Athena, I must ask. How long did you live in Huntington? Long enough to remember Mr. Cartoon? I grew up nearby in Portsmouth, Ohio and Huntington was the BIG CITY where all the television stations were.
I've been through Portsmouth a few times, I think. We used to drive past it when we'd go to visit my grandpa in Parkersburg. Am I thinking of the right place? Does it have some kind of big power plant that's (or was) visible from the interstate?
I was born in and lived in Huntington from '70-'78 (and visit every year now), but I had to look up Mr. Cartoon. I don't remember him! I'm sure my mom, dad and uncle would, though.
You might be thinking of Marietta or Ironton. They're a little closer to Huntington. Portsmouth is a little farther west over by the Shawnee State Forest. Some of my books are set in the Huntington/Ashland area and I'm toying with something in Portsmouth, though I've had one of my characters stop in the old home town. I don't think they'd like it though, it's where some baby-nappers (based loosely on a whole bunch of neighbors I was never too fond of) live.
Babynappers? Goodness. This may make me sound really morbid, but it'd make a good story, though.
You're probably right about Ironton. Marietta we only went to once, on the ferry over from Parkersburg. I also only went once to Ashland right before we moved, to a fair or something. Now, my only sight of Ashland is when I drive by the big smokestacks every time I visit my family. Not a pretty sight, huh?
I want to set my next book in Huntington. I really do love my hometown, but I'm going to change some things... I'm probably the only Huntington native who still gets confused by the streets (and it's supposedly one of the best planned cities in the world!).
Which of your books are set in the Huntington area?
My main (or should I say my first main character in anything book length I completed) character is a Professor and TV personality in Bowling Green Ohio (where I went to college) and in my little world his stepmother is from Kentucky (where a lot of my family is from)and at one point his little girl is kidnapped by some very nasty people wanting her bone marrow and he tracks her to Ashland where his Aunt happens to be a nurse at Kings Daughters. I had mentioned his Aunt and his cousins in previous stories, but I started thinking about them and who they are and what they do and realized that his twin cousins Randall and Ralph (Randy and Rowdy) are from Huntington. One in going to Nursing School at Marshall and the other was studying Physical Therapy at Ohio University and then all sorts of terrible things began to happen to them and I got completely sidetracked from what I thought I was working on and wrote three full-length novels about them and ended up populating Huntington with all sorts of people. I also realized that relatives and friends of characters from my other books also lived there. And soon the town was chocked full of problems.
I talked to my mom this morning. She not only remembers Mr. Cartoon, but works with his wife, and still sees him around from time to time. Says he's still a spry guy.
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I've been through Portsmouth a few times, I think. We used to drive past it when we'd go to visit my grandpa in Parkersburg. Am I thinking of the right place? Does it have some kind of big power plant that's (or was) visible from the interstate?
I was born in and lived in Huntington from '70-'78 (and visit every year now), but I had to look up Mr. Cartoon. I don't remember him! I'm sure my mom, dad and uncle would, though.
Huntington still has the t.v. stations. :)
You might be thinking of Marietta or Ironton. They're a little closer to Huntington. Portsmouth is a little farther west over by the Shawnee State Forest. Some of my books are set in the Huntington/Ashland area and I'm toying with something in Portsmouth, though I've had one of my characters stop in the old home town. I don't think they'd like it though, it's where some baby-nappers (based loosely on a whole bunch of neighbors I was never too fond of) live.
Babynappers? Goodness. This may make me sound really morbid, but it'd make a good story, though.
You're probably right about Ironton. Marietta we only went to once, on the ferry over from Parkersburg. I also only went once to Ashland right before we moved, to a fair or something. Now, my only sight of Ashland is when I drive by the big smokestacks every time I visit my family. Not a pretty sight, huh?
I want to set my next book in Huntington. I really do love my hometown, but I'm going to change some things... I'm probably the only Huntington native who still gets confused by the streets (and it's supposedly one of the best planned cities in the world!).
Which of your books are set in the Huntington area?
My main (or should I say my first main character in anything book length I completed) character is a Professor and TV personality in Bowling Green Ohio (where I went to college) and in my little world his stepmother is from Kentucky (where a lot of my family is from)and at one point his little girl is kidnapped by some very nasty people wanting her bone marrow and he tracks her to Ashland where his Aunt happens to be a nurse at Kings Daughters. I had mentioned his Aunt and his cousins in previous stories, but I started thinking about them and who they are and what they do and realized that his twin cousins Randall and Ralph (Randy and Rowdy) are from Huntington. One in going to Nursing School at Marshall and the other was studying Physical Therapy at Ohio University and then all sorts of terrible things began to happen to them and I got completely sidetracked from what I thought I was working on and wrote three full-length novels about them and ended up populating Huntington with all sorts of people. I also realized that relatives and friends of characters from my other books also lived there. And soon the town was chocked full of problems.
I talked to my mom this morning. She not only remembers Mr. Cartoon, but works with his wife, and still sees him around from time to time. Says he's still a spry guy.
How great that he's still out and about.
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