In that spirit, he sent me the following e-mail last night:
After reading too many literary fiction queries, I rewrote a
sentence from Anne Tyler:
"The car wallowed back through the slush, with ribbons of bright water trickling down the windshield from the roof" (Anne Tyler).
"With torrents of incandescent water cascading down the besieged windshield from the roiled roof like a towering majestic falls in a lost dystopian wilderness, the swamped car careened through the raging flood of turbulent water and freezing ice." (dad's version).
Tee hee.
Your Dad is something else! ;)
ReplyDeleteHe goes crazy when people are repetitive, hence the "freezing ice."
ReplyDeleteThis is why writers need good editors. Some repetitive language is tough even for my critique partners to catch. I've had to go through and painstakingly find them(some of which are probably invisible to me)! Spent a lot of time doing that today, in fact.
ReplyDeleteI hope your father has his internal editor working when he writes--it would make for a lot less work later on, that's for sure.
He gets it, that's for sure! :)
ReplyDeleteLove it! I bet he's great at Tom Swift jokes.
ReplyDeleteI love the "raging flood of turbulent water" the best. Much clearer than a raging flood of calm water! *heh-heh*
Okay...that "besieged windshield" is my line!. You passed that last proposal I sent you onto your dad to read, didn't you? Admit it.
ReplyDelete;-)
Well, in isolation, "besieged windshield" might be okay. But you're kidding, right? I thought he was making it all up.
ReplyDeleteI <3 your dad.
ReplyDeleteThat is all
That is pretty funny... and dead on accurate too.
ReplyDeletelove it. Dad stories are the best -- when you have the best Dad.. and I do (too).
ReplyDeleteit's funny 'cause I have Anne Tyler's book, The Ladder Years looking at me at this moment from the floor beside my bed - among a pile of books.
cheers.
Your dad just made me snort! Don't turn him loose on me! (And I <3 James Lee Burke, too!)
ReplyDeleteI'm with Mandy here. :)
ReplyDeleteYour dad should consider freelance editing. :)
ReplyDeleteI so want to read his Christmas card. Too funny!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great story. What a cool dad you have.
ReplyDeleteMary
jdcoughlin, you're right: his Christmas cards are pretty funny!
ReplyDeleteThat email from your dad made me giggle. What a nice way to start my day.
ReplyDeleteI like your Dad!
ReplyDeleteSpent a lot of time doing that today, in fact.
ReplyDeleteWork From Home