…and “Redneck Woman” and “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy.”

Why you may ask? Has Singapore turned me into an aficionado of redneck Country music? No friends, fear not. Not that there’s anything WRONG with that…

Here’s why…. As you may know if you follow my blog, I’m living in Singapore and it’s making me homesick for Wisconsin. Now that I’m throwing Hooligans out there to the proverbial literary agent wolves (metaphorically :P), I’m really delving into my WIP. It’s set in my hometown. Okay, to be honest, I have multiple hometowns. I moved around a lot in Wisconsin growing up. Super-rural to suburb of Milwaukee to semi-rural Sparta to Madison to La Crosse to Sparta to Milwaukee proper then to Madison again. Oh, and then to Singapore. My WIP is going to be set in my HIGH SCHOOL hometown of Sparta, Wisconsin.

I lived there for my formative high school years but always felt like an outsider (probably self-imposed because I saw myself as the girl from the suburbs of Milwaukee). I hated living there in high school, but now I miss it a bit, not going to lie.

I’m setting in there because I think it’s an interesting place to explore a few social issues, since I like to write YA laced with social commentary. Also, I haven’t really found a lot of stuff set in rural Midwest (besides Fargo lol) and I think it’s a great place to explore. The Midwest has it’s own culture and way of being that I love and miss. This girl is homesick. In addition to digging up rural/semi-rural Wisconsin culture, I’ll be delving into my memories of working at Wal-Mart, first loves, and harnessing demons from my high school past duh duh duhhhhhhhh.

Man I wish I would’ve brought my yearbooks with me to Singapore. If only I would’ve known…. And then there’s the fact that I’ve just finished up an epic quest of writing a novel set in Belfast, so I’m fully embracing the concept of writing what I KNOW this time around.

Friends, expect some posts about Wisconsin coming up as I embark on my journey of self-re-discovery.

OH! So why those three songs? Because people used to play them at the bars in Sparta every Friday and Saturday night and everyone sang along. Not me though because I thought I was too cool, of course. Actually, I think one of my next posts might be my list: You know you’re out in rural Wisconsin when…..

Have you ever gone spelunking into your past to fuel your novel? If anyone from Wisconsin reads this GIVE ME INSPIRATION I MISS YOU!!!!