January 09, 2006

"How could there be a turtle that big?"

As Brown As I Want, The Indianhead Diaries
1-10-06-The photo of my cousin and I that I used on the cover of my second novel was taken on an Easter morning. My coat was light blue. I’d wanted the red one, but the saleswoman didn’t hold it for us as she promised. It’s about 1953. A lot of this book is true. I’ve had letters telling me that the snake chapter was a little far out, but they liked it. That was one of the true chapters! Word for word! Well...except for the turtle. There are turtles that big, I just didn't see one that day.
Nowadays, it isn’t as rare for a father to try to kill his child, but when I started the book, it wasn’t so common. The difference seems to be that now there is sometimes a sexual angle. When I was a kid, my father just wanted to knock me off for the insurance money. The humor that emerged from this situation when I was writing the book has amazed everyone who knows me. Heck, it amazed me! Brown was a finalist in the 2004 Oklahoma Book Awards. I'm not supposed to sell anything on this site, but you know where to find books, don't you?
Brown As I Want, The Indianhead Diaries
By Janelle Meraz Hooper
(Back cover)

The summer of 1952, Lawton, Oklahoma… Eight-year-old Glory has a father who’s taken out a $50,000 accidental death insurance policy on her—now he’s spending the summer trying to collect.
In his first attempt, he throws Glory to the snakes, but a giant alligator snapping turtle scares the snakes away.
Glory writes in her diary: Well, Powwow Pete drove us home to talk to Mom, but we didn’t get very far. Mom thinks I just have a wild imagination. At least Powwow Pete believes me. I think it was the turtle that killed it for Mom.
“How could there be a turtle that big?” she scoffed. They talked some more and Powwow Pete got kind of mad and got up to leave.
This was one of those times when a kid thinks they’re talking about a turtle, but the grown-ups are really talking about something else entirely. In this case, I think Powwow Pete was accusing Mom of still loving my dad, but he never said that, he just kept talking about the turtle. Mom was doing the same thing: talking about the turtle but meaning that she didn’t want to get messed up with some guy who was a pathologgy liar (Glory can’t spell).

As Brown As I Want is the second book in the turtle trilogy. It was a finalist in the 2004 Oklahoma Book Awards.

Trivia-A mosquito has 47 teeth.
730 Easy Science Experiments by R. Churchill, L. Loesching, and M. Mandell
Quote du jour:
Henry Thoreau, the great American philosopher, was dying, when a priest asked him if he had made his peace with God. “I was not aware that we had quarreled,” replied Thoreau. “Frankly, My Dear…” edited by Katherine and Richard Greene.

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