Vaduz

Shortish one this week, I'm afraid, and no pictures, because I'm in Cuba, about to start a cycling trip. I know, get me... When I get back, I'll come back to this post and put a notebook picture in. Also, this may well be my last wifi for some time, so I don't know when I'll get to do a Wokingham post next week.

Anyway, I'm glad you like Theresa! She was a lot of fun to write, as was Maxi. And Herc, of course. And come to think of it, Karl had some of his best scenes this week.

I was amused that last week, more than one person suggested that Martin had such a rotten time to balance out his good luck from the week before. And there was I thinking to myself 'You think he had a good week in Timbuktu? Oh, just wait till you hear Vaduz!' In fact, for a long time Vaduz and Uskerty were combined into one monstrously overlong Vaduzkerty hybrid, in which most of the things that happened to C and M in Uskerty happened to the boys, Theresa and Maxi on the way from Vaduz to the nearest airport in Switzerland. But, as well as being way too long, it was all a bit mad, and luckily this time round, I had enough time to recognise that, ask myself what story I was actually trying to tell, realise that I was trying to tell at least two different ones, and separate them out accordingly.

NOTES AND QUERIES

'Is the dragon stuff a reference to Benedict's role in The Hobbit?'

No. That never even occurred to me. To misquote Freud: 'Sometimes a dragon is just a dragon.'

'What do you mean, 'the King of Liechtenstein'? There is no King of Liechtenstein! The monarch of Liechtenstein is The Crown Prince!'

That's right. Also, he isn't ten years old, and has never flown with MJN Air. King Maximilian the Eighth is a little something I like to call a fictional character. They're easier to write for than real people, because you can make them say whatever you like. I think they might catch on.

Actually, in early drafts, Maxi was the Crown Prince, which lead to a scene I quite liked of him trying to explain the concept to Arthur. But the problem was that the moment of revealing that the monarch Martin was so excited about meeting was just a kid didn't really work if he'd been described as a Prince, because one of the images we all have in our head of Princes is of royal children. So I bumped him up to King, in direct contravention of hundreds of years of proud Liechtensteinean tradition. Sorry, Liechtenstein.

While we're about it, Vaduz doesn't have an airport. Nor, for that matter, does Ottery St Mary.



DELETED SCENE

There was one - a much longer version of the conversation between Maxi and Martin about bullying. But I don't have it here with me, so instead here's the Arthur / Maxi scene I mentioned just now - not so much deleted as never included in the first place!

ARTHUR So, you’re the king of all of this?
MAXI Yes. But I’ve not the King, I’m the Prince.
ARTHUR Oh, right. When do you get to be King?
MAXI I don’t… I don’t need to be king! I’m the Prince! That’s as high as it goes.
ARTHUR Well, King is as high as it goes.
MAXI Not in Lichtenstein!
ARTHUR So who’s highest in Lichtenstein?
MAXI I am!
ARTHUR Even though you’re not the King?
MAXI I don’t need to be King! It’s a principality!
ARTHUR What does that mean?
MAXI It means Prince is the best here.
ARTHUR Ok. You’ve got a crown, though, haven’t you?
MAXI ...Well it’s just like a crown.
ARTHUR ‘Like’ a crown?
MAXI It’s called the Ducal Hat.
ARTHUR The Ducal Hat?
MAXI Yes! It’s very valuable!
ARTHUR I’ve got a hat.
MAXI It’s basically a crown!
ARTHUR Would you have a crown if you were king?
MAXI Yes! No! It doesn’t matter! I don’t want to be king!
ARTHUR You don’t want to be King of Lichtenstein?
MAXI No.
ARTHUR Ok, so can I be?
MAXI No!
ARTHUR Why not?
MAXI Because it doesn’t mean anything! You can’t be King of a principality!
ARTHUR Well, it doesn’t mean anything, can I be it?
MAXI Yeah! Ok! Sure!
ARTHUR Brilliant!
DOUGLAS Any luck?
ARTHUR   Not with making cars stop. But I’m the King of Lichtenstein now.
DOUGLAS Ah, the day’s not been wasted then.