I always love it when I'm humming along, writing a new tale, and my characters show me a scene that I have to question before I can include it....
Here's the scene that I was shown - and the question about it.....
A brief intro to the characters, then the scene:
Stefan Savoldi is an Italian male model, and very popular in his home country. Kelly Starbird, visiting Italy and used to being around the handsome Benton men, thinks he is paranoid, conceited, and irritating - but she doesn't realize that part of the problem is Stefan's use of cocaine, which he feels is necessary to make him a better model. But there is something about him that makes her feel that he needs a friend, and, as annoying as it is, she opts to befriend him.
Stefan, in order to show Kelly what a great life he leads, invites her to a photo shoot, where she witnesses the way his agent talks down to him, telling him he's getting too fat and wrinkled to continue modeling. When the models step into another room to change for the next part of the shoot, Kelly speaks to the agent about his treatment of Stefan and the fact that the man hasn't eaten in the several days that he's been joining her for breakfasts and dinners.
The agent, upset that this American is interfering with his model, tells one of the bodyguards that she has threatened him and needs to be sent to her hotel. Kelly, reading the agents emotions, knows that there is something WAY wrong here and is arguing with the bodyguard - who has her by the arm and is forcing her to go with him to a taxi. It's while they are crossing the parking lot that Stefan, coming out to speak to Kelly, is told "she is just getting some fresh air", but sees what's really going on through the big window two stories up and starts to bang on the window, yelling at the bodyguard to let her go and ignoring the cracking noises that indicate there is something wrong with the window he's pounding on. (Long term cocaine use sometimes causes "ghost sounds", so Stefan, after a couple of decades of cocaine abuse, has become used to hearing such things.) One final thump, and the window gives way. Stefan, leaning against the window as he's raging, finds himself in a two story free-fall, landing in broken glass on concrete to permanently end his modeling career because of the numerous cuts he sustains as well as several broken bones that need surgery to fix.....
So this is where my inquiring mind comes into play.
As a scene, it's simple enough, but the question is: Would the kind of safety glass used in a hotel window on the second floor, not intended to ever be opened, shatter from a human fist pounding on it repeatedly, even if the glass is a couple of decades old? Would a scene like this actually happen in the real world?
Naturally, my first source of information is search engines. No help there, as there are stories of people who have died while proving the strength of such windows (http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/window.asp), but there are also many videos showing people bouncing on such glass in which it took four healthy sized men bouncing up and down to shatter it (http://boringly.com/how-not-to-test-shatterproof-glass-fail-video_898658a2a.html). A discussion with one of the techno-geeks I work with resulted in being told that it takes 500 pounds to break the tensile strength of such a piece of glass.....but what about the seal that keeps the pane of glass in the window? Might it weaken enough over time to allow the whole pane of glass to fall out of the frame? (Here's another take on the Snopes report about that, in which it was the frame and not the glass itself that caused the Toronto professor to fall to his death: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Hoy)
Since this is a dramatic changing point for Stefan - and, as a result, his relationship with Kelly - I want to include the scene in the book, but want the facts correct as well. My mentor from high school reminded me that it's such little details that make or break a story, so the research into this scene will continue until I know how it's going to go.....
In the meantime, feel free to contact me about doing a talk in your area, if you can get anyone interested. I'll gladly consider discussing such things in an open forum....
*smile*
Here's the scene that I was shown - and the question about it.....
A brief intro to the characters, then the scene:
Stefan Savoldi is an Italian male model, and very popular in his home country. Kelly Starbird, visiting Italy and used to being around the handsome Benton men, thinks he is paranoid, conceited, and irritating - but she doesn't realize that part of the problem is Stefan's use of cocaine, which he feels is necessary to make him a better model. But there is something about him that makes her feel that he needs a friend, and, as annoying as it is, she opts to befriend him.
Stefan, in order to show Kelly what a great life he leads, invites her to a photo shoot, where she witnesses the way his agent talks down to him, telling him he's getting too fat and wrinkled to continue modeling. When the models step into another room to change for the next part of the shoot, Kelly speaks to the agent about his treatment of Stefan and the fact that the man hasn't eaten in the several days that he's been joining her for breakfasts and dinners.
The agent, upset that this American is interfering with his model, tells one of the bodyguards that she has threatened him and needs to be sent to her hotel. Kelly, reading the agents emotions, knows that there is something WAY wrong here and is arguing with the bodyguard - who has her by the arm and is forcing her to go with him to a taxi. It's while they are crossing the parking lot that Stefan, coming out to speak to Kelly, is told "she is just getting some fresh air", but sees what's really going on through the big window two stories up and starts to bang on the window, yelling at the bodyguard to let her go and ignoring the cracking noises that indicate there is something wrong with the window he's pounding on. (Long term cocaine use sometimes causes "ghost sounds", so Stefan, after a couple of decades of cocaine abuse, has become used to hearing such things.) One final thump, and the window gives way. Stefan, leaning against the window as he's raging, finds himself in a two story free-fall, landing in broken glass on concrete to permanently end his modeling career because of the numerous cuts he sustains as well as several broken bones that need surgery to fix.....
So this is where my inquiring mind comes into play.
As a scene, it's simple enough, but the question is: Would the kind of safety glass used in a hotel window on the second floor, not intended to ever be opened, shatter from a human fist pounding on it repeatedly, even if the glass is a couple of decades old? Would a scene like this actually happen in the real world?
Naturally, my first source of information is search engines. No help there, as there are stories of people who have died while proving the strength of such windows (http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/window.asp), but there are also many videos showing people bouncing on such glass in which it took four healthy sized men bouncing up and down to shatter it (http://boringly.com/how-not-to-test-shatterproof-glass-fail-video_898658a2a.html). A discussion with one of the techno-geeks I work with resulted in being told that it takes 500 pounds to break the tensile strength of such a piece of glass.....but what about the seal that keeps the pane of glass in the window? Might it weaken enough over time to allow the whole pane of glass to fall out of the frame? (Here's another take on the Snopes report about that, in which it was the frame and not the glass itself that caused the Toronto professor to fall to his death: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Hoy)
Since this is a dramatic changing point for Stefan - and, as a result, his relationship with Kelly - I want to include the scene in the book, but want the facts correct as well. My mentor from high school reminded me that it's such little details that make or break a story, so the research into this scene will continue until I know how it's going to go.....
In the meantime, feel free to contact me about doing a talk in your area, if you can get anyone interested. I'll gladly consider discussing such things in an open forum....
*smile*
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