The Outsider: Blog

As a new and inexperienced writer back in 2016 (and someone who had failed my first semester of senior English in high school), I was extremely lucky when Graybyrd pointed out multiple errors in my first story. If it hadn’t been for him the story would have been poorly received.

I received word from Graybyrd’s wife today that he passed away last weekend.

We never had the chance to meet in person. He lived on the West Coast while I live outside Boston. We shared a few similar experiences in EMS, though his life experiences were much more varied than mine have been. Still, he was able to guide me without taking over authorship of my stories.

Rest well, Graybyrd.

When I originally wrote A Charmed Life, I didn't have a good handle on consistent chapter lengths. The first ten or so vary from ten to forty kilobytes. Triggers my OCD at times...

As a result, I've decided to post chapters 4 and 5 today to try and even out the per-update size. There will be two other similar updates coming before things even out. Once we reach the point where chapter lengths are more consistent, I'll go back to one-chapter-per-update mode.

Thanks to those who let me know about duplicate chapters. The duplicate is supposed to be Chapter 2, and I have re-uploaded the correct Chapter 1 to the queue. It'll post when the mods are able to get to it.

EDIT: All set now.

Because we in New England imported / borrowed / stole town names and pronunciations from the English in the early 1600s, an obvious pronunciation after seeing a location name is likely incorrect. To remedy this issues, I offer the following.

A reminder: This is how we pronounce town names here in Massachusetts, not how you pronounce them elsewhere. Slow communication and travel times before the Twentieth Century means there has been some drift.

Massachusetts Town Name Pronunciation Guide
(CAPITAL letters indicate which syllable to stress)

Amherst: AMurst
Ashburnham: ASHburnam
Ayer: AIR
Belchertown: BELCHertown
Billerica: billRICKa
Boston: BOSStun
Chelmsford: CHELMSfud (or CHELMSfid)
Chicopee: CHICKapee
Concord: CONcurd (CAHNkid)
Devens: DEVVins
Enfield: ENfield
Everett: EVrit
Fitchburg: FITCHburg
Gardner: GARDner (adding "-hey" at the end optional)
Greenwich: GREENwitch
Groton: GROTTun (rhymes with "cotton")
Hardwick: HARDwick
Harvard: HAHvid (or HAHvud)
Haverhill: HAYvrul
Holyoke: HOLEyoke (or HOyoke)
Lancaster: LANKister
Leicester: LESSter
Leominster: LEMINster
Lexington: LEXingtun
Littleton: LITTLEtun
Malden: MALden
Medford: MEDferd (occasionally MEFFuhd)
Melrose: MELrose
Methuen: methOOen
Natick: NAYtick
Nauset: NAWsit (rhymes with "faucet")
New Salem: new SAILem
Palmer: PALMer (or PAHMuh)
Pelham: PELLum
Petersham: PETERSam
Pittsfield: PITTSfield
Prescott: PRESScot
Reading: REDDing
Shutesbury: SHOOTSbury
Shrewsbury: SHOESbury
Springfield: SPRINGfield
Ware: WEAR (where?)
Wakefield: WAKEfield
Westfield: WESTfield
Westover: WESTover
Woburn: WOOburn
Worcester: WUSSter (Note the lack of an "H" sound. It's NOT WAR-chester...)

PS: Say these as fast as possible for more authenticity.

Today I began posting my first story, A Charmed Life, here on SOL. This story is complete, and has been for some time. I will begin the process of scheduling the other chapters for posting today, also. I plan to post Mondays and Thursdays each week, and there will be another fifty-two chapters in addition to what's already up.

Some here are familiar with the story from FineStories.com. I have finally decided to cross-post here after much delay.