Two Galesburgers

Finished a draft of my new three-part book Beasts of Ayutthaya, which is actually three retellings of Beauty and the Beast, kind of like a symphony that revises and works over the same plot, developing it in 3d or something. Still lots of work to do on it, but I decided to mull it over before I made any changes.

First thing I needed to do was go for a walk. So out I went, and I went up Prairie Street to downtown to the indie bookstore in town, Wordsmith. I actually have done this now three or four times. It's about a mile, two total when I turn around. Lots of beautiful trees and houses all along the avenue.

The reason I mention this is twofold. One, I'll probably have my books on consignment at Wordsmith, if it works out. I'll keep you posted. I'm not totally crazy about putting books on consignment, ever since I tried it in Lubbock and someone stole my book, A Dozen Crime Stories. But if you're going to do it, the local bookstore is a place to start. I'm hoping to get to know them better in the process.

Second, each day I walked past the house of the guy who made Boxcar People, an NPR documentary about Mexican immigrants on Galesburg trains. Now I haven't seen this documentary, but the guy recently posted that he was coming out of seclusion after mourning his wife's death, and was seeking friends. In a way I was trying to offer myself up, and took him a book. Today I found his glasses on his walk, and took it as a sign that I should just knock on the door with my book and the glasses, which I did, but he didn't answer. I came home and wrote him a message on Nextdoor, where I saw his original post.

This happened with Judy too; she's a very interesting Galesburg resident who I wouldn't mind writing a book about. The point of each book remains to be decided, and depends on their involvement. If they don't really want a book, what's the point? I figured it was a way to contribute to Galesburg, explore it a little, learn a little about it.

So this guy apparently made a documentary, Boxcar People, possibly with the involvement or inspiration of his wife, who now has died. He may or may not want to talk about it, and I sure don't want to dig where I'm not welcome. But I think it's an interesting story, worth exploring. We'll see what happens.

In the case of Judy, she's a social media pioneer; she makes movies that are well known around the world. Her driveway is full every morning. One can get pancakes. I haven't pitched her yet though, just gave her a book. We'll see how it all pans out, so to speak.