SHEETROCK ANGEL
A number of
events in my life seemed to coalesce to form the basis for Sheetrock Angel. The first
draft was actually a screenplay which I later used as an outline for the rough
draft of the novel. I sent it around to
some agents, one in particular who told me that my protagonist went off into
the sunset with the wrong character. But
the reason I wrote the book in the first place was to work through the demise
of my own marriage, to let go of the fantasy ideal I had devised for our future. One of the underlying themes of the book is
to use reality as your point of departure, not your idea of how things should
be.
The belief
in something – anything – is also an important underlying theme. Without an anchor, a core belief, the human spirit
can lose its moorings. Traditionally
beliefs have been in religion or accepted societal mores, but if one isn’t
inclined toward the traditions, it can be as simple as believing in love. Any kind of love will do: friendship,
marriage, parent/child. People need to
be grounded by some belief. It’s as
necessary as breathing.
I explore
the main character, Audrey’s, fear of her family’s mental illness. I gave Audrey’s mother schizophrenia while
depression ran in my own family. When I
became depressed during my divorce, I feared that it would become the rule
rather than the exception. As I point
out in Sheetrock Angel, I see mental
health as a continuum rather than discrete diseases which occur or
reoccur. I think anyone can slide along
the mental health continuum given chemistry, hormones, or inciting incidents
appropriate to syndromes like depression.
Another
idea, that is important to me and is evident in the book, is the notion of
anonymous kindness. There are everyday
angels all around us. While we expect
kindness from those near and dear to us, we’re always amazed by grace bestowed
by strangers. If we can remember to
spread more kindness around ourselves there will be that many more people to be
touched and amazed.
Jeanne C. Davis grew up in southern California then travelled the world as a Pan
Am purser until she landed a job writing for the television series, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. She wrote,
produced and directed the independent feature, The Uniform Motion of Folly. She is currently at work on her second
novel which explores her life with Pan Am, and another feature film, Lip Service, along with a documentary
about her family's four generations in the carousel business. Visit www.sheetrockangel.homestead.com or SheetrockAngel on
Facebook. You also can visit Jeanne’s
website at www.bricolage-arts.com.Thank you so much for joining us today Jeanne, please check out her book, Sheetrock Angel and checkout the Pump Up Your Book! website for further tour dates.
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