Monday Meanderings - 4.30.2018

Blogger graciously reminded me that tomorrow, Tuesday, May 1, marks my 11 year "blogaversary." Huh. Never thought I would still be at it for 11 years. Still, it keeps me occupied.

And speaking of occupied, I have a new book to narrate. By this, I mean a new Audible.com book (I always have a learning Ally book in the works). I'm moving up in the narrating world - this contract is with a publishing house. The author has written some 30-odd (and that may be a true statement) books on World War II. Evidently, he has decided to move on to another conflict and this is his second book about events in the War between the States; specifically the siege of Vicksburg - as seen from the Confederate side. The author lives in the South, and has no love for Yankees. It's interesting.

This book brings a unique set of problems. Audio book narrators "prep" their manuscripts before recording them. In addition to actually reading the material, they delineate  characters with speaking roles and decide how best to "voice" them. They read for places that need particular emphasis and mark their scripts accordingly - and they look up words unfamiliar to them.

In a book about the siege of Vicksburg, there all sorts of names of actual geographical places;  towns, rivers, church houses, plantations, bayous, bogs, roads, etc., and a lot of them are not well-known (at least to this Texas boy) and not intuitive as to how they are pronounced. For example, who knew that the Coosawhatchie River is pronounced "koos-uh-HATCH-ee." The manager at the KOA located just a few miles from the river did - and he told me when I called him and asked.

Usually, I look for a library in the area I'm researching and asked for the reference desk. Yes, there are still reference desks in libraries, or there are kind ladies who have lived in the area all their lives, and they are delighted that I'm interested in General Beauregard (BOH-ree-gard) and their General Mackall (MAKE-awl) and they go out of their way to help me. And I just love to hear their Southern accents.

The KOA guy? I consider that one of my research wins. A Google search of the Coosawatchie River turned up a reference in a Yelp post that said, "There's a nice KOA about 6 miles down the road in a town whose name I have forgotten, but that gave me a phone number and that got me to the manager, and that got me to "Please, please don't say, "Coo-sah-WATCH-ee."

The people are harder. There are few definitive sources for the correct pronunciation of the countless citizens caught up in this event. Some known only to history because they perished in a battle, or were minor players in a grand event. Today I need to call the Tourist Center in Vicksburg (they all know me by now) and ask about the "Balfour" House and then call the Yulee Florida library to ask about the General the town was named after. How would you handle Cadwallader Colden Washburn? Can't get a handle on him - but I bet there's a sweet-talking librarian out there who knows. If I can just find her.