On Channeling and Protein Supplements

Okay, so I've officially had my first Twilight Zone moment involving my screenplay. I could picture the location of my first scene perfectly - the mountain, the landscape, the highway, the surrounding area, everything. The time came for me to name the county my story was to take place in, so I pondered for all of 2 seconds and typed the first name that came to mind. It was the county my wife's family is from. Let's call it Duncan. Okay, so our story takes place in Duncan county. In the next page or two, we're going to need to contact the neighboring county for assistance. It's going to need a name, too. Again, a couple of seconds pass and I have the other county's name. We'll call this one Jefferson. Okay, two counties named, I now need a small to medium sized town, say, 50,000 peeps?

I've never actually been to the area where my mother-in-law grew up. I've caught connecting flights at nearby airports and once drove through the eastern part of the state, but I've never been to the mountainous western portion. So, I decide to consult Google Earth for a quick lesson in the area's make-up. I zero in on "Duncan" County and scroll across the land like a produce clerk looking for the perfect piece of fruit to give to the pretty girl about to leave the deli.

Twilight Zone event #1 - Duncan's neighboring county is ... um ... Jefferson.

Freaky. What were the odds of me pulling two random names out of the air to be neighboring counties and having them actually be neighboring counties? So, I try to find a highway in the area that goes up into the mountains. Here's one. And looky there - an icon to click on that will show me a picture. Click.

Twilight Zone event #2 - The picture of the mountain highway matches my scene exactly.

Uhhh. That's kinda weird, isn't it? Okay, now to find a suitable town in close proximity to my highway. There's only one town on the screen. I do a quick internet search.

Twilight Zone event #3 - Perfectly located town - population 54,000.

Alright, now I'm freaking out a bit. How could I pull random names and images out of my brain and have them 100% match an actual location I've never seen? Perhaps I lived there in another life. Maybe the story isn't fiction at all. I don't know. But if it's based on a true story, how the hell do I obtain the movie rights?

On a separate note, I used to bite my fingernails. Wait, there's a reason I'm telling you this. I did this from as far back as I can remember and continued to do so until I was 26 years old - when I met my wife, actually. I stopped almost overnight. Maybe finding my soulmate broke the spell or something. Here it is, twelve years later. A couple of days ago, I sat in front of my computer for six hours typing six pages. And when I was done, not only had I typed six incredibly iffy pages, I had also somehow managed to bite off every fingernail I had.

I've barely begun and this project is already having its way with me.