Checked out

Now that I've decided to return to New York on Sunday, my mind has already checked out. I've edited the prologue, the first chapter and outlined changes for chapter two which will need a lot of work. But it's work I'd like to tackle back home.

Till then, I'm doing things in the area that I haven't been able to yet. I spent today in Ann Arbor. Tomorrow I'm going to tour Henry Ford's estate and, hopefully, go to a hookah bar. Yesterday I went to a local Arab restaurant. All in all, I've met good people who have done an excellent job of answering my questions and helping me better understand the area, its history and its people.

Unfortunately, I never got to work for a local Arab bakery which would have been a lot of fun and educational. Business locally's been slow and the bakeries I inquired at didn't need any extra part-time help.

There will be no shortage of distractions at home, but I've got into a good editing rhythm lately, working hours at a time unlike the first draft where I'd bang out some copy in an hour or so and call it a day. Plus, being this close to the end with so many people asking me how it's coming along, is only more incentive to wrap it up strong.

Excuses, excuses

Now that the baseball season is officially over, you'd think I'd have an extra three hours to write, right? Yeah, me too. Then the local campaign folks sunk their teeth into me. I'm pretty much a goner from now through 11/4. Fortunately, one of the guys at the campaign office knows the folks at the bakery where I'd like to work for a couple weeks, so hopefully we can work that out. This would be key. For as much as I've learned about the area since 10/20 (today I had my first Coney Island (a hot dog with chili, mustard and onions) and learned that tonight is Devil's Night in the Detroit area...), I have not made inroads with the local Arab population. The baking gig would, potentially, improve that.

So, basically, editing hasn't gone as fast as I'd like. I'll plug away tonight, but between now and the election may be a wash. I hope not. There is no reason I can't finish editing the prologue tonight. Lord knows I got enough hot chocolate and potato chips to pull it off.

Fortunately, my next distraction doesn't start till 11/17: Davidson hoops. Pre-season #20, baby. That should give me some incentive to bang this shit out so I can enjoy the season.

Double Sessions

I reckon I can edit pritnear all 19 chapters before leaving Dearborn. This'll mean one a day, but probably more like editing double sessions. I prefer to read through a chapter first making notes as I go (eg, add description here, what's another example of this there, etc...) and then to go back and fill in the blanks. At one point or another I typically hit a wall which is where reading or baseball comes in to provide a break so splitting the editing into two sessions a day should work well.

As I edit I've set out some goals:

1) Smooth transitions: Make sure you get from one word to another, one sentence to another, one paragraph to another and one chapter to another smoothly. Don't leave the reader behind without any bread crumbs.

2) Physicality: A complement to conversational humor is physical humor. Physical description also gives the reader a better feel for the characters. Lastly, it breaks up conversation which may move too quickly without it and with it may help build up a sequence.

3) Know your characters: Few of us know everything about those in our lives, but we know a few key things. This is an area where I need to do a better job. Plus, the more you know about a character, the more flexibility you have for humor, action and conversation.

4) Keep it tight: Every field of work and every couple have their own jargon. So does this book. The book's jargon touches on cars, U.S. history, Eddie Murphy films, baseball and Arab culture. What I can't do is extend references or allusions too far beyond that already wide swath otherwise I'll lose readers' interest, frustrate them and ask them to do too much work. While I enjoy reading good books more than once (mining them for more because I probably missed something the first time), the reader's reward should not come in the second or third reading. A reward should come the first time around.

Make no mistake, I refuse to "dumb down" this book. I refuse. Standards are already low enough out there.

Day One in Dearborn

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

I arrived at the Dearborn Bed & Breakfast on 22331 Morley Avenue at around 1:30pm; the snow so fresh that a number of driveways had yet to be cleared. Am staying in the Walnut Room on the second floor which is drafty, but beautiful and spacious - at least by New York standards. After getting settled, I spoke with the innkeeper about local attractions and posed some of the questions about the area.

The innkeeper, who has lived here for approximately 45 years after moving with her husband from the Cleveland area upon his taking a job with Ford, is a white woman probably in her sixties. She is very kind and hospitable. She also has a good sense of the changes that have taken place in the area, though I don’t think she’s one to be critical or negative.

She admitted that the local economy was not in good shape, mainly because of Ford and GM (also that white collar workers (like her two sons, who seem to be safe in their jobs) are often the first to get the axe) and that old Mayor Hubbard was not one for allowing blacks or immigrants to live in Dearborn: They could work here, but that’s all.

She said that the Arab population was mainly in East Dearborn (off of Michigan Avenue near City Hall and the old Montgomery Ward which has been abandoned for years) and Melvindale; that West Dearborn was mainly white; and that Inkster was mainly black. She added that there was a Mexican neighborhood in Detroit, but that there wasn’t a particularly large Hispanic presence locally.

While she did delineate ethnicities and neighborhoods, she also went so far as to say that these lines were not so clearly drawn; that there was a good mix of black, white and Arab all around. She also said that there had been no white flight. That being said, she gave an example of a family that moved before their white child was to enter a school that was 99% black…

I had dinner at Miller’s Bar which the innkeeper recommended for their burgers. Miller’s is right off of Michigan Avenue - the main drag; it has a big, clear sign, but then no signs on either of its doors which gives it a prohibition dive bar feel, until you enter and it’s spic and span. Indeed, my medium rare cheeseburger – served bloody, thank god – was tasty and tender. The fries, on the other hand, had the backbone of the local economy. The burger was served with a slice of onion wrapped in parchment on the side and a jar of sliced pickles on the table. On tap? Miller or Miller Light. I chose Miller and was served what appeared to be a half-pint; which Lucy would order by saying, “One up” to the bartender. Two all day.

Eating at 8:20pm on a Tuesday night, I missed the main dinner rush, but as Lucy my server informed me, that usually hadn’t mattered. She attributed the low turnout to either the snow and cold weather, the economy or both. There wasn’t a soul at the bar, most of the patrons were middle aged and all were white. As was the staff.

I was informed that Miller’s is cash only and that they work on the honor system. I received no bill from Lucy; I just have to go up to the bar, tell the bartender what I had and pay him. And so I did.

As I leave it either begins to flurry or the wind kicks up and blows the earlier snow around. The parking lot in the back is all American made to a car.

My initial drives up and down Michigan Avenue (in tandem with my conversation with the innkeeper) draw some points of note. First, there are all the requisite chain/big box stores. Second, there are a number of empty stores, even stores of renown. I took these to be a sign of the weak local economy. The innkeeper mentioned that a number of stores and buildings had been torn down and replaced with new buildings (mainly residential apartments and lofts with a commercial presence on the ground floor) – so perhaps these empties are just awaiting the wrecking ball before new structures go up. If what she says is true, then the area probably benefited from the housing boom like the rest of the country. Whether or not the area can weather the automotive industry’s woes, the popping of the housing bubble and the sub-prime credit mess is another matter.

Like a moron, I left my digital camera at home.

Wednesday I visited The Henry Ford and the Arab American National Museum. More tomorrow.

Preliminary Detroit Area Research

Chapter two takes our protagonists into the Detroit area to begin their work. In preparation for this chapter, I've been studying up on the area and thinking about the existing sources out there that are set around Detroit. More specifically, I'm looking at demographic statistics and popular culture.

I've learned a couple key things about the Detroit area in the last couple weeks. First, Dearborn, Michigan is considered the United States' Muslim capitol. Second, Grosse Pointe Blank, set in nearby Grosse Pointe, Michigan, appears to have one African-American interloper (an NSA agent) who eventually gets blown away by John Cusack and Dan Aykroyd, professional killers impeccably adept at dialog.

Needless to say, the juxtaposition of these images (real and imagined) potentially supplies ample comic fodder: the reality of a full-blown immigrant city (Muslim at that! beginning in the 1950s) versus a Hollywood comedy/action film in a presumably affluent and Caucasian town. If the writers of Grosse Pointe Blank thought they were playing up the comedy by setting a professional hit in a sleepy town during a high school reunion, in a post- 9/11 world, the last laugh may be on them. Plus, when discussing the idea of American pride, it will be curious to see how the two groups respond. Will they try to out-American each other and if so, to what ludicrous end? And who will actually take up the Batswana's offer of business development assistance?

That being said, I also look forward to watching Gung Ho and seeing how that may or may not play a part in the story. If nothing else, it's a chance to watch Michael Keaton in action. Hell, Mr. Mom took place around Detroit. Classic.