Let's talk about hats.
Alright, maybe 'talk' is the wrong term since this is essentially a one-way conversation at the moment, but would anyone read this if, instead, I said this: "Let me lecture you about hats."?
Doubt it. So 'talk' it is.
John Apparite's story takes place during a 'hat-time'--meaning a period when everyone, men and women, seemed to wear a hat. Take a look at a pre-1960 photograph (has to be outside, since people didn't wear hats indoors, natch) and what do you see?
Hats. Lots of hats. Old photos of athletic events like baseball games practically ooze hats from the grandstands.
Look around you now--no hats. NO HATS! (Some people blame JFK for this since he did not, apparently, wear hats often, but no one is really sure why people stopped wearing them).
Men today only wear baseball caps, too often worn sideways or backwards, as if protecting the back of your neck from the sun is more important than protecting your eyes and face from it. And many of them say 'John Deere' on them--not even baseball-related.
Where does this all come into John Apparite's story? you are now asking yourself.
Because I am wondering how important it is to mention the presence of hats in it. Are hats like shoes, taken for granted and rarely commented upon? Or should an author writing a period piece--like myself--go out of his way to mention hats as a nudge to the reader, in essence saying, "Hey, I'm mentioning hats to increase my period credibility!" (or period 'cred,' as the street-wise would say). In Under Cloak of Darkness, I mention old cars (De Soto Firedome), old ball-teams (the Senators), old political figures (Georgii Malenkov), old movie-stars (Jeanne Crain), old magazines (Life), old weapons (Soviet Tokarev pistol), etc. Why not mention the presence of men wearing hats?
Well, it's too late, because the manuscript was sent to the publisher (Five Star/Thomson Gale) ten weeks ago and, I'm sorry to say, I don't think there's more than a passing reference or two to hats. If I had a 'do-over,' I'd mention hats about, oh, thirty-six times.
I mean, can you have too much period credibility? Probably not.
And mark my words, in the next book (Apparite's Revenge) there are hats up the proverbial wazoo.
By the way, I do own a 'real' hat--a nifty little fedora out of my father's closet--though I wear it only as a Halloween Party accoutrement when someone deigns me worthy of a Halloween Party invite. Don't ask me when that last was or I might start to cry.
Still, I'm keeping it in good shape: if hats ever make a comeback, I want to be ready.
Alright, maybe 'talk' is the wrong term since this is essentially a one-way conversation at the moment, but would anyone read this if, instead, I said this: "Let me lecture you about hats."?
Doubt it. So 'talk' it is.
John Apparite's story takes place during a 'hat-time'--meaning a period when everyone, men and women, seemed to wear a hat. Take a look at a pre-1960 photograph (has to be outside, since people didn't wear hats indoors, natch) and what do you see?
Hats. Lots of hats. Old photos of athletic events like baseball games practically ooze hats from the grandstands.
Look around you now--no hats. NO HATS! (Some people blame JFK for this since he did not, apparently, wear hats often, but no one is really sure why people stopped wearing them).
Men today only wear baseball caps, too often worn sideways or backwards, as if protecting the back of your neck from the sun is more important than protecting your eyes and face from it. And many of them say 'John Deere' on them--not even baseball-related.
Where does this all come into John Apparite's story? you are now asking yourself.
Because I am wondering how important it is to mention the presence of hats in it. Are hats like shoes, taken for granted and rarely commented upon? Or should an author writing a period piece--like myself--go out of his way to mention hats as a nudge to the reader, in essence saying, "Hey, I'm mentioning hats to increase my period credibility!" (or period 'cred,' as the street-wise would say). In Under Cloak of Darkness, I mention old cars (De Soto Firedome), old ball-teams (the Senators), old political figures (Georgii Malenkov), old movie-stars (Jeanne Crain), old magazines (Life), old weapons (Soviet Tokarev pistol), etc. Why not mention the presence of men wearing hats?
Well, it's too late, because the manuscript was sent to the publisher (Five Star/Thomson Gale) ten weeks ago and, I'm sorry to say, I don't think there's more than a passing reference or two to hats. If I had a 'do-over,' I'd mention hats about, oh, thirty-six times.
I mean, can you have too much period credibility? Probably not.
And mark my words, in the next book (Apparite's Revenge) there are hats up the proverbial wazoo.
By the way, I do own a 'real' hat--a nifty little fedora out of my father's closet--though I wear it only as a Halloween Party accoutrement when someone deigns me worthy of a Halloween Party invite. Don't ask me when that last was or I might start to cry.
Still, I'm keeping it in good shape: if hats ever make a comeback, I want to be ready.
posted by I. Michael Koontz | 1:57 PM
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