In commenting on my previous post about meeting Susan in person, Dewey said, "It seems like some people are always worried that internet friends they meet will turn out to be axe murderers!"
That DOES seem to be what many people think. Nine years ago in August when I met Donna, we had already been friends for a couple of years online. Donna arrived in Chattanooga and stayed overnight at my house, and we left the next day to drive north to meet three friends we had never seen: Nancy in Virginia, Meg outside DC, and Maggie in Maryland. All of us were strangers to each other, but they took us into their homes ... TWO strangers!
Now my point ... Donna and I spent a good part of our travel time making up a story about an axe murderer, putting every single one of our online book buddies into the story. Donna, an English teacher turned librarian, became BookLady, a character who read the trashiest romance novels. My character was Rev. Geneva, who appeared to be a goody-two-shoes.
We were being followed by a man one of us was involved with, a man who was very afraid of strangers met online. When the man saw us pull off the road and get out of the car with one of us holding ... gasp! ... an axe, he pulled up behind our car, sprang into action, shoved the two apart, and wrestled the axe away from the would-be murderer. The other woman fell and hit her head on a rock. She wound up in a coma, in the hospital and totally unaware for most of the novel.
This was the background story, which covered the trial for attempted murder. The novel itself was told through documents, like emails and IMs and newspaper articles about the case.
The name of our book was to be Happenstance. Our book buddies, who knew they would be frantically emailing back and forth in the book, encouraged us to write it and get it published. We didn't, of course, and Donna and I never did decide which one of us (I mean, which of our characters) was to be the bad guy. I still have our notes, somewhere.
Now tell me the truth, how many of you would buy our book? What if we lower the price? LOLOL.
Bonnie - this is great! I love it!!! I would buy it just because you wrote it ;)
ReplyDeleteI've had internet friends stay at my house, too, but I don't think it's ever been two at a time. I've met couples who are long-term internet friends, but every time they stayed at a hotel. I think couples just want more privacy. :)
ReplyDeleteI would buy it just because you wrote it, too, but it also sounds like fun.
I think it would be a hoot!
ReplyDeleteMy niece and I did something similiar several years ago on a road trip to Lexington, KY. We made up characters using the names of towns on the interstate signs. It was a murder mystery, as I recall. We laughed ourselves sick.
cjh
Oh yeah...I think it would be a great book!! Just tell me when the book signing will be, and I'll be there!!
ReplyDeleteSheesh....if you had seen a picture of Mike first, YOU might have been leary about meeting ME!! But he's a big Teddy Bear, and looks can be deceiving!
I think the world is ready for some novels involving bloggers whether axe murders are in the story or not.
ReplyDeleteWhen my first husband and I moved to Floyd we only knew a few people through letters. Within an hour of arriving here we were comfortable enough to leave our sons playing with friends at Zephyr Farm while we went looking for land. I surprised myself in feeling okay with it and the people on the farm turned out to be long and fast friends then and now. It was like one foot was already here and we had to drag the other one over.