Authorpreneur Dashboard – Judith Day
Going Where They Belong
Book Bubbles from Going Where They Belong
Going Where They Belong
Literature & Fiction
GOING WHERE THEY BELONG
The nine stories in this collection are told by and about teenagers, mid-lifers, and elders. They are about settled lives and drastically disordered ones, working people, dying people. They are about people you have never met and others you see every day; sometimes, they are people you know very well, people you work and live with. You may find they are about you. Like all of us, the characters are finding their way forward in the face of loss. They are furious and funny, hurtful and helpful. Stumbling and blind, enlightening slowly, they are all going where they belong.
Occurring across the years from the 1960’s to 2023, these are American stories about American people. They take us from the banks of an unnamed river to the deserts and mountains of the Southwest, through the streets of St. Louis to the steep forested hills of California’s coastal mountains.
These are not plot-driven tales or learning experiences or stories with a moral, but visits into the inner experience of the characters. Humor lives in everyone. Tension arises and eases as it does in life, without pronounced conclusion. After you finish reading each one you are left pensive or smiling, querulous or saddened, often peaceful, always moved—and knowing that you have been taken where you belong.
Book Bubbles from Going Where They Belong
Going Where They Belong
Literature & Fiction
Going Where They Belong is a collection of nine stories from late 20th and early 21st century America that voice the peculiarities and perceptions of ordinary, sometimes eccentric, people.
A woman runs away after killing another woman; a homeless teenager takes care of his younger brother after their father disappears; an aging lesbian faces the disordered personality of her longtime partner. Most of the characters are plagued with inner instability and social marginality; all of them discover in themselves and others a caring humanity.
By turns troubling, poignant, and whimsical, showing lives stricken by grief, turbulence, longing, and unfulfilled hopes, the book is ultimately uplifting and provides original, engaging storytelling.
Book Bubbles from Going Where They Belong
All Kinds of People
“Those Kind of People” is the ungrammatical title of one of the nine stories in the collection Going Where They Belong. The story evolved from an event in real life but as with most stories, it took on a life of its own as I started writing. The excerpt here includes the source of the title, a piece of dialogue between a husband and wife who are concerned not with grammar but with survival. The story contrasts this couple with another couple who are better educated and more prosperous. Wealth is not the central concern of the story, but it plays a part. A man has lost his wallet, a stranger has found it, and how they each respond to that event brings them to realizations about their lives and changes they decide to make. American stories about American people, the stories in this collection occur across the years from the 1960’s to 2023. They present diverse situations expressed in voices and personalities that take the reader close to the inner experience of the characters. They are told by and about teenagers, mid-lifers, and elders. They are about settled lives and drastically disordered ones, working people, dying people. Like all of us, the characters are finding their way forward in the face of loss. They are furious and funny, hurtful and helpful. The characters found me, and I found their stories. They are all going where they belong, which is why I brought them together in this book.
