Baking Bertha…

As promised…I’ve started working on…Bertha…The Sequel…what I may have failed to mention…is that it was mostly written about five years ago…I just didn’t like it…

It took me a long time to understand why…the ingredients were all there…Bertha…the cat…lime green spandex…high-heels…well-worn soapbox…Rita…me to learn lessons…they just weren’t in the right proportions…

Bertha is explaining it to me…as I type…actually…that writing…especially about her…is a lot like baking a cake…it’s not only what you put in…but…how much…that matters…

So…in looking back…the stories had the right amount of Bertha and the cat…but…too much of me…too much soapbox…too much lime green…who knew there could be too much…and honestly…not enough Rita…

While all of the proportions are important…it’s the Bertha to me ratio…that really threw things out of kilter…the equivalent of a cup of flour…to a cup of baking powder…you got it…’splosion…and a big mess in the oven…

So…I’m more writing than editing…which is fine…except…there are some descriptions I really love…so…I’ll have to figure out how to include them in the new recipe…

Here’s one of my favorites…                                   

I couldn’t get the thought out of my head. It was worse than a commercial jingle that follows you around all day long. It was worse than the little hairs that get under your shirt at the beauty shop.

I’ll figure out how to use it…maybe…it’ll be a conflict between Bertha and Rita…hmmm…that just might work…see how helpful you are…and…no…you will not receive royalties for the idea…okay…I’ll mention you in the credits…geez…you can be more demanding than the cat…

Who by the way says…if Bertha is flour…and I am baking soda…then it must be sugar…

Bertha laughed…now they are fighting…again…sometimes it’s hard to live with an imaginary friend…and an imaginary cat…just saying…

Jane