When Your Story Talks to You...

The author of Wicked, Gregory McGuire, was recently interviewed on NPR discussing his new book, Egg & Spoon, set in Russia. He talked about one of the characters, Baba Yaga, a Russian witch in a real Russian fairytale who lives in an old house perched up on chicken legs. While writing the book he wandered into an antique store and it was as if his story was speaking to him! There was a replica of a house on chicken legs, something he'd never seen before, which he promptly purchased to honor the magic surround the telling of his story. Here's a link to the Gregory McGuire interview: http://wuwm.com/post/egg-and-spoon-gregory-maguire-re-imagines-pre-revolutionary-russia  

The Marlboro box above is a pic of the actual empty box that I found while riding my bike around my neighborhood on the morning before going to a soiree hosted by my authors, Lisa & Lori Minneti, which was originally planned as a book-release event before we ran into difficulties completing the cover. 

I'd ridden this route hundreds of times over many years and never came across an empty cigarette box, much less a Marlboro box. On the way back home I found another Marlboro box, so I had two. In Hazel Moon there are two Marlboro Girls promoting Marlboro cigarettes at the Hazel Moon Music Festival. In real life, Lori  & Lisa had been Marlboro Girls!

Next, walking up to the home where the party was being held, I found a 20-dollar bill on the ground (see the actual bill above). In all my years I've never found a $20 bill before. In the book, character Cash Reynolds pulls a wad of big bills out of his pocket while buying clothes for his girlfriend, Cola, at the Merry-Go-Round where November and Angela work. So, the $20 bill had a direct connection to Cash!

While at the party I met Jake, Lisa's dog, who was the inspiration for Sonny in the book, and the people who had volunteered to play the other main characters in some promotional videos the authors are planning to produce including, Mrs. Casimir, the fortune teller, and November. I also had a chance to speak at length with their Armenian friend who took the time to explain the disturbing back story behind the Armenian Holocaust which took place in the early 1900s.

All in all, it was another magical night enhanced to surreal levels by all the Magic swirling around Hazel Moon's publication! And the actual Hazel Moon will be rising in all its full-moon glory only a few days from now...I can only imagine what might happen on that night!

 

Here are some pics of a few of the many who attended Lisa & Jeff's Summer Soiree!