11/9/09–As I have cited here before,workshop members have helped me greatly .  As I continue writing my novel-length Memoir, I needed information on the looks and atmosphere of New Orleans in the mid 1940s.  One member of my workshops visted there several times during that era and gave me a great verbal acclount on which I took notes, then checked back with her to make sure I had the descriptions right.

I also needed the "lay of the land" through Oklahoma during the same period.  "Ask, and ye shall receive!" A member of another workshop has been making auto trips back and forth to her Misouri home for many years, including the time period I'm writing about.  She has sent me a full page of information that only someone who writes would be able to remember and record. Yes, there is Google, but I need personal accounts rather than "just the facts, Mam."

Now, to incorporate these pieces of information into my story.  Yes, I was there and took maticulous notes on all but our trip across the U.S. by car–which was only once.  I've flown and traveled the distance by both bus and train, but neglected the personal accounts when I was looking out the windows from our car on the highways.–Willma.