One of the #1 questions I hear from readers about Pennies from Burger Heaven is how I created such a realistic fictional world that brave Copper Daniels ventures into alone to find her missing Mama. People want to know my background to write about homelessness, addiction, gangs, etc. (it’s meant as a compliment, people).
My qualifications for such social issues are…
Nothing. Zero, zip, nada. I’m just a little piece of white bread from Texas, with an insatiable sense of curiosity.
Like you, I’ve seen the homeless standing on street corners with their cardboard signs, and wondered what brought them to such despair. I’ve volunteered at soup kitchens and shelters over the years, but my real education started the day I heard Copper Daniels whispering in my ear as I drove into the cemetery. My world hasn’t been the same since.
Homelessness 101
I found a video on YouTube about homelessness in Los Angeles called Skid Row by Sam Slovick. It’s short (five minutes), but POWERFUL (it’s a five-part series). I’ve watched that video countless times, with the sound on, with the sound off…searching for details I could use to make Paradise come alive: the trash that stays in the streets 24/7, the tents lining the sidewalks, a grocery cart packed to the hilt rambling across the road. Listening to other people’s stories touched my heart and made me empathize with the impossible lives for those living on the streets.
Paradise?
I could’ve called the slums in my story Skid Row like the documentary, but that didn’t feel quite right. One summer day, I was driving in a nearby town (Canyon, Texas – population 13,000), and took a wrong turn. As I pulled into a parking lot to head back to the main street, I found myself staring at the sign of Paradise Apartments (pictured above).
I laughed aloud because the lush name did not match the drab building and grounds of the apartment complex. A chill ran up my spine about the contrast; I thought, that’s the perfect name to use in my book!
Remington, Texas
As informative as the Skid Row documentary is, it doesn’t snow in L.A. and I wanted Copper to battle the winter cold in my fictional city. I’m not sure why, but I didn’t want to use a real place for my setting. I guess since everything else was made-up in my story that I wanted the town to be fictional, too. Ever after my novel was complete, I still hadn’t found the right name. It’s hard to find anything new in Texas because the state is so stinkin’ BIG! There’s a town, city or county named after pretty much everything.
A friend’s wife gave birth to a new baby and they named him Remington. That name struck deep inside me. I really liked how Remington, Texas, sounded. Plus, it’s a nod to the violence in world today since Remington is a famous gun manufacturer.
That’s how I found Paradise in Remington, Texas — all for Copper Daniels. People and places that have both captured and broken my heart.
What do you think about how I found Paradise?
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Thank you for sharing how Remington and Paradise became the setting to your wonderful book. It’s been nearly 2 1/2 months since I read Copper’s story, but it’s still with me daily. Such an inspirational and heart gripping book.
Thank you, Tonya. You’ve been a HUGE advocate for Pennies, and I appreciate you! Glad you enjoyed the backstory.
I love that background story Marcy!! Thank you so much for sharing it.
It’s amazing really, how small details and big ideas can come to us — if we remember to keep our eyes and ears open and, more importantly, our “writey senses” (They’re sort of like spidey senses, only with a different heroic bent. LOL)
I read your post as I rev up my morning … and it was the perfect choice. 🙂
Off I go!
Thanks, T.O. I LOVE writers have SPIDEY sense! Brilliant! Glad I got your day off to the right start. Now, go!
Love the background to your story,, makes me want to put it on my reading wish list. I started writing one called Love thy neighbor after visiting soup kitchen … kida changes your whole perspective on things doesnt it??
I appreciate the comment, Debra. I haven’t heard of Love Thy Neighbor. I’ll have to check it out. Changing my perspective is one of the many reasons I love both reading and writing. Have a great day.
Great ideas from where you got your inspiration to write such a great story – I LOVED it. Waiting for the next book to come out.
Thanks, Am. I worked harrrrrrrd writing Pennies, so I’m thrilled to hear you enjoyed it. I can’t wait for the next book to come out, too. I wish it’d just hurry up and write itself! 🙂
I always enjoy, and learn from, writers’ process stories. Keep ’em comin’!
I’m the same way, Bruce. I LOVE hearing the “stories behind the story” from authors. Good stuff. Thanks for stopping by!
Marcy McKay’s debut novel “Pennies From Burger Heaven” is the most gripping and extraordinary book I have ever read.
Copper Daniels life and story grabbed hold of my heart in a way I’ve never experienced before.
What a roller coaster ride this phenomenal book will take you on. Being homeless isn’t always a choice one makes, but a reality in which one is placed. To overcome all the trials and tribulations that come along in the world of the homeless, that becomes the necessity to stay alive.
As Copper says. “I may have grown up out here with the dead, but life is for living.”
This book has touched me in the most profound way. I believe that Copper Daniels will live with me forever and I will never look at the homeless without thinking of Copper and her story. We are all God’s children and the greatest gift he gave us was Love.