I ran across an interesting term in a very nice review of BAD CALL by Barbara Saffer: "eidetic memory".
In her review, she speculated that I must have had this type of memory to recall as many of the calls in such detail in the book. I looked up the term and it led me to another category of memory, "emotional" or "flashbulb" memory: highly visual recall triggered by adrenaline and reinforced by episodic retelling. Many readers of BAD CALL have wondered how I remembered all of these events [and more] without having kept a journal -- which I did not.
The fact is, it never occurred to me that everyone doesn't remember things like this. I though it was completely normal. Now, thanks to Barbara, I know that I am abnormal. This is news to me, so THANK YOU Barbara -- :). Seriously, very interesting and I'll pursue it further in the near future. ms