Notes: Here the Green Grass Grows

I have not finished the fifteenth Culture Kid story collection - and it's getting both much easier and much harder.

Easier because the writing and researching process has gotten easier - as Laura Van Pelt once said (about something else) - it's all just muscle memory. And it is that, to a certain extent. I've found my voice and am able to quickly and clearly put it down on paper.

It's harder for a multitude of reasons. First and foremost is the research process itself. In countries like Ireland, there are a multitude of topics that should be covered - just like in Italy - but something somewhere has to find its way to the cutting floor. Otherwise, as in the story about the Norman Invasions of Ireland or the stories about Catholicism/Protestantism in Ireland - there's a lot that can easily be added. This literally drowns the reader in a sea of names and numbers.

Still, on first edit, I'm okay with the current product. That will likely change the more I peruse it.

There isn't much, however, I felt I missed. Just like the China stories, I avoided some of the obvious trappings: Luck of the Irish, Leprechauns, Blarney Stones, Whiskey drinking, and Hooliganism. I do feel, possibly, that I may have to revisit the Potato Famine parts as well as polishing away some of the extra bits of history that way I don't lose my reader.

Where to go next? I'm thinking Bangladesh or Ethiopia. These choices, of course, are influenced by co-workers from these places. Regardless, it'll be a fun trip.