Random Inspirations
I read this very interesting post by Ayelet Waldman about five random inspirations for her book, Love and Treasure (which I quite liked, mostly), and it sounded like a fine idea and a decent writing prompt. So, therefore, five random inspirations for my book, RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY.
1. Will is from Alabama, which is where my great-grandfather, Leon Curtis Edmonds, was born in 1881. My favorite book about Alabama is RAMMER JAMMER YELLOW HAMMER, by Warren St. John, which chronicles his journeys with Alabama football fans. I ended up making Will an Auburn grad, mostly because I didn’t want his cabin to be decorated with Bear Bryant paraphernalia. (Will would have blocked for Heisman winner Pat Sullivan, both at Auburn and with the Falcons.)
2. Blue Ridge, Georgia, where much of the book takes place, is a real place and you should go there. Will’s cabin is based on a cabin we’ve rented from Above the Rest Luxury Cabins. The restaurant where Will and Dot go on their first date, Toccoa Riverside Restaurant, burned down around the time the story was written, but it has been rebuilt. If you can’t go to Blue Ridge, Mercier Orchards will happily ship a little bit of Blue Ridge to you.
3. When my wife and I were getting married, we looked at lots of different locations, and by far the most expensive was The Palace At Somerset Park, which is a real place and very fancy and where the wedding scenes are set. I live in Somerset County and worked in a couple of references to different Somerset County locations–the country club where the rehearsal is held is here, and Will drives past the Somerset Patriots baseball stadium at one point. And the New Jersey restaurants Will visits are also real places: Stuff Yer Face in New Brunswick and Harold’s New York Deli in Edison. I have been criticized for focusing a lot about the food in RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY, and I plead guilty to that. I like food. I think most people like food. I like putting characters in restaurants and listening to them talk, and having them eat something.
4. My wife and I were big fans of the NBC show “Chuck” when it came out, and the character of Alicia is modeled, somewhat, on played in that show–someone with a deep inner calmness.
5. I was reading Winston Groom’s book, A STORM IN FLANDERS, while I was writing RAIN ON YOUR WEDDING DAY, and that inspired the story of Will’s grandfather, who died in Flanders after being disgraced at the Somme.
