A funny thing happened while I was working on the sequel to The Red Kimono today. I am writing a scene where Nobu receives a letter from Papa. The date of the scene is May 16, 1958.

What I started to write was that Nobu notices Papa’s writing has become hard to read–wobbly due to Papa’s advancing age. I’d imagined Papa so frail and old that writing a letter might be a challenge.

Then, I thought I’d better verify his age to keep the sequel consistent with The Red Kimono. Fortunately, while writing The Red Kimono, I had created a spreadsheet that helped me keep track of all of the major characters’ ages throughout the manuscript.

Unfortunately, it took me forever to find the spreadsheet, since I’ve moved twice and used four different computers since creating it. Thank goodness for external hard drives, backing up and the search function. (Do you know how many different folders I have that are labeled “The Red Kimono?” Too many to count!)

But at last I found it, and here it is:

So what’s so funny? Poor old Papa–who I’d imagined could hardly write a letter–is only 55-years old! That’s two years younger than I am! Seems I’m going to have to re-write this scene. Nobu is going to have to be thinking something else as he opens the letter.

On the other hand, if Papa is so old he can hardly write a letter, maybe at 57, I have another excuse for writer’s block! 🙂

Not!