Maybe I have a working title for the WIP. Maybe.
PLEASE SAVE MAX
What do you think? Max is the dog, not the main character. I’m not sure but I’m playing with it right now and maybe it will make me think of something else.
In somewhat related thoughts, anyone have any guesses as to how much weight an eleven-year-old boy could carry and for how long? Said boy is a slight build, always hungry (probably because there’s not a lot of food in the house.)Weight I’m thinking of having him carry is about 75 pounds.
And in still yet other news, I’m excited that Oliver over at
Thanks to friends everywhere who keep spreading the word.
A scrappy ten-year old girl picked up my 95-pound daughter the other day and was able to hold her for up to a minute. She could only move slightly, however.
An average/muscular eleven-year old boy could probably lift 75 pounds. Not sure how far they could carry it, though they might be able to drag it a short distance. If under duress, the odds of being able to carry/drag increase tremendously due to the fight-or-flight response. I wouldn’t think more than a block or so, though, without some sort of device to help them with transport.
Thanks, Kelly. This helps. Us, under duress would be the case.
Gotta agree w/ Kelly…
An 11 year old that wasn’t in good shape might have some difficulty w/ 75 lbs.
‘course all depends what it is and the circumstance. A bag of cat litter slung over the shoulder cuz your dad said so or rescuing a 75lbs. dog from a brook….
Good, glad there’s agreement. If it were easy, there wouldn’t be enough conflict in the book.
My son is 10 and weighs just under that. So it would be like an 11 year old carrying their own weight. Doable – depending on the kid. But not for a very long time. 🙂
Hope that helps. 🙂
Yep, it helps. I want him to be able to carry him long enough to make you worry when he can’t carry him far enough.
Ooh . . . that’s diabolical. Evil, evil writer!
I know. It’s that part of the fun? LOL
I like your working title.
An 11 year-old with a slight build probably couldn’t carry 75 pounds for long. (I’m trying to remember what my sons could do at that age.) Of course, height might enter into it, too. And, what’s being carried.
However, if there’s not a lot of food in the house and there’s any chance he’s undernourished, then that would diminish the length of time he could hold the weight, don’t you think?
Thanks – you were the only one to comment on the working title which, I hope, will relate on multiple levels when the book is done.
And yes, I think the kid is very likely malnourished in some ways and that will make it tougher for him.
My daughter is 11 and of slight build, though very tall. I am quite confident that she could not carry 75 pounds for any length of time. At about 5′, she probably only weighs 80 or 90 pounds (I guess I should weigh her).
One of the hardest parts of lifting anything is getting it from the ground to a carrying position. It’s easier to lift a fifty-pound child because they jump up to you, then wrap themselves around you,spreading the weight over your body. A fifty-pound bag of mulch or Quik-rete is much harder to lift from the ground, and since it doesn’t spread its weight away from your arms, is harder to carry.
Oh, good point to remember about how he could get ahold of him enough to carry. Thanks.
thats a lot of weight
the average hiking pack for backpackers, at least teens and women would be around 50 lbs. So it all depends on what you are doing. Hiking? I’d say no. I couldn’t manage that…Lifting a dog? maybe. The weight is distributed differently. I know picking up 25 lb. bags of plaster are killers, but a 25 lb. kid is nothing. 50 lbs. of clay is doable for a short distance, but only when I was desperate.
Another thing to think about is….can he pick this up, walk a few steps, put it down, pick it up again. I’ve gotten very heavy things moved this way.
As for the title: it works. Lets you know right away where the mc’s priorities are, and sets up the situation before you even read it(assuming cover art)
Re: thats a lot of weight
yes….pick him up, walk a bit, put him down. Prolong his agony, the dog’s agony (sorry Max) and the reader’s agony. hehehe
I like the title, Susan. There’s a simple urgency to it that hooks you.
Regarding the weight – I think Louisa is about 10 pounds less than that, and I can’t imagine carrying her farther than the distance between our garage and front door (about 125 feet, I think). I’m sure I could carry her longer/farther piggy-back (but that’s probably not what you meant).
I made a really stupid mistake last year. Instead of having our new TV delivered, my mom and I brought it home in her SUV, thinking that between the two of us, we could carry it into the house (we’re talking the same 125 feet). The label on the box said the TV weighed 185 pounds. We really thought it would be doable. We were so wrong! We ended up nearly dropping the darn thing and smashing it to bits.
My mom and I laugh about it now. I don’t know what we were thinking. I mean, it took three strong guys from Costco to load it into the car (and they were grunting from the exertion).
Oh too funny about the TV Haemi. That would have been me ten years ago. And thanks on the title. At least I feel better to have something I like enough to start writing about – after that, the title can change some if it needs to.
My small dog is 60 pounds and I have a hard time carrying her across the driveway. It’s hard because her fur gets in my face, she wriggles her legs. I grab her by the middle and carry her by her waist, which I think is uncomfortable for her. My dh can carry her by her rump so that she’s leaning on his chest, like a baby. But dh is 6′ tall and has nice strapping shoulders. My shoulders don’t strap, but I think if I *had* to carry my dog, I could, but I would worry about dropping her the whole time.
Oliver
Susan, you are a master at promotion! You’ll have to share your story of how you came about getting that Oliver stuffed animal. Or maybe you did and I missed it. Did the artist who illustrated the book work with a toy company, or did you personally hire someone…
Don
http://devast.blogspot.com