Hmm

[joegoda]

Magic Eight Ball overdraft charges tell me I have been having way too much fun. Or... did I have just enough?

I'm wondering... do I have enough of an imagination to pull a novel entitled "Seven Miles to Normal" outta thin air?

I guess you could say I'm imagining if I have enough of an imagination. It seems odd to me, because this would be a 'whole cloth' type of book. Not based (much) on folks I know. Maybe. I dunno. This title seems to me to NOT be the type of book I normally write. You know... magic and fluff and stuff like that. The title tells me that it wants a semi serious look at a dysfunctional family, ala "The Royal Tenenbaums". A son, a sis, a mom, a dad, a dog. Probably a cat. Living in the sticks of (ahem) some repressed state, not exactly scraping by, but not expiring either. A drama free family, who get by on their wits and wiles, their humor and oddity.

Yeah. And then a stranger comes to call.

Yep. I guess I have the imagination, at that.

Edit: You know, it's just kinda neat when I get really good suggestions from my Family. Frankly, I likes 'em, I do.

Comments

[bleuberi21.livejournal.com]

I vote yes!

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

why yes. Yes you do!

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

DEFinitely a cat, or five or six...living outside, of course. It's nearly obligatory. And the dog has to be a hunting dog.

My 2p.

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

I see ol' Harry as a bloodhound, older'n snot, grayer than the moon, and bout as useful as a three legged mule. And loved bout as much if he was blood family. Which he coulda been, 'course. The world is just 'bout strange enough.

And not just five or six, but a passel of cats. Maybe even a cassle of cats. More than you can count on a moonlit night, fewer than you can see when it rains. Don't know where they all come from, but every feedin' there seems to be one or two more.

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Works....

[shackrlu.livejournal.com]

A dilapidated truck up on blocks and a broken down couch on the front porch.

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

Good Image! Specially when the truck is used as a pertend space ship, or a pertend moonshiner wagon. Broke down trucks is the mostest fun for chil'ren who ain't got movie tickets.

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

...and a basement. The house has to have either a basement with a dirt floor or a root cellar near the house, or both.

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

Excellent! My grandfolks on my mom's side.. the moonshiners? They had a basement that was a root celler, a distillery, a pump room and a cold house, all at the same time. Ahhhh. The memories.....

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Somehow I knew that would resonate.

Did I ever tell you about my pseudo-grandma and next door neighbor when I was a little girl, living in Lamoni, Iowa? If not, remind me next time I see you and I will.

Her name was Mrs. William Shakespeare; Henrietta Shakespeare...and what a character she was!

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

was she like... 300 years old?

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

Nope, she was about 70 which seemed immensely ancient to me back then. I was about 6 and she was simultaneously homey and fascinating. She was arthritic and so bow-legged that when she put her feet together, her legs shaped into a diamond and it must have been painful but she never once complained. She gardened avidly and cooked and baked; my first cooking lessons were at her house and that was where I first tasted rhubarb. I'd pick green peppers right off the vine in her garden and eat them right there.

What lovely memories...

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

Ahh... she sounds like a wonderful character! Do you think she'd mind if I borrow her for a bit?

[rowangolightly.livejournal.com]

I think she'd be delighted. She was such a hospitable soul and never minded me hanging around, which I did many days after school. She had lovely gray hair pulled back in a bun and wore old-fashioned gingham dresses that buttoned down the front, a bib apron and then usually a cardigan sweater over that. She was an absolute classic; gentle but strong, quiet but not meek, hard-working but not driven, smart but not froward. *grin* There's a word you don't hear used much any more.

And she had the picture of the old man praying up in her dining room, this one: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gracebyenstrom.com/images/1grace_color.jpg&imgrefurl=http://glimpsingminnesota.blogspot.com/2007/09/culture-hidden-in-pines.html&h=281&w=350&sz=19&tbnid=D6Ga10uad82oIM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dold%2Bman%2Bpraying%2Bpicture&usg=__YYgew-7gAiqTejHJlVEIz1gPTZQ=&ei=cMrdSqzVAovcNY2i4fYN&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CBUQ9QEwAw
And I asked her if that was her husband, me being very young and naive. She chuckled and then patiently showed me that it was a print, not a photograph.

I learned a lot from that dear woman. Wish I had a picture of her.

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

I know that picture well. Thanks, Sis!