Football Novel

By Refried Bean

This book is a short novel about an English teacher, a football team, and some friendly imaginary mice who help save a prayer factory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Refried Bean
• Release date: Nov 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463140130

Refried Bean

Refried Bean is from Greenville, SC. Refried worked in a bookstore for twelve years and has an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Refried now lives in the Bronx near a Stop and Shop.

Book preview

Introduction

Well everyone, it seems that I am writing a forward to this book. I think I will list some names in this forward instead of doing a regular acknowledgements page. One of the reasons I am writing this extra section is to try to get the book to be 33,333 words. I think this book is going to be the second book in a trilogy, though I might end up writing many more novels that feature imaginary mice. The last book really did end up at 33,333 words, and then I had to add the acknowledgements page and subtract some writing to make room in the word count. This time, the book ended at 31,600, so I am adding the essay to get to 33,333. That, to me, seems less real, but I think it is worth it to try to achieve that word count for the trilogy.

I wrote this book in two weeks, and wrote the last novel, Donut Novel, in about two weeks, also. I wrote Donut Novel quickly to turn in for a critique at a novel retreat, and I wrote this book during the National Novel Writing Month writing event where thousands of writers attempt to write a novel in a month. I got a late start, caught up, and then hurried to finish the novel before I attended a writers’ conference themed around the books of Madeleine L’Engle, who wrote A Wrinkle in Time. I wrote the last major scenes while I was at the conference retreat, and then added some resolution scenes two days later.

Do I usually write that fast? Not really, but kind of, yes. And yet I am probably able to because of many years with ideas percolating, which is true of most of my imaginary mice content. Something interesting about this book is that the mice characters are where my true story appetite is, and that is why there is a very traditional and heartfelt story arc within that section of the novel. The human part of the novel is different, but also real. What is it exactly? Is it a story arc? I am not sure it is. I think it might reflect something else, like a sincere work ambition, or an agenda that is also true and meant in a good way. I think it is presented honestly, no matter how much people might try to say that it is some kind of evangelical trick.

I think that this book, with all the things that make it weak in certain ways, and hybrid in possibly a way that could lose some readers, has emerged from a lifelong effort to be creative and honest at the same time. This book is almost verbatim to what I wrote during these two weeks of NaNo, which is a fast paced, word-count oriented writing process where usually people produce a draft for further revision. I thought I was doing that but can’t bring myself to change much at all in the novel, except for correcting a few word choice mistakes and punctuation errors. It is an odd and great surprise to me, to see that I do have a true inspiration and ability after fearing that I could be some kind of fiction fraud. I have thought that because of not being able to read well and fearing that my mind might have some kind of deviant literary preference or no preference at all from a cold heart.

And yet twice now, as I have finished these books, I have found a real storyline from the heart, and what does it concern? It consarns some mice, risking and enduring danger and shame in order to save their society from Bad Rat, shadows, snakes, and thornings.

I think that many people can relate to sweet little mice, no matter how old they are, and I think that a lot of grownups can relate to me, too, in my deep, lifelong fears and often too much confirmed suspicion that I am a bad person. But it turns out that I am only bad sometimes, and my good heart will overcome its own corruption and the world’s corruption, just as God promised.

Acknowledgements

Thank you, Dr. Gayle, Dr. Pickett, Dr. Banana, Dr. Klein, Kelly and Allison, Carol, Joseph, Carla, Chelsea, Alison the social worker, Laura Kragt, Ricky, Alexandra, Dr. Liu and Dr. Gurney, Michelle, Betty, Shannon Pelcher-Rao, Mark, Nadia, and all the medical people who have been there for me. I do not know or remember all the names. Thanks also to cousins: Christy, Ron, Daniel, Alex, Barbara, Danny, Rollie, Dodo and Bob, Katie, Billy, Bob, and Joan, Mike and Betty, Mark, Steve and Melanie.

Special thanks also to Duncan, Sandra, Gloria, Ron, Lillian, Amanda, Chad, Graham, Elise, Bertram, Marta, George, Ivan, Diane, and Jacqui Lewis, and to Dr. Nicotera and my spirituality and social work class.

Thank you food and restaurant industry, and Chopped, my favorite TV show.

Thank you so much, Binders who Nano, Alana, Stacy, Alicia, Julia, and write-in pals, and everyone else who helped me have such a fun NaNo experience. I believe in the process, even though I think people would have different experiences with it at different stages in their writing life.

I also want to thank my other online support from the What is Wellness Facebook Discussion group, Neesa Suncheuri, Nick, Fred, Linda, and other mental health support from NAMI, Cynthia, Sara and Rachel, Jen, Philistina, Drena, Youtube, MSF, Samaritans, MHA, Medicaid, NYC Well, and all the conspiracies now who have helped me without anything in return except my own relief. How can anyone be thanked for that. I do not know. I also do not know how to thank other support group friends, like Maria, Dor, Prince, Eric, Bud, Ron, Rochelle, Claire, Tami Gatta, Ricky, Dmitri, Joan, and everyone who understood or tried, or who was patient while I experienced my contagious torment.

Another category like that are the heroes at Starbucks. Thank you so much for always being there, Romi, Oswaldo, Pat, Fire, Kiersten, Michael, Johelis, Tonya, Cressida, Sarah, Dionelle, Blad, Raulyn- so many names I have forgotten, but I have had a happy life drinking coffee, and maybe we will all be coworkers together at some of the Barnes and Nobles in heaven and purgatory. I do not want to work at the Barnes and Noble in hell but if I am ever there I might try to be a customer.

Anyway, what was I saying. Okay, I am thanking people. I have tried to thank people well in all my books, but there are always people I leave out. And by now, I have facebook friends and other friends at volunteer work and other places who I know I probably will never be able to thank by name in this life. But in heaven some day after some of the Judgement Day excitement has worn off, I could live in a stone house with all my earth friends and heroes names carved into it. God might have to provide it, and there could be names I still don’t know, and who only find out their names are there when they arrive for trick or treating five billion years after I move in.

What about New York Cares people? Iris, Avi, Graham, Shelby, Lydell, Toby, Matt, Caroline, Regina, Spike, Dianna, Chris, Casey, Julia, Gene, Jose, Rita, Riley, Dalicy, Theresa, Kimberly, Gary, Claire, Robert, Jorges, Pat, Tamiko, Maria, Iday, Eliane, Jeyergo, Ed, Stephen, Rhonda, Gennie, Dale, Marianne, Sylvia, Jennifer, Julia, Jun, Vanessa, Valerie, Dane, Jerry, Fey, Jamilla, Savani, Akeem, Asha, Anastasia, Michelle, Bedinka, Beverly, Mark, Adilson, Julius, Marvin, Rey, Christina, Marilyn, Guy, Christine, Carter, Virgiglio, Omar, Shaun, Charlotte, Lucy, Joy, Sue, Linda, Susan, Nan, Erin, Ana, Kai, Andy and Maria, Anna, Patrick, Ruth, Tim, Danielle, Lisa, and now I am thinking of a lot of names, and it gets into the hundreds. Some names I might not remember but who deserve extra thanks are people who volunteered with me as team leader and were so reliable and nice, even with my symptoms of disorganized schizophrenia. People can say that’s what’s expected and should be normal, but there is a range of generosity with accommodations. I don’t mind admitting that some people have had to be heroes to work with me. That doesn’t make the Barnes and Noble humiliation okay, though they will use this statement in court to try to defend their standard business practice of constructive dismissal to the point of torture and abuse-driven suicide. Rest in Peace, Sam, forever, and blessings and greetings to James Stubblefield and family. Barnes and Noble’s company shark policies of riddance are designed to be harsh enough to work on sane people, but have to be more extreme for some mentally ill employees, who might be deluded into thinking there must be a reason for cashiers to have their souls set on fire in front of their community for years at a time. And it probably takes the most abuse and the most secret shoppers to get rid of an employee with autism, who could be so gullible as to think that torture is an accommodation. Otherwise, why would people do something like that?

Marion was mad because I had to call out sick one day and told him instead of asked him. I felt the mania and knew I had to take medicine and sleep at all costs, so I went to the store in person and told him I could not be there the next day. He said, I can see that you are perfectly fine. What a jerk, but I forgave him and thought it was weird later on during my year of teaching when I tried to return an opened but unwatched Harlem documentary and he refused to let me return it like other customers are allowed to do. How odd. And that he was there working as a department manager instead of being the Store Manager like he had been.