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Mary Rosenblum
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Hello all!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Welcome to our Friday After
Hours Forum
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Mary Rosenblum
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Do, please, use your private
message feature to chat during the forums. It gets hard to read for those
people with slow servers, if there is a lot of chat.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I wanted to talk about
organization...of your novel research and also your files in general.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This seems to be the month for
lost files! I've had three people contact me to ask for help in finding
'lost' drafts.
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Mary Rosenblum
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As someone who juggles not
only vast amounts of research for my hard SF fiction and my current
alternate history project, but also tons of information
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Mary Rosenblum
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for student markets and the LR
newsletter, I have had to evolve a very good organizational system to keep
sane and functional.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, at least functional!
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's easy to waste a lot of
time looking for that piece of information that you just KNOW you have here
somewhere.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Novels are very large
landscapes.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's easy to think that you'll
never forget what color this character's eyes are, or what kind of car he
drives, or that the grocery is next door to the dry cleaner.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But suddenly you're 100 pages
farther in to that story and you're about to put the MC into his car. Uh
oh. Was it a blue Toyta or a maroon one? Or did you decide to give him a
Jetta after all...weren't you thinking about that?
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Mary Rosenblum
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So now you're skimming back
through a hundred pages of manuscript or more trying to remember just where
you put that car into the story.
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Mary Rosenblum
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There goes a half hour! And
you've just lost your momentum. Ooops.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Remember that real life gets
in thet way. If you take a month off to nurse that sick spouse or go on
vacation for two weeks, you'd
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Mary Rosenblum
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be amazed how much you'll
forget.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Those vivid little details
begin to evaporate!
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Mary Rosenblum
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So.
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Mary Rosenblum
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When you start a novel realize
that you will need to remember all kinds of small details and there's no
need to challenge your short term memory!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Start several separate
documents.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Label one Plot Notes. Whenever
you think 'oh, I should do that later on' put it there.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Label another Revision Notes:
Oh, when I revise, I'll have him notice Kate's dog in the park. PUt it in
your revision notes file.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Start a character file.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Put down EVERY personal quirk
you create. You'll need the darndest things later on.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Her toothbrush is green, she
drinks mint tea, she was scared of bees in chapter two...
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Mary Rosenblum
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Hair color, eye color, the
clothes he normally wears, the brand of his boots.
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Mary Rosenblum
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What car does that character
drive. If he gets his hair cut in Chapter Three, put it down. Saves you
embarassment when in Chapter Six, three days later
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Mary Rosenblum
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he drops in for a haircut and
the barber remarks that it's really long this time!
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Mary Rosenblum
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(Must be that new hair tonic
he's using eh?)
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you are creating a universe
such as a fantasy world or simply researching an exotic location such as,
say, Bangkok
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Mary Rosenblum
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start a separate file for that
rather than a document.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In that file folder create
subfolders for your research: Cultuire. City Details. Climate. History.
Whatever you need.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You might have a folder of
Images and file pictures you find on the internet of the particular
location you're using in your story.
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Mary Rosenblum
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This saves you from skimming
through long lists of documents with cryptic file names like
tourguidexel.cityscape.temple.asap
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Mary Rosenblum
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Of course that's actually the
picture of Angkor Wat that you're searching for but how do you know? You
get to open all those files and look!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Rename all files in
Idiotspeak!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Angkor.wat.photo
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Mary Rosenblum
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bangkok street scene rainy
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Mary Rosenblum
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bangkok street scene traffic
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Mary Rosenblum
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farsee dinner table manners
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Mary Rosenblum
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moslem boy names
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Mary Rosenblum
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You want the contents of the
file to be instantly comprehensible.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's tempting to simply click
'save as' and send a piece of useful reasearch to your newly created files,
but remember...your computer will assign it a file name, usually taken from
the first line of text
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Mary Rosenblum
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in the rain is
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's not a particularly
useful file name but you can in up wiith it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Ther more you have to create
or the more you have to research in order to create your world, the more
extensive your files will be
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Mary Rosenblum
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and the more important your
organization will be.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I often run into situations
where someone has a question about a particular bit of science in one of my
stories or novels.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And I've done all the research
but if I want to cite that particular reference, I have to find it first!
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Mary Rosenblum
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NEVER underestimate the
ability of readers to catch logic errors!
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Mary Rosenblum
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And they really do undermine
the credibility of your novel. If you can't remember what you named the
street on which your character lives...go back and find the scene where you
bring it in.
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Mary Rosenblum
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And that can be quite time
consuming! :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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In nonfiction this is
particularly important.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You may sell an article now,
while your memory of the piece is still sharp and if someone asks you about
it, no problem.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can cite your sources
easily.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But what if it's reprinted a
year from now and the editor has a question about our sources?
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Mary Rosenblum
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This is when you need to be
able to find that pool of research you did for that article and meanwhile
you have written fifty articles since then.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In this day of cheap flash
drives, I suggest that owning two of three of the smaller drives is a very
valuable investment.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Label one Article Research.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Label one Novels.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Use them as long term
archives. And remember...no media is permanent. Duplicate your backup! I do
CDs of finished fiction. I want to be able to access it ten years from now.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Of course nothing in the
computer world is really permanent. An SF writer friend was just
visiting...he's busy transcribing a huge number of the old 3.5 inch
floppies onto disk while he can still read them.
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barbiq
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Mary, when I have done research
and while doing my Nano project I wrote down everything in theme books then
typed them up dividing them into character info, world info, vocab info.
then I printed them and filed them with the ms. Is that approiate?
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's a very good way to do
it, barb.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I tend to try and use the
computer files directly when I can, but when I'm doing research on the
dining room table, surrounded by ten or twelve open books, I do as you
do...
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Mary Rosenblum
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it goes into a notebook first.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I often leave major research
in hardcopy.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But I'll tear pages out of a
spiral notebook for example, and file them in binders with written notes of
the same kind.
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Mary Rosenblum
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As I read a book, say, on the
Aztecs, I might make notes on language on one page. On another page, I
might make notes about religious practice. On another, I'll make notes
about everyday customs.
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Mary Rosenblum
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When I've finished going
through the many research books I'll use, I'll put all the various notes on
'household customs' into one folder.
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Mary Rosenblum
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DO, DO, DO be sure to add the
book title and chapter or page information to your notes.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You may need to know where that
information came from later.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'm simply lazy.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Why retype it? I can read my
own handwriting just fine and hardcopy is a good archive.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'm not likely to need the
actual text, like I would with a story draft. Just the information that
text represents.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I do keep my ongoing novel
notes as word processor files, since I write my first draft on the
computer, so it's quite easy to do.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I can keep several documents
open at the same time.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Keep a timeline, too.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's embarassing to send your
character to the bank as a critical plot point just to realize that this is
Sunday afternoon....because you didn't keep track of the time!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Reeeaders willll!
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Mary Rosenblum
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So as you're creating the
draft, you can keep track of what happens wen in your timeline.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Day one:
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Mary Rosenblum
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Carla meets Hal and they get
into an argument over the lost dog.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Day two...Carla finds out she
has been fired.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I do tend to use 'one' 'two'
and the like until I'm sure I won't be scheduling sometihing implausible on
a weekend.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Okay, Carla has to be in the
bank arguing with the mortage manager when Ted walks in. What if I make
that Tuesday?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Then I"ll count back and
make sure that this won't mess up a scene.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you have your character
doing something after work on Friday right off the bat, your week days are
set.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Mostly strive for keeping lots
of information but keeing it in such a way that you can easily find what
you need.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Use file folders a lot rather
than amassing thousands of individual documents that are simply
alphabetized.
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charge2charge
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Would you say keeping a quotes
journal is a good idea?
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Mary Rosenblum
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What exactly do you mean by a
quotes journal charge?
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charge2charge
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quotes that you think are worthy
of writing down from either
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charge2charge
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someone else or yourself
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Mary Rosenblum
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Sure, if you think you'll use
them. I tend to need quotes only if I'm writing nonfiction and then I get
the quotes I need for that particular article
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Mary Rosenblum
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from some expert or other.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If I'm writing fiction, I just
make up the words my characters need to say. :-)
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frightwrite07
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I have tons of old newspaper and
mag clips. Would it be a
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frightwrite07
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good idea to scan these and save
them?
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Mary Rosenblum
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If they're taking up too much
room sure.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have a ton of those, too,
research for my early novels, when more stuff was in print and less was
online.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have them boxed and stored
in my basement.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Realize paper does save just
fine, but if you have a lot of it, it IS a fire hazard. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's time consuming to scan
stuff. Unless space is an issue, I'd probably just organize those clippings
so I could find stuff.
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Mary Rosenblum
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You can find nice, cheap
cardboard file boxes that will hold hanging file folders.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Great organizers!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Label your files:
Environmental issues, Dog stuff, garden articles...
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Mary Rosenblum
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Throw your clippings in the
right file folder.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Hey, you want a fun
writing-blahs game? Dump a file like that out on the living room floor and
sort through it.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Inspiration awaits.
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charge2charge
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somewhat random: do you use
italics for a title of a book
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charge2charge
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that you make up in a novel?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Generally, you don't want to
use italic at all, charge. It louses up many types of publishing software.
Always read the submission guidelines,
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Mary Rosenblum
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but in manuscript format,
underlining is accepted to indicate italic. But there's no need to
italicize your title.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The font will be determined
when the pages are designed.
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sss1208
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but wouldn't it be best to start
out scanning before you get bogged down in paperwork?as long as you have
two or three jumpdrives
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Mary Rosenblum
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By all means! If you have a
scanner and a jump drive, just scan it and archive it.
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charge2charge
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oh, I meant like a title of a
book a character receives
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Mary Rosenblum
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Oh I see what you mean. Yes,
and italicize foreign words, too, but remember....use underline to indicate
it. Don't actually USE italic font.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Always read submission
guidelines for what an editor wants in terms of font. In e publishing
especially, the submission requirements are ALL over the map!
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Mary Rosenblum
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So mostly organizing
information is all about making it easy for you when you need that piece of
information a month or a year or five years from now.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Make your file names crystal
clear.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Use folders and subfolders.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have a folder on my compter
labeled 'con and panels'. In that folder, I have a folder for each
conference or workshop I've done.
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Mary Rosenblum
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In that particuliar conference
folder, I might even have a couple of subfolders -- writers workshop, say,
and science panels
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Mary Rosenblum
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Maybe one for travel
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Mary Rosenblum
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If I want my intinerary or my
plane ticket, I just open Travel.
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Mary Rosenblum
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GIve your files idiot proof
names you can easily search for if you lose them.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you're writing a story
'Rose Water' save it was rose water first draft.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you want to save your
revisions separately, label the first revision rose water second draft.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Maybe put them all into a
folder labeled rose water
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Mary Rosenblum
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Each of my novels has its own
file. In that file are all the chapter files (I do each chapter as a
separate file) and all my research and notes files.
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Mary Rosenblum
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For a big-research project,
I'll use sub-folders: Aztec home life.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Religious beliefs.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Warfare
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Mary Rosenblum
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These are all sub folders in
my main 'Aztec Novel' folder.
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Mary Rosenblum
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IN each of those folders, I'll
have my articles and research notes.
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k c morlock
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Knowing how to effectivly use
your computer's search options
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Mary Rosenblum
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And that is why you want
simple, easy to remember file names.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you search rose water you
should get every file with those words in the filename.
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barbiq
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after you finish a project do
you copy the entire folder on one cd and then remove the old files from
your computer?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I do copy everything onto a
CD, barb, but I back up everything every week anyway. But when I finish a
submission draff of a novel, I'll put the entire novel file on a CD for
storage.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I have a HUGE hard drive and I
don't have a lot of gaming and unnecessary software so I have tons of
storage space. SO I don't delete them from the hard drive.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I am a big believer in
redundancy.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If one storage medium fails, I
have it stored elsewhere!
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thr
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How do you record on line
research?
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Mary Rosenblum
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I copy the website page or
journal article and save it as a word file, thr.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'll often delete unnecessary
pictures and the like
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sailor
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As my research accumulates, I'm
finding it hard to wrap my head around it without printing out a lot of it.
How much do you print out?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Print out whatever you need. I
find I"m much more efficient at the table with a host of media spread
out around me so I can skip from page to page
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Mary Rosenblum
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It seems to be a different
process from clicking between documents...different visual field?
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Mary Rosenblum
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Most writers find it to be so.
:-)
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k c morlock
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I store my final drafts at the
bank with my photo negetives of the family so I don't loose the discs.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Off site storage is a very
good idea if you can do that.
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Mary Rosenblum
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So is a fire safe.
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Mary Rosenblum
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But get one that guarantees
survival for electronic media. You need a more efficient storage unit for
that.
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charie'
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How about emailing your draft to
yourself if you have the storage on your account?
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Mary Rosenblum
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YOu can do that. I actually
lease server space and I can store a huge amount of stuff there.
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sss1208
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how do you organize several
different projects , that are not ready for the computer
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Mary Rosenblum
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File folders and labels.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Think about how you will need
to use the information.
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Mary Rosenblum
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When I wrote my first novel, I
dumped everything into a box. What a mess!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Categorize what you will need
and put articles, clippings, what have you into that folder.
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Mary Rosenblum
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Well, I hope this has helped
you all.
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Mary Rosenblum
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The new year is a good time to
think about organizing.
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Mary Rosenblum
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If you don't want to tackle
that pile of unorganized data, start the next project with a bit more
organization.
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k c morlock
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I emailed all of my nano to
myself and left it there unopened to keep it safe, but didn't know the
server deletes it all after ninety days. So, be careful of time limits.
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Mary Rosenblum
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VERY good point, KC!
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Mary Rosenblum
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I'll post the transcript of
this Forum in the usual place. Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts.
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Mary Rosenblum
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I hope you all have a great
weekend!
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Mary Rosenblum
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Join me Sunday for our casual
Sunday chat.
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Mary Rosenblum
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It's a lot of fun! I should be
there for sure.
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galatyne
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If anyone has their own website,
chances are they aren't using all the storage space and can create a
directory to backup documents.
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Mary Rosenblum
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That's what I do, gala. :-)
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Mary Rosenblum
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Thanks for coming all!
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Mary Rosenblum
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See you Sunday!
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