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|    rec.arts.sf.composition    |    The writing and publishing of speculativ    |    144,800 messages    |
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|    Message 142,847 of 144,800    |
|    William Vetter to J.Pascal    |
|    Re: Do you understand what I'm doing her    |
|    04 May 14 11:35:43    |
      From: mdhangton@gmail.com              On Sunday, April 20, 2014 3:33:20 PM UTC-4, J.Pascal wrote:       > On Saturday, April 19, 2014 2:18:55 PM UTC-6, William Vetter wrote:       >        > > Do you think this is lame? When I wrote it, I thought        >        > >        >        > > it was a good lost cat flyer, but now, when I read it, it        >        > >        >        > > seems lame.       >        > >        >        > > The POV character's wife, as I mentioned above, was a        >        > >        >        > > lesbian and left him for her Asian manicurist as a matter        >        > >        >        > > of backstory.       >        > >        >        > >        >        > >        >        > > ______       >        > >        >        > >        >        > >        >        > >        >        > >        >        > > This one had a picture of a black cat on it. It        >        > >        >        > > confused me at first, because it began with "My name is        >        > >        >        > > John. I am an alcoholic," but as I read on, it most        >        > >        >        > > definitely pled for a lost cat. "I think I must have found        >        > >        >        > > her on the way home from a bar, because I named her Black        >        > >        >        > > Haus. I've tried to call her Abby, but she only comes when        >        > >        >        > > I say 'Haus'." John gave a startling amount of contact        >        > >        >        > > information, which included his full name and even a        >        > >        >        > > business address at his job. "Please," it said, "I go to        >        > >        >        > > the meetings, but they're not enough. I can't be alone."       >        > >        >        > > I had to mull over this flyer for a while, but, in the        >        > >        >        > > end, it wasn't difficult to understand. It's hard to live        >        > >        >        > > when there's no one to notice you exist. Marriage had        >        > >        >        > > taught me that much. The print was black & white, but John        >        > >        >        > > said that Haus' eyes were yellow in the text. All of the        >        > >        >        > > flyers left me sad, but this one made me feel weak and        >        > >        >        > > impotent. There was little to be done but whisper, "Hello,        >        > >        >        > > John."       >        >        >        >        >        > I like it. I know what it's saying. I'm not confused by any of it. And       the fellow, John, who needs the cat because he's an alcoholic is engaging.       >        >        >        > I can see why you might have decided that it was "lame" but really, you       agonize over the passage but a reader doesn't stay there that long. Don't       worry about it.       >               What I think is that maybe it's melodramatic or cliched. It seems like all       detectives are recovering from something or other these days.              I got involved with this story a couple months ago...it's the closest thing to       literary fiction I've tried to do thus far. It's a cat story -- the main       characters are the POV guy and the feral kitten he gets. There isn't so much       verbal dialog. It has        problems. I'm bogged down in it.              --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05        * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)    |
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