I am writing a book about the denizens of a fictional part of Arkansas: Succotash County. It is the Hog Fodder capital of the world, though no one is sure exactly what that means. Strange things happen to the folks in Succotash County (and some not so strange). But the good folks of Pea Pod Junction, Bixby Corners and Taylor Hollow are more than willing to talk about it all, especially to the owner, editor and sole reporter of the Succotash County Times, Jedgar Bissell (his parents tried to name him after J. Edgar Hoover, but accidentally dropped the period). Mr. Bissell is known for misleading headlines and the occasional outrageous misprint, such as:
“Correction: In last week’s Wednesday edition we originally reported that Earl Parker had received a Dear John letter. This should have read that he had received a letter from John Deere. We regret that this caused Earl to have to sleep in his truck and eat at the diner for the last week. The Pepto-Bismol is on us.”
The main characters of this book are Erma Rose and Earl Parker, the owners of a farm just on the edge of Pea Pod Junction. Others featured are their two children, Earl “Bubba” Parker Jr. and Loretta Sue Parker, Sheriff Harlan Tuttle, Doug Miller (and his still), and many others. There is even a posthumous visit from Elvis.
