AQATSA update: OH HAI THERE PLOT HOLE!

[inverarity]

(Judgmental Bookseller Ostrich is much funnier than LOLcats.)


Yeah, I suddenly realized I was staring at one big plot hole and a couple of minor ones. So even though I was trying to just keep writing and deal with problems later, I had to go back and rewrite a bunch of stuff in several chapters. So the last couple of days my word count did not increase much because most of what I wrote was rewriting. And I still haven't worked all the plot holes out yet...

Curse you, Greyhound!

So, at one point, Alexandra is trying to run away leave Chicago using Muggle transportation. Like a good author, I do my research. It turns out Greyhound has all kinds of rules for unaccompanied minors. They apply to children fourteen and under.

Hmm. Okay. Alexandra is almost fifteen, so she can probably fake it...

Exception
In accordance with Illinois state law, NO tickets will be sold to unaccompanied minor children under the age of 17 for interstate or intrastate travel from locations within the state of Illinois.

Argh! Curse you, Greyhound, and curse you, state of Illinois!

Yes, yes, I know -- hardly anyone reading my story is actually going to go look up Greyhound's Unaccompanied Children rules like I did. But it matters, dammit!

(Okay, go ahead and laugh at me because I'm trying to write a believable way for a fourteen-year-old to sneak across state lines in a story where fourteen-year-olds carry magic wands...)

That was just a teeny little plot hole, btw. The big one is, like, rip-up-three-chapters big.

My Poser Skills Are Teh Suck

And I started trying to make a rough draft of the AQATSA cover, and can't get anything that doesn't look... well, bad. I look back at all the illustrations I did for AQATLB and AQATDR and cringe. I mean, some are kind of cool, in a cheesy way, but more and more I do not like the "look" of my characters as Poser figures. I am always telling myself I'm going to put in some more time polishing my graphic arts skillz (I even bought a couple of books on using Photoshop!) but on the list of things for me to spend my time on (in which, unfortunately, neither "reading" nor "writing" takes the #1 spot), becoming a better Poser/Photoshop geek is not rating significant hours out of my day.

I'm almost considering paying some starving college student on deviantART to do some illos for me. (Hey, it's not that strange. Back when I gamed a lot, I actually paid for a few character illustrations.) Problem is, most of the stuff on DA is either heavily manga/anime-style or pneumatic airbrushed babes whose boobs would affect the tides.

So, I am at 157K words, and Chapter 25. No wordle. Maybe I'll give you a Poser illustration next time.

Comments

[fpb.livejournal.com]

AQ could, of course, leave with an individual Muggle, perhaps using a slight Confundus Charm (she has seen them used and is apt to look them up). The problem with that is that, if you think like me, the Muggle hiimself will turn out to have a load of bad karma to chuck into the story - he might be a paedophile, a gangster on the run from former friends (this is Chicago we are talking about), a deadbeat husband defaulting on a court judgment - and this would in turn further expand the story.

I could do an ink sketch for you, if you don't mind black and white. I don't have a whole lot of practice with colour.

[madderbrad.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I suddenly realized I was staring at one big plot hole --

Something to do with House Elves, right? :-)

[adissonlee.livejournal.com]

This is why I love your writing.

[anyareine.livejournal.com]

I am a really active watcher over on dA, especially with HP related fan art. I could scrunge up a few potential artists that might be intersted in doing AQ art. Though you would have to ask them yourself, and everything.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_silverfox/]

Curse you, Greyhound, and curse you, state of Illinois!
Isn't there a train? She could get on a train behind some adult that would be assumed to be her parent, if anyone were paying attention to minors boarding.

My Poser Skills Are Teh Suck
As far as I'm concerned having the illustrations is a nice bonus, but I come here to read the words, not look at pictures, so I'm perfectly fine with the pictures not being perfect.

[(Anonymous)]

I've always been a fan of Reallycorking's HP art - http://community.livejournal.com/corkart/ - and I know she does commissions. You should contact her!

- QueenHal (who yes, still faithfully watches your LJ and reads your work)

Rhemus said

[(Anonymous)]

I know probably no one else cares much about the illustrations.

I care. I like the South Park illustrations and hate the 3D: book!Alex and South-Park!Alex are ordinary; 3D!Alex is ugly. I told you so.

Teh Gay did not add to the Story, but it WAS part of the Story. So you are better than Jo. It was irrelevant, the Reveal could have come any time. Fair enough, the Aesop is that it is no big deal.

[kerneyhead.livejournal.com]

Take Metra train (commuter train)to Gary, get bus there. Do same to Wisconsin or get Greyhound there. North Chicago (separate city is 5-10 miles from the border).

Amtrack, 1 hr from Chicago to Milwalkee. According to Roommate both Metra and Amtrack don't ask questions.

Cabs rides and yes, there are some long cab rides. Longest ride I know of was from Denver International Airport to Sturgis, SD ($600 negiotiated at 2AM, got room in Sturgis and rested up before driving back). 50-75 mile cab rides are not unheard of.

Alexandra could use one her rhyme charms to get a an ATM to spit out money without using her wand.

PS-- Close friend is a former Chicagoan who I'm talking to as I write this. Any other questions just ask. Cab knowledge goes back to what I did in college for money.

[shootangaems.livejournal.com]

To be fair, part of the problem may lie in Poser itself. From what I've seen, things in Poser range from merely unsettling to downright horrifying (Ever seen porn done in Poser? The stuff of nightmares...) It's like Uncanny Valley: The Program.

Maybe source(do?) some hand-drawn art?

[acrosstheglobe1.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see more Alexandra Quick art! Maybe not from Poser though :P. I think hand-drawn is the best way to go. I would draw these characters myself and have drawn Harry Potter ones in the past, but my drawings are very cartoony and I don't think they are all that great.

It would be neat to one day see realistic drawings of your characters, Inverarity :).

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, as someone who has lived and worked in and around Chicago for all 24 years of his life, I can unequivocally state that you are correct in your assessment of the transportation laws and how strictly they're enforced. Hell, I don't know how you could get away with that, aside from using magic--but you want to avoid the machinas, so wisely you'll probably avoid that.

You may be able to get her on a smaller plane, you know. Airports like Palwaukee, while the work very hard to be as strictly managed and regulated as those of Ohare and Midway, don't have the same resources to ensure that. There's no reason she couldn't try and hitch a ride on a smaller plane out of one of the many smaller airports in the area.

~DarkSov