Were You Raised in a Barn? (Repost)

My older boy is able to answer that question affirmatively, if not entirely accurately. He did live with us in this barn for three summers -- the last summer stretching till the end of October.

The first summer was 1973. Our son was not quite one, not quite walking. We had just bought our farm and were camping out in the upper part of the barn, getting to know the place and our neighbors. The following summer my husband and a friend were building our house -- getting it to the 'dried in' stage before we had to return to our teaching jobs in Florida. And the third summer, we were back with all our belongings and various helpful friends and family, making the big push to finish the house before cold weather.


Unfortunately, it began to get cold toward the end of October and when we awoke one morniong to find snow on our sleeping bags, we moved into the unfinished house where we at least had a wood stove. What bliss!

It was a wonderful experience though, living like in the barn -- cooking on a Coleman stove, bathing in the branch or in a washtub, the big entertainment at night watching the lightning bugs. When we moved to the house we actually said that we should move back to the barn every summer -- but of course we didn't.

I made use of the experience in Old Wounds -- the barn that Elizabeth's family is living in is based on our barn and that dark rectangle there on the front is a shutter which, when pushed up is the window Rosie sat at to watch Miss Birdie and Cletus come up the road.

And my older son has an excuse for all time for any less than polite behavior he may commit.

Pink Plemmons' s Place

"Luck was next, another minuscule community, and Elizabeth smiled at the sign on a defunct grocery and feed store. Mr. Pink J. Plemmons's store might be shuttered but his name still endured, proudly blazoned in faded lettering on a sign that hung askew across the buildings facade. Till some antiques picker gets hold of it and sells it to a transplant to hang on their living room wall because it's 'quaint.'"

Well, I'm happy to see that the sign's still there and has been straightened up. I saw it four years ago when I was working on Old Wounds and was on my way over to Cherokee to do what passes for research.  

Luck's in an out of the way part of the county and I was surprised to get the following email a few days ago:

My wife and I have enjoyed your Elizabeth Goodweather books, all of which we've bought at the outdoor store in Hot Springs, NC.  I had gotten a great photo of the Pink Plemmons grocery in Luck, NC, and was blown away when I found it in one of your novels.  

Jim McBrayer was kind enough to let me use the picture of the store that he took back in June.


When Old Wounds first came out, I had a lovely email from a lady (was it Debbie?) who told me how as a child she had worked in her family's fields nearby and after work would be rewarded by money to go down to Pink Plemmons's store to buy a treat.  She, too, was tickled to see the mention of a familiar place.


But I still wonder where Pink got his name? Was it a nickname? (I picture him with light red hair and a sun-reddened face.) Or a family name, short for Pinkney... or Pinkham ... or ...

Not Her Cup of Tea...

"I just finished reading your book (Signs in the Blood) which I won at the ______ library when you were there and really enjoyed it until I read the following sentence..........(Deleted to avoid spoiler).....that was totally disgusting and ruined the whole book for me.............it was so appalling that I felt like I should let you know..................."

There's a useful phrase people use in talking about books -- 'not my cup of tea.'  No book pleases everyone but I kinda hate it that the lady who wrote this email to me found a sentence 'disgusting. ' Makes me feel a little sleazy.

On the other hand, I do ask people to let me know what they think and I shouldn't be surprised if the thoughts are sometimes negative.  Different folks enjoy different types of fiction, even different types of mysteries. And different folks have different tolerance levels -- we've already talked here about the danger of killing a (fictional) cat or dog. 

I replied to this lady, explaining briefly my reason for the disgusting sentence. Probably we both feel better now.

And on the same day I received the following:

"I was lucky enough to win a copy of Signs In The Blood at the Virtual Bcon last year.  I liked it enough to get the rest of the series and have spent this week reading them.  They are all very good, Old Wounds is my absolute favorite as it has a lot of me in it.  ...(Sentence deleted to avoid a spoiler.)

I have stayed up till nearly midnight this whole week reading and now hopefully will be back to my normal sleeping schedule.

Thank you so much for the reading pleasure you have given me!"

So now I don't feel so sleazy anymore.  It all balances out.