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In Paint Chips, Cora has a dream in which she covers herself, head to toe, with paint.
“Cans full of paint sat all around me. Different colors. Green. Orange. Blue. Yellow. They filled the living room of the mountain shack. I stuck my hands in the cans and covered my hair and face and body with layers of paint. The more I spread across myself, the less recognizable I became. A glob of ugly color, misshapen and stiff.”
(Paint Chips, 2013 WhiteFire Publishing)
Cora, throughout the book, deals with all the different layers she has used to cover over the difficult and painful events of her life. This woman has so many defenses, she no longer is able to feel.
You know, when I started writing this book, I marginalized Cora. Made her almost comical in her suffering. After writing the first draft, I realized that she needed more. She needed redemption. She needed healing.
Because, in a whole lot of ways…
I’m Cora.
And, I suspect, many other people are, too.
I’m like Cora in my anxious thoughts, my desire for perfection, fear that I allow to bundle up inside me. But most of all, I’m like Cora because I desire to cover over things. To hide them. To pretend that they aren’t real.
I’m also like Cora, because I had a moment of change.
Tell me about you. Do you identify from a character from a book? How? How might you be different from that character? I’d love to hear from you!
susiefinkbeiner.com 