Missouri Normal

This novel tells the story of Jane Montgomery, a psychic from Missouri. Jane's "visions" predict avoidable conflicts, but no one believes in her daymares until they come to pass. Sam Bates is her biggest naysayer and a man she's loved since childhood. He takes her to the Muscogee Nation in Oklahoma where her vision identifies child abuse. A tribal elder recognizes her gift and pronounces her a Seer. Jane understands her psychic vision as a tool for cross-cultural communication and builds a future for herself in social work. She finds her "broken" and claims it as her gift. Missouri is one of few US states whose residents span a continuum from practicing psychics to military veterans and imagines both as equally viable members of the community. Arendell's debut novel explores this unlikely pairing and argues that society needs both sides of this equation. Her deep characterization prompts an immersive reading experience true to this Southern Midwest locale. Character voices highlight regional dialogue and neurodiversity. A true celebration of difference makes what is usually considered broken more of a gift.

MISSOURI NORMAL is Telory Arendell's 64,000-word upmarket women's fiction debut novel about a psychic 25-year-old's quest for respect in the Southern Midwest. This is M. Scott Swanson's Throw the Amulet meets Kimberly Diede's Whispering Pines. To JANE MONTGOMERY, "Missouri Normal" is everything she's trying to avoid: house-bound, bible-thumping, double-wide trailer trash. As an older returning college student, Jane is a community outlier. After saving her mom's life on 9-11, she can't ignore her psychic ability. Prediction of a near-fatal robbery cements her fate: invent a modern equivalent for psychic readings or fall prey to Southwest Missouri prejudice. Jane's childhood crush, SAM BATES, believes in empirical evidence. Military engineering stations him in San Diego. When the two meet up years later back home in rural Missouri, Jane falls deeper for him despite his refusal to respect her psychic ability. On vacation with Sam in Oklahoma, a tribal elder of the Muscogee Creek Nation recognizes Jane's gift. A 'Seer' has no place in contemporary life, so Jane pursues reputable employment to honor her talent. She fears abandoning her disabled mother and bears the brunt of psychic ridicule. An option that moves Sam closer to home arrives right before his deployment to Afghanistan. Jane spends two years in a Social Work graduate program while Sam serves his deployment overseas, their company restricted to holiday visits. Sam's return holds a double surprise that cements this couple as Missouri Normal. Finding your broken defines your gift, and what breaks us makes us. A vision will only help if you share it. In this debut novel, visions lead a Seer to counseled clarity.

Telory Arendell is a Performance Studies Professor at Missouri State University. She has graduate degrees from Stanford University and New York University, and a BA from Swarthmore College. Her scholarship includes four monographs and one edited anthology. These include Devised Theatre's Collaborative Performance (Routledge 2023), Pina Bausch's Aggressive Tenderness (Routledge 2020), Dance's Duet with the Camera (Palgrave Macmillan 2016), The Autistic Stage (Sense 2015), and Performing Disability (VDM 2009). Her current work-in-progress is titled Embodied Playwriting: A Fierce Kind of Love (2023). She is a proponent of disability rights and neurodiversity. Her next novel Texas Yeehaw takes us into unchartered territory with a storm-chaser and a cowgirl.