Ask Elnora--About Farm Lit--Lenora Worth :)

Hello, my little chickadees. It's 3rd Friday Writing Day (actually, it's the 4th Friday but who's counting) and I'm fascinated by a term I heard on a writer's loop--farm lit. The link below provides an interesting article about novels where a city girl either returns to her small town roots or leaves the city and finds love in the country.

http://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/05/chick-lit-is-dead-long-live-farm-lit/275643

This got me to thinking about why our readers seem to love small town stories. Our editors, too, for that matter. Maybe it's the bucolic beauty of a flowery meadow as compared to the cracked dirty drudgery of a crowded sidewalk. Or maybe the smell of fresh apple pie is even more intoxicating than the richness of a coffee shop on every corner. What is it about small towns and the simpler life that readers seem to love?

I grew up in a small town. Couldn't wait to get out of there. I lived on a crossroad and just about every day after I got up old enough to cross the road, I'd go stand in the middle of the crossroads and turn my head in each direction and I'd wonder which way I'd go--North to Atlanta, South to Florida, West to the Pacific or maybe East to the Atlantic. As it turned out, I went North to Atlanta and then West to Louisiana. And I've traveled to both the Pacific and the Atlantic since then and now I live in Florida. While I felt stifled and restricted in my small town, I still have places there that are dear to me, places that I often dream about at night and daydream about during the day. Now I'm humming that John Mellencamp song in my head: "I was born in a small town...."

So is chick lit dead and is farm lit alive? Or can a city chick really survive on a farm? Okay, now I'm singing  the "Green Acres" theme song in my head. "Darlin', I love you but give me Park Avenue." That's my favorite line! Let's talk about city verses country and which we love for settings. I like them both because I believe love happens in both, but there is a different dynamic in each. Kind of like the television show "Smash" as compared to the television show "Nashville." Both are about music but each has a distinctive flavor. Having said that, cowboys are always welcome on Broadway. What do you think? Will we argue until the cows come home or until Carrie Bradshaw comes stumbling home carrying her Manolo Blahniks? I think I'm  a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll. And no, I'm not going to sing anything by Donnie and Marie!