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Getting to Know Bruce Lindsay
 1. What caused you to begin writing this book?
The imaginary town of Parley Grove with its weekly paper and the characters who fill its pages are my answer to a question I’ve been asked for a long time as a TV newscaster: “Why don’t you give us some good news for a change?”
I’m not ready to concede their premise, but in creating The Hometown Weekly: Good News For A Change I have had great fun looking out at the world through another window; looking at a totally different version of the news that is all good and warm and familiar and funny at the same time.
So, in the pages of The Parley’s Progress, you will find no meth lab busts, no mindless high speed chases, and no sex crimes, thank you very much. First of all, Parley Grove is a place where nothing like that would ever happen, or so we want to believe. And if stuff like that ever did happen there, why would anybody want to see it in print? That’s pretty much the premise.
Nevertheless, the mundane in The Parley’s Progress manages to highlight life’s little absurdities, humanity’s endearing quirks and good folks’ foibles that keep the stories moving along and keep the reader or listener smiling. In truth, I had not intended to write a book. I crafted a collection of stories to be shared aloud. Oral story telling is one of the oldest arts known to man, and it is almost a lost art. So, when I approached Covenant, it was to suggest a series of stories performed on CDs. But publishers, who know much more about these things than I do, insisted—to my surprise—that the stories work not only as audio performances but also in print. So my tales from Parley Grove have debuted as both. I am partial to the audio, since that has been my professional medium. But it’s a thrill to see readers take delight in absorbing the narrative from the printed page. Shameless plug here: Click on www.thehometownweekly.com where you can listen to one of the stories.
2. What do you hope people come away with after reading your book?
I hope they will come away with the kind of smiles I saw in the audience for the live recordings of the audio version of The Hometown Weekly. My greatest hope is that many families—parents, children and grandparents—will laugh at these stories together. I hope listeners and readers will find in The Hometown Weekly a ring of familiarity, whether they come from a small Mormon town like Parley Grove or from a big city. Mormon wards are small communities. So, if you’ve ever been to church you’ve probably come close to Parley Grove.
The people in Parley Grove may not be thoroughly versed in strategic nuclear policy or in the intricacies of health care reform. But they know the difference between real life and its fleeting imitations. They know who they are and where they’re from. I hope listeners and readers will find those same insights for themselves and take satisfaction in the discovery. By the way, the CDs are great family entertainment on car trips.
3. How did your love for writing begin?
I have a report card from grade school on which the teacher wrote, “Bruce has a knack for writing stories.” (She was an early advocate of self-esteem.) I channeled that interest into a career of writing and reporting news stories, always constrained by the facts. Only recently have I rediscovered the liberation that comes from writing fiction. I wish I hadn’t stayed away so long.
4. What kind of research did you do for this book, and how long did it take?
Research nearly killed this project! My training as a journalist has been to verify facts and document sources. So, initially I spent far too much time obsessing over maps and histories and reference books relating to every detail I imagined for the stories. I did everything but put words on the page. (So much for research.) Then I made the liberating discovery that in light fiction, you can just make it up! I do subscribe to several small-town weekly papers that frequently serve as my muse.
5. Are any experiences in the book based on real-life? Were any characters based on real people?
Not only are the tales in this collection based on real-life, but many characters are composites of people I have known and loved—mostly people I knew years ago in what was then my little hometown. I have simply blended their essence with a little imagination. I think listeners and readers will recognize some of these characters from their own experience. I reveal something about the origin of each story on the Web site www.thehometownweekly.com Just click on the link in the lower left corner under Stories' Background Disclosed by Author Bruce Lindsay
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