Today in the middle of homeschooling (I think I was giving a spelling test) I was struck with an idea for Chapter 17. When I had a free moment, I jotted down some ideas and hoped my writer's block was overcome. Tonight I sat down at the computer to type out my notes and expand on them, only to encounter a fresh problem. You see, in the last few days I've been re-reading Jan Karon's Mitford books, and somehow the dialect used in those books has gotten lodged in my mind. Imagine my horror when I nearly made Robert Martin say "Boy howdy!" and when Mr. Knightley began to sound like a hillbilly!
Of course, it would be funny to do a whole chapter like that....translate my approximation of Regency speech into southern American slang. I probably wouldn't be very good at it, though; I've never lived in the South. I'm a California girl--born in Hollywood (literally)--and much more conversant with the "valley girl" slang of the 1980's. Now that would make an interesting translation, wouldn't it?
Meanwhile, I'd better read me some more good ol' Jane Austen to get my mind back in the right place. This means another delay, of course, dadgummit.
I mean, rats.