Extra Fatal Foodies Post and Cheap Surveillance

Did you know Cheryl K. Tardif (Cherish D’Angelo), who is on a blog book tour for her romance novel LANCELOT’S LADY, is posting for me at Fatal Foodies today? Well, she is.

And did you know that surveillance can be pronounced suhr-vail-ance or, more in the original French manner, suhr-vay-ance, as in survey, like George Washington was a surveyor before he fathered our country? Makes sense, doesn’t it? Survey = observe, measure and note.

Anyway, the cheap part of it comes from living in a small town. Or Louisville, which is a small town masquerading as a large town. Or the world, which is a small town masquerading as a planet. It’s a you-know-what, after all. Snow, if you don’t get my drift.

ANYWAY, at supper yesterday, Mom and Charlie (my husband) were talking about a local show that used to be on; old scary movies were shown, hosted by a man who framed the movie and commercial breaks by telling bad jokes in a creepy voice while illuminating his face from beneath with a flashlight. I not only remembered it, I knew the guy. I used to work at Shakespeare In The Park in Louisville with him.

Then I was thinking about Dashiell Hammett’s RED HARVEST, and how everyone in “Poisonville” knew everybody else’s business. Very familiar. When people get all exercised about Homeland Security, folks around here are like, they could save a bundle by just walking into Dairy Queen in the morning and sitting down near any table full of regulars and listening. Who’s seeing whom, who knows whom, who’s related to whom, what their parents did for a living, every place they ever lived, where they go to church–probably how much they put in the collection plate, and where they’ve worked and who they’ve worked with and who their neighbors are and have been…. It’s like the Kevin Bacon game in real life. My kids could never get away with anything because, if I didn’t stumble over them myself, somebody else did and just HAD to tell me about it. It used to drive my kids nuts, not to mention me.

Well, that’s enough of that. I’ll have some actual content tomorrow. Maybe.

WRITING PROMPT: Is there anyone you know who knows a lot of people and their interrelationships? Whether or not you do, consider such a person: How could it be good/bad for him or her? How could it be good/bad for a good guy? for a bad guy?

MA

About

I was born in Louisville, Kentucky, but now live in the woods in southern Indiana. Though I only write fiction, I love to read non-fiction. The more I learn about this world, the more fantastic I see it is.

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One thought on “Extra Fatal Foodies Post and Cheap Surveillance

  1. M.T. Logan

    October 10, 2010 at 12:37pm

    Marian,
    Your description of mornings at the Dairy Queen reminds me of Rosalynn Carter’s wonderful remark: “People ask me every say, ‘How can you stand for your husband to be in politics and everybody know everything you do?’ and I just tell ’em that we were born and raised and still live in Plains, Georgia. It has a population of 683 and everybody has always known everything I did.”

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  2. KK Brees

    October 10, 2010 at 1:05pm

    I live in a small town. The good part is you know everyone. The bad part is you know everyone

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      October 10, 2010 at 2:02pm

      LOL! When we first came over here, the kids would say, “Everybody over here has a staring problem! Every time we walk in anywhere, everybody STARES at us.” Now, we’ve been here long enough to understand why: People stare at you to see if they know you; if they don’t, they stare harder, to see if they can figure out who you’re kin to. “She’s got Beanblossom eyes, but those ears and that chin are pure Pendleton.”

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  3. Enid Wilson

    October 11, 2010 at 2:58am

    I’m a city girl, through and through. If I see a neighbour, I tend to avoid and walk faster. Too bad. I should try to observe them more. They may be good characters for my next book.

    My Darcy Mutates

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    • Author

      Marian Allen

      October 11, 2010 at 8:33am

      Doesn’t have to be neighbors, Enid. Sometimes your favorite coffee shop is your “neighborhood”. 🙂

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