Road Kill Pumpkin

Road Kill Pumpkin
When I proposed my book to Penguin publishing, the outline called for a roadkill pumpkin. It was to be a pumpkin that was eating roadkill. It was one of 30 ideas in the proposal. People thought it was OK, not the best, not the worst. Sort of a mid-pack idea that no one thought much about.

Well, one day my editor called and asked what I was going to use for materials for the road kill pumpkin. I told her that I was going to use a pumpkin, some fake blood and a roadkill.

She asked where I was going to get a roadkill, is there an online store that sells fake ones or something? I said "No, I'm just going to drive around with a shovel until I spot one and then grab it."

Well, at that moment I could hear the culture clash happen. It wasn't exactly audible, but there had obviously been a difference in ideas here. I had naturally assumed that the prop would come in the form of a real road kill. That would be extreme. The folks at Penguin had thought that I MUST have some way to fake a roadkill. No one would even dare use a real one!

Well, we settled on a stuffed animal. I went to the salvation army and all they had was a monkey. I bought it anyway. I was hoping for a oppossum or a raccoon, but apparently this pumpkin found himself a monkey and he has started to eat it.

I still haven't ruled out using a real road kill. Write to me if you think that I should or should not use a real road kill in a pumpkin carving.