Twenty-Six Days of Creative Inspiration
My number one answer is family. I grew up in a nutty family. Not just my nuclear family, but my extended family is pretty kooky, especially my Kentucky family.
Often in the summer my brothers and I were shipped off to grandmas to live as honorary southerners. Kentucky for me is one of the greenest and most beautiful places on earth.
My Kentucky is also full of people who live by the practical joke and invade your personal space both physically and informationally on an hourly basis.
The goldmine of my Kentucky family isn't just their habit of putting spaghetti in chili or eating every few hours like Hobbits. No these folks are storytellers. Everything is a story, and often not a short one. They can spin an ordinary day into an Arthurian legend.
Above everything else, my Kentucky family gives me a sense of belonging. Yes, I am a part of this wise-cracking, fried food eating, unconditionally loving (even though they will talk about you), clan.
If there is a specific place where I can trace my writerly roots back to, it's the Bluegrass State.
My MS "Over the Deep Fried Rainbow," is an homage to the endless stream of grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, cousins, and uncles who never failed to embarrass me or make me laugh, but always gave nothing less than unconditional love and open arms.
Love y'all.
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I've met people from Kentucky, but they never went into detail about its people. I love this description.
ReplyDeleteNow I want to go to Kentucky and eat some fried stuff.
ReplyDeleteLove the title of your MS.
I can tell your heart's in this post! Nothing like Southern family tale-tellers to inspire.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic post! I love your description of Kentucky and the people there! Your family sounds like so much fun and definitely a place to draw inspiration from. I think everyone should spend some time with family or friends in another state or place to see life in a different light.
ReplyDelete~Jess
I agree. If you survive the culture shock, there are golden nuggets to be mined.
DeleteI live twenty minutes from Kentucky. I don't understand chili on spaghetti, either (I'm originally from Cleveland). In fact, when I tried it, I got sick. I don't know if it was all the cheese, or the greasy meat. All I know, is I'm never going to try a Cincinnati chili for the rest of my life!
ReplyDeleteAnd what an awesome story it is!! Plus where'd you get that pic? It's gorgeous. I'd almost be willing to put up with the embarrassment for that!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this~ my sister (who I was visiting during my blog break) lives in Kentucky. Love that state :) It was so nice and lush (compared to dry Colorado) that I'm thinking about moving our family there after the older ones are in college!
ReplyDeleteAnd after reading your manuscript, I feel like an honorary member of the Kentucky clan!
ReplyDeleteVery well stated. Acceptance of who we are and where we come from doesn't always mean painting a glossy coat of varnish on everything. I love how you related the full experience of family (as full as you can in so many words) with humor and grace.
ReplyDelete