Tumblr Post #13 (February 2017)
I’m not petty.
Though to be honest, recent events have definitely made me consider switching over to dark side—to give in to the power of the forces that be and let the pettiness overtake my body in a fiery, triumphant glow. I’d walk around like Peter Parker in Spider Man 3, not giving a damn about anyone’s feelings and throwing shade and pettiness toward the masses like free T-shirts at college basketball games.
Oh it would be glorious!
But as someone who has somewhat of a reputation to uphold and a couple of insecurities under my belt (I’m still growing), I’ve decided to opt for the subtler sort of indirect pettiness that’s even more mischievous in my opinion.
So count this as a disclaimer.
Someone once wrote a critique of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple in which they did not like that major world events were not included in the plot line, despite the novel being categorized as an historical fiction. For those who may not have read the book, the story focuses on the life of a Black woman, Celie, who lived in rural Georgia in the decades before World War II. So the critic was basically upset that Walker did not make any references to events like World War I, the Roaring Twenties, or the Great Depression.
As a Black woman who has lived in rural Georgia for my entire life, I actually find it relatable that Walker chose not to make any references to major political events because that is really how life is down here. We don’t live our day to day lives hung up on what’s going on in the country and in the world. It really is a refuge and if it weren’t for mass communication, it could almost be a bubble.
Similar to The Color Purple, my story also takes place in rural Georgia,but it is set in the present day. Like Walker, I have decided not to include many, if any, references to current political and social events. My novel is not an historical fiction, though it does take place in a very historical moment.
I want my novel to serve as a type of refuge for those who want to get away from the craziness of the world around them. I want my novel to be a bubble of seclusion and solitude just like rural Georgia has been for me.
I don’t want that seclusion tainted by Cheeto stains on the pages of my work. They have already been smeared across my television, radio, and computer screen. And I’m currently in the process of trying to clean the stains from my mental as I lay down to sleep at night.
So you can miss me with the critique of lacking historical references in my novel because I’m not writing a textbook.
This book isn’t for you.
Get your Cheetos elsewhere.
NANCEY B. PRICE 