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Tony Christini's avatar

"Thank God, they cannot cut down the clouds!" said Thoreau, but he did not know of the ozone layer and its attacks, or fracking...

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

Ohhhhh that’s heartbreaking. What would he say now?! smh

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Sally Gillespie's avatar

Great dialogue here! And frustration over academia rings all too true. Loving the multitudes !

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

Thanks, Sally. Glad you’re enjoying it.

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Mary Beth Rew Hicks's avatar

I love Dr. Evans. There is something surreal to reading about her dean approaching her to apply as a DEI hire while watching the tennis match currently inhabiting my email inbox re the "evils" of DEI and reducing the fed work force and impounding funding. Your characters are great, Julie!

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

Awww, thanks, Mary Beth!! Especially for all your great feedback and encouragement on this chapter. (I took *every* suggestion ~ !!) Agree -- it's quite surreal the echoes from many layers of this story, given the current times. I started it so long ago w/ a sense of urgency. Little did I know back then that *this* would be the year.

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Carolyn McBride 🏳️‍🌈🇨🇦's avatar

Grace didn't pick an easy field, did she?

On to the next!

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

Yeah, easy isn’t her jam. 😉

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SallyJG's avatar

Great second chapter. Looking forward to the next installment!

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

Thanks for reading, Sally. Glad you're enjoying it.

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Ben Wakeman's avatar

This whole description of Grace’s mother is brilliant. “Her mother’s life in Curtis Bay, an old industrial neighborhood south of downtown, is like a ’70s TV show set in the ’50s.”

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

Thanks, Ben. It’s a real place. 🙂

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Ben Wakeman's avatar

I had a feeling 😉

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Susie Mawhinney's avatar

I can't even begin to imagine the hours of research you've had to put into this Julie, I am truly speechless!

I think you're flying like those dishes too!

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

Awwww, thanks, Susie! For this chapter in particular, I was a bit worried it was TMI. That early going in a novel where the balance between action and world-building is so delicate. Thanks for being here!

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Kimberly Warner's avatar

Those last sentences! Perfection. Loved reading a little background/internal psychology on Grace and Barbara. Their determination to be smart above all else. A force to be reckoned with the big oil oligarchs.

I vote LabPartner. 😂

And this cracked me up!!! “BMWs beat beehives.”

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

😂 THANKS for sharing what you enjoyed, Kimberly. I was a little anxious what would land. (Including that BMW bit!) Thanks for being here.

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Kimberly Warner's avatar

I’m loving your characters and excited to keep reading!

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

🙏

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Stacy Boone's avatar

Ahhh, just what I was waiting for this morning - more Dr. Grace. The writer in me relates all too much with how much research goes into these stories. But maybe I underestimate, maybe you are Dr. Grace.

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Julie Gabrielli's avatar

Ha! I’ll never tell. . . . She contains multitudes. (I got a bit frustrated w/ myself - how much info to include, cut, cut, cut, cut . . . “agenda showing”. . . cut, cut, cut.)

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