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I was inspired by my colleague Amanda Anderson's recent post, which also reminded me of something fun. Amanda recently celebrated her ten year anniversary of living in New Orleans (god love her) and was going through the alphabet, reflecting on what each letter brought to mind about our beloved (and beleaguered) Crescent City.
She reminded me of a game I used to force my husband to play with me. This was before we had the baby and he became such a big help that I felt bad trying to engage him with it. It's a stupid game with essentially no rules and no winner, that I cleverly call "A to Z." Spectacular, no?
Basically the point of the game is to pick a topic and go through all the letters of the alphabet (the English one) and come up with, well, you know, things that describe said topic or fit into it. And naturally I've forced him to, on at least one occasion, go through the alphabet with regard to Nola.
We came up with gems like B for booze and beads and boobs. We amused ourselves with C for Cajun and Creole Cooking. And the Columns Hotel. And the broken Concrete I fell on when we were running down St. Charles (another C!). Z naturally went to Zydeco (and the Zydeco Cha Chas, another C!).
As Amanda seems to be slowly engaging in just that very thing, I was delighted to read her sections for 'A, B, and C.' Clearly I have a sister in this silly but fun way of organizing my experiences and thoughts on New Orleans.
Some of the stuff Amanda covers we all know quite well, such as Mardi Gras Beads (B). Others, I imagine, as they come up, will be more from the perspective of someone who's really lived the life down in Nola, not just visited. It's the little details, after all, that make a life and an experience.
I'm sure there are millions of things I have yet to see or do in New Orleans, just as it's not possible to go through everything there is to see and do in New York. They're both ever-changing, dynamic cities, for better or worse (lately, it seems both occupy the 'worse' category), with new places opening up as quickly as another closes, new or re-discovered neighborhoods popping back into focus for a moment--if brief at times--in the cultural limelight.
To my credit, I think I've seen a fair amount of New Orleans over the past fifteen years (or however long it's been--I really can't remember anymore!). Some of what I've seen has been touristy stuff--which, by the way, you shouldn't knock as it's probably the best time you'll have ANYWHERE--and some of what I've done was more off the beaten path. Regardless, the sum of my experiences has contributed to my idea of what New Orleans is.
More importantly, those experiences have contributed to what New Orleans--the city and the magical place in la la land--means to me. Every visitor and citizen alike has an opinion of New Orleans, whether they love or hate it, and each has his or her own definition of what the city is, what it's like and what it's about.
This is not necessarily tantamount to why they love it. Rather, it's what they think of when they close their eyes and someone says (and probably mispronounces) 'New Orleans.'
New Orleans means a lot of things to me. And they're not just with regard to drinking and getting stumble-down drunk in the Quarter or flitting around the cemeteries with a camera basically begging someone to mug me.
New Orleans means, to me, slowing things down a bit. You know how Emeril is always (annoyingly) telling us he's going to kick it up a notch? Well, for me, Nola is all about taking it down a notch--which is pretty easy since the speakers in New York are clearly set on '11' all the time.
It's about a nice, steady, soft breeze, the cool shade of an ancient oak tree. It's about having no timetable or schedule whatsoever--instead doing whatever we want whenever we feel like it, or get around to it.
It's about not being bothered! It's about having dinner, you know, whenever. It's about choosing to hit a museum or sleeping in and having a nice brunch. It's about running along the river and thinking, "Oh, if only the path went further!"
You know, that kind of thing.
I think we have a collective view of New Orleans--the Mardi Gras, the Jazz Fest, all that. We know what we know and we know what the travel guides tell us: "Hot weather in August! Stay out of the cemeteries at night! Jazz, jazz, jazz!"
But what about the gal who made me and a friend of mine the best veggie po'boy we'd ever had, which wasn't even on the menu, just because she could? Just because she had the time, and--hey, why not? What about things like sitting in a streetcar enjoying the view and the breeze--could there be a calmer, more tranquil commute? And, to boot, no one seemed to be in a rush or worried that they would be later.
Well, I guess the latter item could be a bad thing, especially in a struggling economy, but still. It's nice when tourists aren't faced with the onslaught of rush hour like they are here in Manhattan--woah, Nelly!
Now you're starting to get the idea, right?
So I ask you, beads and riverboat cruises and boozing aside, what does New Orleans mean to you? We all know what it means to miss our fair city, but what about it do we miss so much that we simply cannot let her go?
1. This is what New Orleans means to me and what I am doing:
THE BEATITUDES- a paranormal mystery - New Orleans noir
FEATURED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES 8/14/07; NOW AVAILABLE AT AMAZON.COM AND ALL FINE BOOKSELLERS.
Dear
Thank you for taking the time to read about my book, The Beatitudes and The Beatitudes Network, aimed at rebuilding the public libraries of New Orleans. I received your name and address from the Sisters in Crime Book Club Database.
When I entered college, I took a two-hour bus trip on the New Orleans transit line from St. Bernard Parish to Lake Pontchartrain. I hated trigonometry, so I headed to the downtown public library and then to Jackson Square for a couple of Jax brews. The public library was my sanctuary. After Katrina, I decided to write THE book, donate all royalties to the New Orleans Public Library Foundation to help rebuild the libraries, and start The Beatitudes Network. I give you and NOLA The Beatitudes…
The Beatitudes is a paranormal thriller (this is New Orleans after all!). Social workers Hannah “Scrimp” DuBois and Earlene “Pinch” Washington start their own business, Social Investigations, to solve the murder of foster children in New Orleans. The NOPD, Catholic Church, and politicians have sidestepped clues. Pinch and Scrimp know they are dealing with paranormal forces that lead to The Beatitudes and the murderers. Each chapter of the book is named after a beatitudes: The Pure of Heart, The Persecuted, The Merciful, The Sorrowful, The Peacemakers, The Meek, The Poor in Spirit, They That Hunger After Justice.
You may read more about The Beatitudes and The Beatitudes Network at www.beatitudesinneworleans.blogspot.com. Here you will also find recipes, excerpts from the novel, news about New Orleans, the world, publishing, and see a list of Beatitudes such as authors Julie Smith, Alafair Burke, Ken Bruen, James Lee Burke, Sara Gran, and others who are supporting this effort. Any book club that purchases and discusses The Beatitudes will be listed as a Beatitude. A Beatitude is someone who acts in the interests of others.
Besides telephone, email, and onsite appearances, I am also available to speak with your group either in person or by phone or via email to help with the answers from my author’s point of view. As a special added feature, for books groups of fifty or more who hold an event for me and purchase the book, I will demonstrate how to prepare my famous chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, all the while talking about the book and libraries. Now that’s an act!! I am booking now for events/appearances/conference calls with dates beginning November 27, 2007 and into 2008. Email: lynlejeune@cox.net, telephone 828-226-3246. Merci mille fois – thanks a million.
Here are some Book-Group Discussion Questions:
To what extent do the chapters, each named after a beatitude, provide clues, move the story forward, and help Pinch and Scrimp find the murderers of the foster children.
In what ways do the beatitudes teach Scrimp (Hannah) about herself and the world in which she must live after she discovers that she is a Gran Met, a voodoo priestess?
Why did the author chose Dante’s Purgatorio (the second book in The Divine Comedy) as the underlying parable for TheBeatitudes? What does the author mean when she has the dead priest, Father Delcambre, say “purgatory is diluted by time?”
How does Scrimp use her visions to solve the murders?
Why is Pinch murdered with a sword from the famous Cabildo Museum in New Orleans?
Why did the author choose foster children as the la Armee Blanc’s (The White Army)
victims? And how do the characters that run the White Army explain the historical context of The Beatitudes, particularly when the real history of the Knights of the White Camellia is considered?
What is the significance of the little African American dwarf, n’est pas juste? How does his name, literally translated, as “I am not justice” explain one theme of the book, namely, that life is made up of many roads of contradiction and each individual must find his/her own correct path?
Why do Scrimp, Pinch and n’est pas juste travel to Scrimp’s old home out in the Cajun countryside? What are they looking for?
What are some underlying themes in The Beatitudes that pertains to you and your faith? Consider these ideas: free will vs. fate; hope vs. cynicism; good vs. evil; the self vs. the greater good.
What is the story about in the end? Why did Scrimp have the following words inscribed on Pinch’s headstone: SHE WAS THE ENEMY OF ALL CRUELTY?
My short stories have been published in literary journals such as Big Muddy: A
Journal of The Mississippi River Valley (East Missouri University), The Bishop’s House
Review (Duke), The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Nantahala, Milestone,
Identity Theory, Our Stories and Stone Table Review. I have also published articles in
such journals as Mystery Readers International. I am recipient of the Paris Writers’
Institute Scholarship for study in Paris, France and a Fellowship for study with the Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia. I was also a finalist in the William Faulkner Novel-In-Progress prize. I studied writing at Skidmore (where I worked with Mary Gordon and Marilynne Robinson), Duke, and the Bread Loaf Writers Conference.
Again, that lynlejeune@cox.net or 828-226-3246.
****I HAVE ARRANGED SUBSTANTIAL DISCOUNTS FOR GROUPS AND BOOKSELLERS ANYWHERE FROM 25% TO 50%.
Posted at 11:21AM on Aug 16th 2007 by Lyn LeJeune