The GHAWG Diaries, Part 41
What's happening behind the scenes to bring new GHAWG content? The GHAWG Diaries is my recap of what I've been doing.
Cover image designed by @magnacarta using emojis and Excel 2007 for text. Minor edits made using MS Paint.
Introduction
There's more to #GHAWG than just daily zapfic entries and the spreadsheet I use to track them. There's research. There's review. There's also thought and inspiration. Then there are the tools involved in doing any of those tasks.
Just to keep things from getting scrambled in my head, and also to document for myself what I've been considering, I began keeping a diary of my activities as they concern #GHAWG. With posts in the GHAWG, Uninterrupted series on hold at Interlude 3 while Act 7 remains in progress, I decided to share these diary entries with everyone on Hive blockchain.
On Mondays which don't feature a GHAWG, Uninterrupted post-- GHAWG-U-- I'll post diary entries from the previous 7 days or between GHAWG-U posts if the time between them is short. For Part 41, there are 7 days' worth of diary entries. The first entry starts on 2024-August-12.
Before anyone scratches their heads at a few terms, here are 3 I began using many posts ago:
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
Rat Bike | Code name for #GHAWG (the first and current zapfic serial) |
Blue Lion | Code name for the middle zapfic serial in the GHAWG Universe |
The Bronze | Code name for the final zapfic serial in the GHAWG Universe |
Monday, 2024-August-12
📓 While running errands in my neighborhood I was listening to my favorite version of "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66." the Depeche Mode cover from around 1988 which the band updated in 2006. That's not anything strange; I've been doing that throughout 2024. What is strange is taking time to listen to the song which inspired this interpretation by Depeche Mode: "Behind the Wheel". After listening to the lyrics of this song, I came to the conclusion that in certain social circles this would be considered date music. At the time I was only thinking about the song and its lyrics. It was later in the day when I came up with a zapfic entry or a small sequence of zapfic entries featuring Rhonda Bella Guardia and people from her past. My decision to have Felix Legion stay overnight at the Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis is turning out to be an inspired choice, and I'm finding situations which let me develop the characters. Regarding The Twins and Lindsay Etxeberria, I will need to rewrite those entries concerning inflation circa 2021 if only to streamline the discussion while adding more clarity to it.
Tuesday, 2024-August-13
📓 I was able to extend the zapfic queue into 2024-September-14, just 7 days. However, that's the net result. Along the way, I ended rewriting the inflation discussion The Twins were having with Lindsay Etxeberria. I even ended up rewriting a few entries in the sequence where Rhonda Bella Guardia has a totally unexpected reunion with dear old friends Richard and Gina, a married couple. They were such an important part of Rhonda's life that when they relocated for Richard's new job Rhonda coped with their departure by heading to Alaska to become an ice road trucker. I mention that detail here because at some point I will include it in Rat Bike and go back to it in the sequel zapfic serial Blue Lion.
Wednesday, 2024-August-14
📓 Thanks to having Felix Legion spend the night at the Ritz-Carlton, St. Louis, I was able to kick-start the zapfic writing and bring the queue into 2024-September-22. The sequence of zapfic entries featuring The Twins and Lindsay Etxeberria discussing the causes of both inflation and high prices can actually be combined to make a long-form post; I will do exactly this after this sequence is published to blockchain first.
As for the sequence of zapfic entries featuring Rhonda Bella Guardia's serendipitous reunion with dear friends from her past. Without referring to these dear friends of Rhonda, I hinted at it during the honeymoon sequence of zapfic entries. This chance encounter adds dimension to her relationship with them.
Several travel entries are written for the day's ride between St. Louis, Missouri, US and Springfield, Illinois, US. After Springfield, one or two days of travel remain to complete the ride east on Old Route 66. Once Felix Legion reaches Chicago, I have to get the crew to the eastern terminus of the legendary road before what I describe as "the set piece" to take place outside the Obama Presidential Library (scheduled for opening in 2026). When David Guardia gives Chicago the Seattle treatment, he will speak not only to city officials but also to the people who kept voting for these city officials. I'm not sure what David will be saying, only because there is too much raw material for me to use. By the time that moment arives, I'll figure it out; expect 7 to 10 zapfic entries for this set piece.
Thursday, 2024-August-15
📓 Yesterday I added so many entries to the zapfic queue I needed to go back to review them. Typos were corrected. More importantly, I re-worded parts of some zapfic entries. I didn't add new content, but I adjusted the ways the zapfic entries sounded if read aloud.
Now that the Old Route 66 storyline is coming to a close, I may be able to write wiki-style character dossiers for at least David Guardia and Rhonda Bella Guardia. Even now I'm adding details which add to their backstories and histories. Once I add sufficient dimensionality to the remaining characters, I'll publish wiki-style character dossiers for them.
Friday, 2024-August-16
📓 Ancient Greek tragedies and dramas featured heroes of grand if not epic scale. What made these tragedies and dramas even more powerful was afflicting the hero with a tragic flaw; after all, no one is perfect. As great as these heroes were, each had something which had the potential to bring him down to earth or even to lead to his death. Achilles was a prideful s.o.b., and it cost him the lives of many of his men. Odysseus got carried away with his cleverness, and it cosr him 10 years of aimless travel through the seas before he finally reached home after 10 years of fighting in the Trojan War. In the case of Odysseus, his story is the reason we have the word odyssey in the English language, and other languages should have similar words in theirs.
For a while (since at least the ride after STURGIS), I had a tragic flaw in mind for David Guardia: the need for the companionship only a lover could offer. Remember: he was in no position to pursue any relationships during the decade he was helping his father in his final years of life. He also had to deal with personal setbacks before he went to care for his ailing father. This need clouded his judgement on more than one occasion, and it's why his life is as it is now. Yes, he is having the time of his life being on the road and leading a group of riding companions. Yes, he will be seen living the good life as the sequel zapfic serial Blue Lion will reveal. However, it is in Blue Lion where the consequences of his tragic flaw will be revealed, and he will be seen paying dearly for that flaw both in the later half of Blue Lion as well as in the concluding zapfic serial The Bronze. By the end of The Bronze, he will have become a heroic and larger-than-life figure, but it will have come at a very high cost for him. For now, in Rat Bike, I'll leave breadcrumbs regarding his situation in the face of his tragic flaw.
Saturday, 2024-August-17
📓 The Weekly Summary is in the can and on blockchain. Much of it includes travel entries, although I included a couple of deliberately cringe jokes. The next set of entries will include more character interaction. Once Felix Legion reaches the major league city of St. Louis, Missouri, US, the small subplots will take place. One features the Brothers Marchenko and Lindsay Etxeberria discussing the origins of inflation and high prices (prices higher than what thy should be had inflation not taken place). Another features an impromptu reunion Rhonda Bella Guardia has with dear friends from her past. More details about her relationship with them will be revealed in later zapfic entries; this serendipitous renunion for her was meant only to introduce them into The GHAWG Universe.
Sunday, 2024-August-18
📓 Today I extended the zapfic queue to 2024-October-01. This means the queue goes 42 or 43 entries into the future. I'll feel better when I can get the queue back to 90 entries. Even so, the queue hasn't had this number of entries in it since the start of the Old Route 66 storyline when The Newlyweds, David and Rhonda Bella Guardia rejoined everyone else in San Diego, California, US. By the time 2024-October-01 arrives, Felix Legion will have reached the capital of the state of Illinois, Springfield foran overnight stay. I need to see what's in Springfield before I can determine chracter interactions take place. Will Springeld offer me an opportunity for a scene I had been wanting to write for a long time but didn' fit the moment? That's possible. All I know is that within 1 or 2 days Felix Legion will be in Chicago to end its ride on Old Route 66.
When (and Where) To Catch #GHAWG
When
This is the normal schedule for the posting of content for #GHAWG:
● Daily -- Each zapfic entry is posted shortly after midnight, from New York
● Weekends -- Weekly Summaries (with modified screen capture from LeoThreads as cover image) are usually on Saturday, sometimes Sunday
● Monday -- Either GHAWG, Uninterrupted if present, or The GHAWG Diaries
● Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday -- GHAWG Behind the Scenes -- The goal is to publish these posts on all days not dedicated to the Weekly Sumamry, GHAWH-U, or The GHAWG Diaries (TGD). There may be days with no post, so I'll minimize those occasions as best as I can.
Where
● Daily zapfic entries drop at LeoThreads, usually posted shortly after midnight from New York (sometimes around noon)
● All long form posts-- Weekly Summaries, GHAWG-U, and TGD-- can be accessed using the #GHAWGnav sticky post or from my InLeo profile page
That's it for this edition of The GHAWG Diaries. I'm 
[!!]
Thanks for your time. Give the post an upvote or a reblog if you liked it. Feedback is welcome. Until next time!
[!!] -- Graphic signature was designed by @ahmadmanga
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Congratulations @magnacarta! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 53000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPGreat work.Thank you for sharing.
You're welcome. Each week there's a recap of whatever is involved in writing the zapfic serial at LeoThreads.