Over the years I've been fascinated by seeing solitary shoes in unusual places. A poem I wrote five years ago grew into a short story, and then evolved into my novel.
In that novel, Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries, the hero, Brad, loses his girlfriend, Jen-Zen. He becomes obsessed with photographing lost single shoes, believing Jen-Zen is out there somewhere with the other halves of the pairs of shoes. Call it an artistic Cinderella complex. He feels Jen-Zen in the shoes' shadows and everywhere. The story of Brad's life is told though his remembering Jen-Zen, working in his art, and dealing with his family and friends as he struggles to overcome his grief, all while secretly listening to his heart and following the intuitive signs.
And the signs and shoes are everywhere!
Writing the book did not stop my own sightings of lost single shoes; this week I saw a sandal on the side of the road and a fuzzy slipper with a smiley face that had washed ashore.
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P.S. The novel is available from Synergebooks.com, Amazon.com, Fictionwise.com and other distributors.
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Comments: 11
Thanks for the kind words. I hope you enjoy, Jen-Zen and the One Shoe Diaries.
Julie
She said "You never see two shoes because if there were two shoes alongside the road, obviously somebody would stop and pick them up to see if they fit."
The woman scares me sometimes with her pithy grip on our world.
Now I'm curious about your Oxford Shoe Essay. That's funny about hiding the shoes under your house. A while back I was researching some of the symbolism of the single shoes. During the Middle Ages people hid a single shoe in the walls for good luck. This custom continued when the early colonists immigrated to the U.S. There's a museum on the East coast that feature these shoes. There's a particular name for them - I'll look that up.
Julie
Can't wait to read your book - thanks for being patient with me.:)
Awww...I probably did. I was in LA two weeks ago for Book Expo. I'm so backlogged on my reading because of the 30 some books I picked up there. Yours is on the list of books I have to read.
BTW - I was born in Savannah so I have a bit of the southerner in me even though I've very Californian. People say my writing sounds southern. Maybe the mystigue or memories of visiting my cousins and catching fireflires in the summer time.
Thanks for the kind words on my book. I just extended the deadline for my free book scavenger hunt.
Julie
Somewhere out there lurks a complete outfit.