How to get out of the funk... write a novel

I went home this weekend to IL for my sister's bachelorette party. This morning I was sitting around with my mom... I asked her about a recent situation that was troubling her. For those of you that don't know, both of my parents are immigrants. My mom has worked for a very wealthy family for almost 25 years. She used to take care of their house, kids, watch their dog when they went to Florida for the winter, etc. They are almost in their 90's so now she has been helping out a lot more. She makes their meals, does their groceries, etc.

Recently, my parents brought land in Canada adjoining the land owned by this wealthy family. The wealthy family purchased an easement on my parents property to get to their property, which previously was only accessible by boat. Well, as with many things that involve mixing "family" and money, shit hit the fan. My parents found out that the easement was not to give access to their one home, but that they planned on splitting their lot into several parcels and selling it for a major profit.

My mom was so upset by the whole thing that she spilled her guts to them, asking how they could take advantage of an immigrant that has done nothing but help them for 25 years. It brought back a lot of painful memories.... Here she is....the person named on their living will, the person that they call when they're in the hospital.... only to be taken advantage of bc the wealthy family wants to leave more money to their children when they pass (the children that don't call visit, write, etc. but always manage to cash their 50K Christmas checks.) The details are far too complex, but I turned to my mom and said, You should really write a novel, about this, about how you came to America and the struggles that you faced, etc. She thought it was a great idea. After so many years she finally felt free and all of these stories started to come out. Stories about how this family would brag about donating tens of thousands of dollars to scholarship foundations, knowing all the while that their immigrant caretaker's own children had to take on thousands of dollars worth of student debt. She went on and on....

I think its prime time to whip out that Rhetoric degree that I have not used in so many years. Since it is national "Write a Novel Month" I thought why not? So, I am actually going to give this a shot. I will start doing some research by reading the stories that are already out there. Wish me luck.