Chicago – My Hometown

Unlike Frank Sinatra, who I adore and sang the classic song, Chicago, it really is my hometown. I am a born and bred Chicago-ian. We are our own breed of people and I always laugh and say that maybe outsiders should have a special passport to enter. Yeah, we’re that different. We speak our own language at times and real Chicago-ians, not the suburbanites, growl when someone says they’re from Chicago, and really they’re from Rockford. Or like when someone asks where you’re from in Chicago and you answer that you’re a Cubs or Sox fan. (Meaning that Cubs fans are on the North side while the Sox own the South side).

While I might have moved to see what else is out there in the country I love… Chicago will always be a part of me. So when I first came up with the idea of doing a Christmas series, I instantly knew where it would be set… in my hometown. I know I am completely, totally, and out rightly bias but Chicago at Christmas is one of the wonders of the world. From Michigan Ave all lit up to the ice rink in Millennium Park to the way Navy Pier turns into a constant winter festival. Not to mention how the Chicago River gets those chunks of ice in it and when you walk over the lit bridges and see them, there’s something magical about it.

As I wrote more and more of the series, I couldn’t get over how many of my favorite places in my hometown worked their way into the story. Natural History Museum, Wrigley Field, and Lincoln Park Zoo to name a few. But the food I did understand. I’ve talked to a few of my friends who I grew up with and have since moved for various reasons. Any time we talk, besides missing our families or parents, all we whine about is how we miss the food. No one has better Chinese food than in Chicago (in the US at least that I’ve found), the pizza is the best, and it carried over into my elves, how they’re always ordering Lou Malnati’s pizza.

There’s also my love and respect for the Chicago Police Department, having grown up with a parent who was on the force. Even more so is the rules most Chicago-ians live by. It cracks me up how when I go other places, people assume that Chicago-ians are so rude because they’re from such a big city. Nope, we just know the rules.

Where I live now my neighbors are always in my business, to the point I can’t take out my garbage without having one come over and talk to me, wanting to know everything. Yeah, I like my neighbors, one is a really good friend, but who the hell wants to chit chat when it’s balls cold out and you’re dealing with the garbage? See, in Chicago, we know the rules. You see your neighbor, you wave. You want to talk, you take a step in their direction and if they don’t reciprocate, you go don’t bug them. And if you’re asking them questions and they give one word answers or grunt at you… you leave them alone. Not keep asking! Which I actually find to be very rude.

My point is not to pick on my neighbors, but to show that everywhere is different and really one isn’t better than another. We just have different rules. In Chicago, it’s none of our business what our neighbors do as long as it doesn’t bother us or their house isn’t on fire. And we take care of our own. To the point of violence. You screw with my family (which we include our friends in that), you screw with me. I never doubted growing up or even when I was an adult that my friends had my back. And a lot of that attitude and mind set is present in the series to give a view into the minds of 12 Chicago-ians.

I get a lot of emails, comments, editorial remarks, and what not that I write too colloquial and have too indigenous of a voice in my writings. Yup. So? I never saw that as a bad thing and it’s one of the few things I won’t budge in changing. English is my first language and if someone doesn’t understand certain phrases I might use here and there, they can do one of two things: look it up or figure out the gist from the rest of the conversation or paragraph. How boring would books be if the author’s voice wasn’t in the story? Sometimes I try to not let my Chicag-nese (our Chicago-ian language) slip out too much in my books but for this series, I let it run wild. It was fun!

My point in this blog and giving everyone a background on the location of the series? To show there is more of me in these books than most of my previous writings. I tend to keep to myself and don’t like to talk about my personal life too much. But in Who Needs Christmas? I let the story flow and a picture of the city I love and the way it’s influenced me show.

Starting today, with this blog there will be one every day and there will be a few guest blogs about the series. There will also be contests, giveaways, and mostly, lots of fun. On that note… here’s the first contest: What is the name of the ice rink in Millennium Park?

Why ask that? It’s on the cover of all the books for those of you who aren’t Chicago familiar! Read these directions because only the people who do it right get entered!

If you’d like to enter please email Andi, my intern at joyee_intern@yahoo.com. Put the title of the blog in the subject line so she can keep them all straight. In the email, put your answer, full name and address.

The prize for this contest is a Who Needs Christmas? T-shirt so please also put if you’d like a L or XL! *Contest ends Dec 12th at noon MST.

Good luck & only two more days until Screw Santa! I hope you all enjoy the maddness in my head half as much as I did writing this series.

-Joyee