I am so pleased with that book. I just need to find an agent who agrees with me!
This is my pitch:
All wealthy families are alike; each poor family is poor in its own way.
— Leo Tolstoy, if he had written about a trailer park
Most people think they understand the underclass. There are rules in life, and if poor people followed them, they wouldn’t be poor. But each character in The Trailer Park Rules is poor for a different reason. Some have made unwise choices, but others have seen the world shift beneath their feet.
For the residents of the Loire Mobile Home Park, surviving means understanding which rules to follow and which to break. When a corporation purchases the trailer park and jacks up the lot rent, the lives of everyone in the park will shift dramatically and in some cases tragically. Each chapter advances the story through one character’s POV. You will notice the characters are deceiving themselves as often as they deceive each other. These people are not all likable, but they are easy to recognize and emotionally connect to.
Fans of Kurt Vonnegut and Charlie Kauffman will have reason to enjoy the end of this book.
I lived in a trailer until I was in junior high, when my family moved into a house my parents built by hand on the weekends over seven or eight years. I earned a college degree, followed all of society’s rules, and at my economic apex, was the editor of a daily newspaper. A newspaper editor is that rare creature who doesn’t stay in a bubble: Newspaper people look into the windows of the underclass and of the wealthy. They have great stories about famous people you’ve heard of and obscure people you haven’t. I find the disparate lives of people living in different places and circumstances absolutely fascinating and pity those with little contact and no understanding of people outside their own circle. I have friends from all over the socio-economic spectrum and am married to a Dutch citizen. In recent years, I’ve written everything, including novels, magazine pieces, scripts for TV and radio commercials and web copy.
Welcome to the Loire Mobile Home Park. Please observe all rules.
