5. SUBJECT: THANK YOU
In Your Own Words
from: [email protected]
subject: What an improvement!
sent: February 2, 2017 at 8:59am
Cassandra,
I am loving the little details you've added to the revisions, especially for Braiden's backstory.
I've forwarded your notes to Mike and his staff. I want to reiterate what we talked about today. You're adding details but not dimension. I'm glad that your character is now capable of feeling and forming believable relationships, but we still need to know who this person is---not just things about them. I'm seeing a painting where I need a photograph. We need more from you.
That being said, I've seen tremendous strides with each revision. You're a truly talented writer, and I only aim to ensure your work is reflective of that talent. I'm certain Braiden's character will only continue to improve.
Please remember we have a meeting with Mike on Thursday.
See you then,
Julie
. . .
from: [email protected]
subject: Thank you
sent: February 2, 2017 at 10:48am
Dear Weston,
I sincerely appreciate your efforts; your emails have been helpful.
Julie and Mike (my editor) are already seeing an improvement in the notes I'm sending them. I've liked reading your emails---you've obviously got a talent for storytelling.
Moving forward, I'm hoping to get a better idea of your interests outside of athletics. I'd like to know a bit about your favourite movie, book, musical artist/band, television show, podcast etc.
I'd like to get a better sense of what you do in your spare time.
Thank you,
Cassie
. . .
from: [email protected]
subject: Re:Thank you
sent: February 2, 2017 at 6:34pm
Cassie,
Holy shit, that was almost an email! You know, you don't write nearly as much as I'd expected a writer to write.
I'm just kidding around, I'm totally content with my handful of sentences. I'm happy to hear that my emails are being put to good use. I'm enjoying the writing actually. It's a good way to earn money.
Have I mentioned that this job is the most interesting way I've made cash? This is coming from someone who worked on a ferret farm for a week.
No joke, Pete and I spent a couple of months in eastern Europe last summer. We met up with Lena and her family in Poland for a few weeks. Towards the last few weeks we started to run out of money, so we took jobs cleaning out the ferret cages. It was fucking terrible. It was only two days, but I'll never forget the smell.
This writing work only slightly edges the farm out in the way of strange, but it is a lot more interesting.
On that note, I'll heed your requests.
My favourite movie is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In case you didn't know, that is the one with Gene Wilder, not Johnny Depp. It's one of those movies that makes me feel like I did when I was a kid. Even though I'm way too old to believe that anything in that movie is possible, I still catch myself thinking "I wonder if that tastes as good as it looks?'" and "I know it would turn me into a blueberry, but shit, I'd still chew that gum."
I also like Star Wars.
I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm really not much of a reader. I liked Profiles in Courage, by JFK, and a few other history books that resonated from school. My bookshelf is pretty limited, but there is one book I like called Six and a Half Pills, by Beth Nicholson. My sister got it for me as a Christmas gift a few years ago.
It's about this group of teenagers who play baseball together in Texas. Then, sometimes after practice, they sit around on the bleachers and talk about all the fucked up things going on in their lives. It's narrated by guy named Kyle who goes selectively mute after his twin brother drowns. He has a crush on a girl they hang out with, Jing.
Jing, who is their best pitcher, moved to Texas from China, and doesn't speak much English, but she still knows what's going on. The two of them sit across from each other during the bleacher meetings and blink at each other when things get intense. He'd blink once, then she'd blink once. He'd blink twice, then she'd blink twice. Then, maybe he'd blink nine times and so she would blink back twelve times.
My favourite character is Sylvester Jackson who everyone calls Sly. The name suits him. He's got an eidetic memory and so he does well in school, but he's also obsessed with breaking the law. He can hack computers and pick locks. He had a really hard life and seen a lot of bad things he can't forget.
There's this one part where they're all sitting on the bleachers and Kyle and Jing are blinking at each other. Sly is balancing the baseball bat on his palm like it's no big deal and he starts talking about the likelihood of repressed and recovered memory. He says that sometimes he thinks about poking a screwdriver through his ear canal to carve out the piece of his brain that holds memories. He says he'd rather be a goldfish. Goldfish have something like a 5 second memory, did you know that?
The book is good, but it's pretty sad.
As far as music goes, I kind of like everything. Like I said before, my sister is pretty into music. She wants to compose for herself someday, and I'm pretty sure she will. My sister's name is Skylar. She's 19 and probably the most talented person I know. She started playing the piano when she was four, and by the time she was ten she could read music properly, then by twelve she could play a few instruments by ear. Now she's one of those people who can pick up an instrument and just start to play. She also has a nice singing voice. She actually likes every kind of music. Rap, country, classical, jazz... the last playlist she sent me were traditional Hawaiian chants dedicated to Pele. I download whatever music she sends me and I try to listen to all of it, but some of her picks aren't my taste.
To answer your initial question, I listen to a bit of everything, but the Tragically Hip, Radiohead, and Kanye West are in my most played.
As for TV, I'm a sucker for adult cartoons. I just get a kick out of drawings that make inappropriate jokes. I also like documentaries. I've watched a lot of the ones about unsolved murders, but I'm also big fan of the discovery channel's stuff. There's one special about polar bears that always makes my mom cry.
You didn't ask, but I also like video games. It might fall into that "spare time" category. Pete and I have an Xbox and Playstation at our place which is what we usually do when we're not too busy with school.
Peter has made a career out of video games. Not playing them, but selling them. He scours the internet looking for people trying to get rid of their old systems, games and handhelds, kind of whatever is out there. A lot of these people have no idea what any of it is worth, so he contacts people with good stuff and they sell him the bundle. Then he prices it out, keeps what he wants and sells some of the valuable things to collectors or stores for ten times what he paid.
He's a sweet guy, so he worries that he's taking advantage of people. If you ask me, which nobody ever does, he isn't responsible for other people's carelessness. Peter has a hard enough time taking care of himself, let alone worrying about everyone he comes in contact with.
He and I go through phases of interests, but video games and hockey are the ones that always stuck. Since he hasn't been allowed on the ice, he's doubled his time on the Xbox.
We spent a few months learning to mix drinks and got muddling equipment last year. We helped Pete's dad restore an old car. Before that, we got really into cooking and got halfway through one of Julia Child's cookbooks (I have to say, that was my favourite. I gained 10 pounds that semester.)
With some phases, we would get into something, become obsessed with it, and then lose interest. I kind of liked that about us though. It's no fun to fail alone.
Anyway. That's all. Thanks for your email Cass, you really wowed me. Maybe you could tell me about your favourite things?
Take care,
Wes