Thursday, June 26, 2008

Home, Part II: All in My Head

Unless a book very specifically describes a character’s home, chances are very good that the character will end up living in my maternal grandparents’ house.  This has been true all of my life.  From Ramona Quimby in the series of books by Beverly Cleary to Fran Goldsmith in Stephen King’s The Stand, grandma’s place has held them all.  I’m not sure why that house is my imagination’s default.  I have never placed a book’s setting in a house or apartment that I have lived in and I can only think of two books that ended up being set in my paternal grandparents’ house.  Both Misery and Tommyknockers (yes, I do read a lot of Stephen King) found their way onto my Great Aunt Eleanor’s farm.  I’m curious where other people tend to imagine their characters.