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Maria Hanley's avatar

I have no doubt you are up to this task, Jody. The story, as you need to write it, will reveal itself. And actually, Barbara Kingsolver might help here too. She spent several years wrestling with how to write the story of the orphans of the opioid epidemic until sudden clarity was granted by Dickens himself (this may be one of my favorite author stories ever). Keep showing up, as you said. The story is there.

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Jody Frank's avatar

Thanks, Maria. I was thinking of Demon Copperhead, too! Such a stroke of genius to model her plot on Dickens.

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Montana Billings's avatar

It is so demoralizing that now every individual is in some kind of danger in the US due to the change in presidents. Now even a fictionalized event is fraught with danger and while you cannot change the story, I hope you are able to obscure any facts that might give them away. I wish you much success and I am sure you will succeed.

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Jody Frank's avatar

Thanks, Montana. <3 I'll be extra careful to keep the facts disguised. I have some new ideas about disguising the story, setting it in a fictional world with fantasy-like elements. And I'm working with a talented young illustrator who is creating images for the chapters.

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