes. Others have mentioned this point. I plan on addressing the issue at my upcoming Read Local event at the Bettendorflibrary on April 12, 7 p.m.
“…there are no headlines in the newspapers and no radio or television reporters swarming the village.”
In my time, most Bishop Hill events were covered by a single reporter with a camera. Sometimes a reporter brought a camera person along, but that was rare. The best coverage usually involves Swedish royalty. Remember: Bishop Hill is the epicenter of a corn-field triangle formed by the Quad Cities, Peoria, and Galesburg. Most of the papers in that triangle are weeklies and understaffed. However, it’s a good point for me to remember.
“…the tourists are absent.”
On most days the tourists come late and leave early. Late May and early June are times when the schools are still in session, therefore it’s not yet peak season for visitors. Again, it raises another point for my next book.
“None of the male characters … are developed.”
At one point I had four POVs and two were males. The guys suffered when I switched to focusing on Shelley’s first person POV. It’s one of the flaws of only using one POV.
“Shelley calls him [Roy Landers] Uncle Roy, but he’s her adoptive father and separated from his wife, Christina. …Her family history is unbelievably complicated.”
Yes, it is complicated. There was a huge age difference between Roy and his sister Nora, Shelley’s birth mother. I needed Nora to be out of the way with a little mystery. If Shelley felt like an orphan, that was good. I was always impressed with the stories I’d heard about the Colonists taking in orphans and wanted to use that fact in some way.
“Shelley seems cold and calculating.”
The steps I use when I’m building my scenes: I begin with the dialog. I create the physical setting. I set people in motion within the setting. I add bits of business for color and interest. My last step is adding appropriate emotions. Emotions are something I struggle with. Remember that Shelley at age twenty-two is a New Adult whose personality is not fully formed and set. She has no prior experience with serious crime, and then I’ve asked her to witness Herb’s death and become an amateur detective—that’s a tough character arc for anyone. Also, it is a mystery with a puzzle to solve.
“A character description would have been helpful.”
Yes. Others have mentioned this point. I plan on addressing the issue at my upcoming Read Local event at the Bettendorflibrary on April 12, 7 p.m.
March 17, 2017
Reviewing Reviews
During a break between panel discussions at Murder & Mayhem Chicago I picked up a flyer that used three really high-powered quotes to help promote a book. It had a level of sophistication far above what I could ever do—or afford. But I liked the format and it got me thinking of my reviews. I had to go back and reread them.
My review count so far: Amazon-nine, and Goodreads-three. There are a couple of others: one from an author’s blog, and one from the Swedish American Genealogist. So far, so good, but no where near the magic number of fifty. Fifty is the threshold for the powers that be with Amazon to take notice. (Actually, it’s more likely one of Amazon’s algorithms.)
Anyway, I believe studying reviewers’ comments can be enlightening and fruitful. They are likely to use words and phrases I never would have thought of. They might hit upon a point that I totally missed. Or have a very different interpretation. It’s all good. They are the readers, the audience, and I must take note of their reactions.
For the purpose of creating a flyer I searched for short useful passages that were interesting and brought up pertinent points of plot, character, and theme. Quotes that showed enthusiasm. I was lucky enough to find four. Three came from noted local authors. They would become my celebrity endorsements.
So, I was set to start on my own version of a promotional flyer. I wanted a basic two-column layout and knew I wouldn’t be getting fancy. My job would be to make blocks of text look, well, not too boring.
Then the difficulties began. I had to use a program that I was totally rusty on. One that hadn’t always cooperated with me in the past.
Long story short, after hours of trail and error, I had something that was pretty decent. It would be something I could adapt for different occasions. Which was very much what I needed. Because first up is a reading at the Bettendorf Public Library on April 12th and the panic is setting in.
Here's my original inspiration:
My review count so far: Amazon-nine, and Goodreads-three. There are a couple of others: one from an author’s blog, and one from the Swedish American Genealogist. So far, so good, but no where near the magic number of fifty. Fifty is the threshold for the powers that be with Amazon to take notice. (Actually, it’s more likely one of Amazon’s algorithms.)
Anyway, I believe studying reviewers’ comments can be enlightening and fruitful. They are likely to use words and phrases I never would have thought of. They might hit upon a point that I totally missed. Or have a very different interpretation. It’s all good. They are the readers, the audience, and I must take note of their reactions.
For the purpose of creating a flyer I searched for short useful passages that were interesting and brought up pertinent points of plot, character, and theme. Quotes that showed enthusiasm. I was lucky enough to find four. Three came from noted local authors. They would become my celebrity endorsements.
So, I was set to start on my own version of a promotional flyer. I wanted a basic two-column layout and knew I wouldn’t be getting fancy. My job would be to make blocks of text look, well, not too boring.
Then the difficulties began. I had to use a program that I was totally rusty on. One that hadn’t always cooperated with me in the past.
Long story short, after hours of trail and error, I had something that was pretty decent. It would be something I could adapt for different occasions. Which was very much what I needed. Because first up is a reading at the Bettendorf Public Library on April 12th and the panic is setting in.
Here's my original inspiration:
