I am on a rest break from packing up - things are pretty much all done with the exception of the final vacuuming, putting together my lunch bag and bringing my luggage down to the car. The printer is in the trunk, as is the bread machine and flour and supplies, and my food dry goods. So I'll throw a little commentary out there.
My goal in writing this story is to paint in the backdrop of a relatively 'normal' dysfunctional lower class family in rural America. I suppose what has given fuel to my writing has been relating the knowledge of growing up in a lower class family with severe money problems, limited opportunity and limited education in a rural setting. I never saw a city of any true size until I was 14 years old, and spent my first 20 years of life in a rural setting and at least part of it on a farm. My goal was not to make Laura a caricature but rather a relatively typical woman of limited education, background and means, dealing with situations that are far beyond her ability to comprehend or appreciate, with a big chip on her shoulder about men, based upon her poor relationships with both husbands, one of whom cheated on her with a man in secret, the second of whom is cheating on her with a woman - something of a step up. And her only real 'milieu' is her children, from whom she gets most of her social strength. As such, her resentment and lack of understanding of someone as sophisticated as Ellery, particularly considering his wealth and education, makes her resentful and insecure. But I don't consider her unusual in any respect. She could be one of my aunts from Vermont, who thought it perfecty acceptable to take a broom to a daughter to teach her a lesson about wearing her skirt too short. There are a lot of people who are like this, and I think they represent a relatively 'normal', using the statistical meaning of the term, rural mindset.
