Children and Gambling 2

Q: I read the answer to your last question and read that you have seen children waiting for their parents in parking lots and non-carpeted casino floors. I am a 14 year old daughter whose father has/had gambling problems and HAS left me and younger siblings in a parking lot. Have you ever thought of seeing or listening from a child's prospective? My blog is basically from a child's view:

http://www.sramirez93.blogspot.com/



A: Thanks for your question. Yes, I have thought of gambling from a child's point of view. In fact, the sequel to the book (Son of a P) is written from the point of view of P's son--but he is an adult telling the story.

I have a story called "Crip" in the collection LAS VEGAS NOIR (Akashic 2008) that features a little girl who is the child of a gambler. She suffers a lot because of her gambling father--she gets kidnapped and ransomed and then even the threat of sexual abuse arises.

Around 2003-4 there was a memoir I heard about on NPR called something like . . . I wish I could remember the title . . . it was called something like "THE THINGS WE LOST THROUGH OUR FATHER's GAMBLING." From the excerpts, it seems to have been written from the point of view of an adult child of a gambler--recalling her childhood with the gambling father. I wish I had written down the title, but I was on my way to the casino to go gamble and I didn't want to be late.

Your question has given me an idea--I am going to write another short story from the point of view of a gambler's child and focus just on the adventures of the child.

I will visit your site.

Thanks,

Preston