It’s official - beginning June 1, 2013, I will be living and (more importantly) writing in the Flannery O’Connor Childhood Home in Savannah. My husband and fellow writer and I have been wanting to relocate to Savannah for well over a decade now, but the right opportunity never quite came our way. First we tried to buy an old victorian, only to find that the seller didn't quite have title, having contracted to buy it out of a foreclosure that wasn't quite legitimate. That's right, we had a contract to buy a house from a guy who had a contract to buy the house from a bank that didn't have title. So I had packed up my library (no small feat) for no good reason. Ah, Savannah.
Facebook to the rescue. About three weeks ago, I saw a notice from the Childhood Home that the garden apartment was available for the first time in ten years. I immediately made contact, shamelessly pitching ourselves as writers who would be perfect tenants. With the help of friends and neighbors willing to vouch for our bona fides, we nabbed the place. And I packed some of the books up again.
My dear thesis advisor, Margaret Myers, once said she would deface my grave if I didn’t finish my novel. Really, she said that. (Margaret - such a Savannah act that would be.) So here’s the plan. Under the watchful eye of Flannery, I will finish the novel I began at JHU. I will re-read her works, her letters, her lectures and comment on them on this blog. Think of it as Julie and Julia meet Southern Gothic.
Wish me luck. Keep in touch. And if you're down this way, look me up. I'll be easy to find.
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