Chain Story - Matchmaking for the Shy

[TheRedChamber]

Um...

Im British. I know Kumquat is too (albiet with US connections). Devinter is implying he's not American. Ive got the impression from his stories that Joy isnt either (could easily be wrong). Im not sure about Kelliesgirl but Ive got a nagging feeling shes mentioner her natuonality before. Is it possible none of us are American?

I dont mind at all writting a US setting but...

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

Um...

Im British. I know Kumquat is too (albiet with US connections). Devinter is implying he's not American. Ive got the impression from his stories that Joy isnt either (could easily be wrong). Im not sure about Kelliesgirl but Ive got a nagging feeling shes mentioner her natuonality before. Is it possible none of us are American?

I dont mind at all writting a US setting but...

I can change it if necessary! I probably should have checked...

 

[Devinter]

Um...

Im British. I know Kumquat is too (albiet with US connections). Devinter is implying he's not American. Ive got the impression from his stories that Joy isnt either (could easily be wrong). Im not sure about Kelliesgirl but Ive got a nagging feeling shes mentioner her natuonality before. Is it possible none of us are American?

I dont mind at all writting a US setting but...

I believe that at least one of us is American. However, I think that we should be able to find an American proofreader without too much difficulty - and even if we cannot, I have set many of my stories on American soil before without every getting anyone complaining that it didn't feel authentic. I do write in mostly British English, however. Bit of a mix, which is quite normal for foreigners. (I am Swedish.)

I can change it if necessary! I probably should have checked...

In my opinion, not necessary at all. I intend to write my part of this chain story to the same standard as my other work, which is "to the best of my abilities" rather than "perfection". You can expect my part to have several mistakes within it, so I'll make you and everyone else participating look great next to me by default. Haha.

 

[Devinter]

Okay, summoning the Americans - related to the chain story or not!

What was the most popular ice cream parlour franchise in New York around the late 90's, early 2000's? Googling it gives me tons of famous locations of specific stores, but I'd rather not go that detailed, and would prefer a franchise with many store locations. Thankful for any assistance!

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Okay, summoning the Americans - related to the chain story or not!

What was the most popular ice cream parlour franchise in New York around the late 90's, early 2000's? Googling it gives me tons of famous locations of specific stores, but I'd rather not go that detailed, and would prefer a franchise with many store locations. Thankful for any assistance!

I'm an American citizen since birth, just never had the US as my country of residence. My huge family are scattered about most of it except New England and the South.

For ice cream, you can't go wrong with Baskin-Robbins - they aren't as common as they used to be, but there were loads in the late 90s. Some Häagen-Däzs, too, but they were always more niche - might have only been 4-5 in NYC.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I'll second Baskin Robbins. It's the ubiquitous American ice cream chain.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Hey, I've spent about three decades in and around new York including the late nineties and early twenties.

Short version: Baskin Robbins is fine!

Long version: I don't think we really have big chain ice cream shops along the lines of Baskin Robbins. At least, I've never seen one. It's mostly corner stores, trucks, and carts on the low end, non-chain places on the mid and higher end. Some neighborhoods will have "ethnic" cold treats like gelato in little Italy or shaved ice in Chinatown.

But none of these places have any name recognition outside the city or even, often, their neighborhoods, so you're probably best off giving up on local flavor and just going with a big national chain like Baskin Robbins. We do have a couple of those in the city.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I bet @gunhilltrain would know more!

 

[Kelliezgirl]

And I'm an American, if that sort of proof reading is required.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I bet @gunhilltrain would know more!

About ice cream franchises? We have Baskin-Robbins for sure. There have been Dairy Queens (maybe they should rethink that name). I really haven't had much ice cream in years, so I'm not that familiar with where to get it now. There used to be a lot of independent businesses that were usually also luncheonettes.

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

I've still got to make some minor edits to my chapter but I think it is essentially done. Can't wait to see what comes next!

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

I've sent my final draft to @Devinter this morning so consider the torch completely passed on!

 

[Devinter]

With the final version of 'Part 1' now in my hands, I can put serious effort into the continuation. I have already begun writing bits and pieces, and I have too many ideas to count, but I hope to speed things up from this point onwards. Would anyone willingly volunteer to help proof-read my draft once it is finished?

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I'll DM you.

 

[Devinter]

Just an update:

The real world has been unkind to me and kept me more busy than predicted. However, I am still making steady progress - just not at the pace I would have hoped. By next weekend, however, I really should have the draft ready. And I'm polishing it as I go, so hopefully the draft and the final version will be a matter of only small changes that I could do in an evening or two.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Okay, err, what are we doing about Chapter 1. I did notice @Ms_mackenzie sending an updated and 'fina' one to Devinter. Are we publishing that now/soonish?

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

Okay, err, what are we doing about Chapter 1. I did notice @Ms_mackenzie sending an updated and 'fina' one to Devinter. Are we publishing that now/soonish?

Sorry, I couldn't remember if we were publishing all at once at the end or one at a time.

The final version is done and if you want to publish it, I'll send it to you?

 

[TheRedChamber]

I think the best thing, if you don't object, is you to publish it under your own name, so people can see clearly who wrote what. The rules for chain stories say to include in the 'notes to admin' a list of whose writing in what order, which is on the first page here. Maybe just linking to this thread would do it.

Interestingly a couple of new 'chain stories' seem to have appeared in the last few days/weeks, although both of them seem to have installments published by the same authors...

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

Okay, I'll put it up under my own name.

Are we going to put any explanatory author notes for readers into it, or just go for the story text alone?

 

[TheRedChamber]

I think we'd better put a brief note at the beginning. Something like

"This is a chain story written by several members of the Author's Hangout on the forum. Chapters will be published irregularly but hopefully around one per month."

Do we need to add anything else?

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

First chapter submitted. I cut the title down to just 'Matchmaking for the Shy' because a. the full title is more than 35 characters and b. 'Matchmaking for the Inexperienced' doesn't leave enough characters for the chapter numbers. I put the full title in the description, and I put the note from @TheRedChamber as an author's note right at the beginning.

If this isn't right then let me know and I can amend it.

 

[TheRedChamber]

View attachment 2389460
First chapter submitted. I cut the title down to just 'Matchmaking for the Shy' because a. the full title is more than 35 characters and b. 'Matchmaking for the Inexperienced' doesn't leave enough characters for the chapter numbers. I put the full title in the description, and I put the note from @TheRedChamber as an author's note right at the beginning.

If this isn't right then let me know and I can amend it.

That looks okay to me. The only thing is the title and description are a little bit repetative - you could go with something like
"Starting a new dating service for the introverted and inexperienced" (don't know if that exceeds allowed characters)

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

That looks okay to me. The only thing is the title and description are a little bit repetative - you could go with something like
"Starting a new dating service for the introverted and inexperienced" (don't know if that exceeds allowed characters)

Done!

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

And here it is, published today!

 

[TheRedChamber]

And here it is, published today!

Yay, off to a great start...