Monday, November 23, 2009

Babies and books and china, oh my...

I was at a baby shower on the weekend. In our family, we don't have baby showers until after the baby has arrived, so the Wee One was there in all his chubby-cheeked glory (and man, those cheeks were chubby!). Of course, we women trotted out all our "war stories." And new baby stories, thereby embarrassing those babies-now-young-women in attendance, which is also a time-honored part of the ritual.

I also managed to finish a synopsis, although I've gotta say, it's a whole lot easier writing a synopsis before I've written the book. When the book (or in my case, half the book) is done, I want to put everything in the synopsis. Every character, every bit of backstory about those characters, everything that happens, even some of the dialogue. Alas, that cannot be, or it wouldn't be a synopsis.

Even mindful that a synopsis shouldn't be book-length, I still put in too much and have to cut. That's next on the agenda, while also making sure I don't cut anything essential to the understand of the story and characters while keeping the overall tone of the story and characters.



I also spent time trying to find out the name of a china pattern. It's by Johnson Brothers. On the back, it has the name, the seal, "Snowhite" (which is not a pattern name, but seems to refer to the type of china) and "D" and "1" on the saucer. If anybody knows what this is, please tell me!




There's something else I'm trying to find out about. It's a Pyrex measuring cup, but it only hold 3/4 of a cup. Also unusually, it doesn't have a spout. I've never seen anything like it, and I can't discover if anybody else ever has, either. Any information gratefully accepted!

3 comments:

Amy Ruttan said...

In case you miss my Tweet here's a useful site on China featuring Johnson Bros. http://www.historyandnostalgia.com/china/johnson_bros_snowhite_regency.htm

Margaret Moore said...

Thanks, Amy. I went there and while it's kind of similar, I think what have is more everyday. I suspect, given the gray/green colors, it might be from the 60s.

Kimber Chin said...

Margaret,
Do you sell on synopsis?
Or do you pitch your story ideas before you write the full book,
then write the synopsis to make the marketing folks happy?