tyche
Wannabe
My Favourite Hero
Posts: 108
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Post by tyche on Sept 15, 2012 16:35:29 GMT -8
Hi Everyone, I'm hoping that someone would know the answer to this as the internet is slightly useless and the library can't seem to find what I'm looking for (it is possible I'm asking the wrong question.) My question is: Where would three respectable young ladies go for a drink and talk? (not an alchoholic one)They aren't in each other's houses so can't retire there for tea and don't know anyone in the town/city. So I'm stuck on this particular story. Actually I have about ten going through my head at the moment and they're driving me nuts A case of the wheel's turning but the hamster died a long time ago.... Regards Tyche
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Nydiva
Cadet
ross-martin-remembered.com
Posts: 812
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Post by Nydiva on Sept 15, 2012 16:39:59 GMT -8
A respectable hotel's restaurant would be my best guess. And a logical place to be noticed by traveling secret service agents if that's what you had in mind.
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Post by California gal on Sept 15, 2012 18:30:19 GMT -8
Perhaps it would depend on where they are. Cities and many smaller towns had tea rooms where ladies could congregate. Otherwise I agree with Diva that the dining room of a respectable hotel would work.
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Post by w3mom on Sept 15, 2012 18:45:55 GMT -8
I'd agree with a tea room or a restaurant, but it depends on the size of the town.
In very small towns, they would have only had scheduled opportunities for young ladies - like socials or women's league things. Young ladies didn't really wander around small towns so much - you have to watch out for those traveling men and drummers who might frequent such places.
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tyche
Wannabe
My Favourite Hero
Posts: 108
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Post by tyche on Sept 15, 2012 19:20:52 GMT -8
Actually it's to do with the story/stories arc that I'm working on. For some reason the story I'm just finishing now is kind've the second to last one (although there could be others.) They're not really respectable in that sense, because all of them have done things during the war between the states that would not normally be the province of women. One was a nurse/surgeon, another enlisted as a soldier, at least two others crossed the lines numerous times as spies. But they must seem to be respectable because if they don't act properly then it isn't just their reputation that could be called into question. It is set around 1871-1877 and yes it is a W3 story. There are only 4 of them who could be considered to be of the 'right' social caste three being the daughters of colonels and one being one of the said colonel's niece. The other 3 are respectively, a young woman whose father was an undercover agent for the Union and was imprisoned for War Crimes and died in said camp; a young woman from a old (but not high ranking) Boston family who enlists as a soldier and a (reformed) criminal. Not sure I'm making sense, maybe I should get someone to Beta Read this story and go from there. Tyche
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rielle
Book Worm
yeah, THAT smile.
Posts: 497
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Post by rielle on Sept 15, 2012 22:08:45 GMT -8
tyche, this does sound interesting and you've already given a lot of thought to it, that's clear.
I think there are two other factors historically that would effect these young women
first is, were any of them Confederates, or were all of them Unionists during the War? - because attitudes towards them and their attitudes towards the townspeople would be very different after the War, and some western towns could be shown to have been founded or expanded by former Confederates, who left the South behind for one reason and another.
second is a reflection of the first, are these young ladies living now in a town that's mostly populated by former Confederates - or people who still sympathized with the Confederates? Or are they living in a town or city where the majority supported the Union? This kind of thinking permeated the country in post-Civil War/War Between the States times. A lot of people wanted to put the War behind them, but it affected pretty much two generations - going by the ages of the men who served, and thereby their families as well.
But maybe this is too serious a tact --- it surely sounds like you have a good read or two in the works there.
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tyche
Wannabe
My Favourite Hero
Posts: 108
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Post by tyche on Sept 16, 2012 4:39:43 GMT -8
Hi Rielle, I created 6 of the characters and wrote them as supporting the Union, although with the nurse/surgeon she'd treat anyone. The woman who enlisted as soldier fought with what would become the Army of the Tenesee as a skirmisher, fighting a rearguard action at Chickasaw Bayou to stop the Union retreat becoming a rout. Have had to do a rethink on the story anyway, as I was going completely off-topic. I dont know how you guys manage to write 30,000 words plus and still keep to the subject matter. But thanks for all the advice as it's very useful - and always good to have someone else's opinion - writing is a very solitary thing. Regards Tyche
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Post by California gal on Sept 16, 2012 6:22:22 GMT -8
Believe me it's not easy to keep from going off topic when writing a long story. Or even a short story! I find that Jim and Artie are very demanding and often want to go off on their own tangent! Which is a very good reason why I never post my stories, or any part of them, until they are completely finished and beta read. I often find I have to change something at the beginning to match something unexpected that suddenly happens near the end! ;D
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tyche
Wannabe
My Favourite Hero
Posts: 108
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Post by tyche on Sept 16, 2012 14:07:58 GMT -8
Hi guys, Actually writing the question down did help to cement it in my mind, . That said I decided to cut out a lot of dead wood from the end because it bore no resemblance to the title. Maybe I should PM one of the listed beta readers on fanfiction.net and ask if I can send both copies of the story and they can decide which one they think is better. So I'm trying to finish this particular W3 fanfic which I feel is a bit like the others with the female in question disappearing off into the night... But maybe I'm putting too modern a slant on it and this is the way it might have been, that men get the credit for women doing a lot of the work, and it would be expected that the women would slip into the background. So, I think I know where I'm going with this story - I just don't know where I'm going with the others. Thanks again for all your help. Tyche
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