It's been interesting to read the comments on yesterday's post, but I want to clarify something: although this is based on an actual event, it is fiction, not memoir.
Some of it happened in objective reality (as you can tell by the photo of the painting), but some of it happened only in artistic reality (that is, although the events/conversations did not happen, the emotions are real).
And that is where we're going to leave it, because I believe that art loses its magic if you understand how the trick is done.
This story, by the way, won the Dayton Daily News Short Story Contest and was published in a Sunday edition of the paper in June, 2005 with some very cool artwork. Even so, I've always wanted to give it a wider audience, so thanks for your patience. Tomorrow we'll return to our regularly scheduled blogging.
Okay, it appears an apology is due. Until I started reading the comments Sunday evening, I thought it was undestood that this was fiction based on an actual event. The guys, in particular, seem to feel like they were led down the garden path -- sorry, guys! I thought the language I used in describing it in the meme last week ("story," "protagonist") marked it as fiction. I will be more careful to differentiate in the future -- in the actual post.
Understand - congrats on winning a short story contest BTW. Your writing is brilliant and your magic even better!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the post. Congrats on the prize for your short story. You are a good writer and I always enjoy every one of your posts.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on winning a short story contest!
ReplyDeleteThat's for the insight and congrats on winning - that's great.
ReplyDeleteI feel used
ReplyDeleteI don't mind knowing it's fiction before the story is told- it doesn't make it less of a good story...
ReplyDeleteI live my life in artistic reality, reinterpretation is key. Otherwise I would have taken everyone out a long time ago.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I read it, came back again and read it again, and read comments, so I really began to believe it was real...
ReplyDeleteOh wow. Well done.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have to say, to clear my conscious, I wish people writing fiction would say so. I feel stupid when it turns out they were saying stuff that didn't happen the way the story reads..Embellishing something is OK with me, but it's a fine line when you make it fiction.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering, as I read.. is this life imitating art, or the other way around? The line is blurred, lovely. It's beautiful and I can understand why it won.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I missed it. I always miss all the interesting stuff!
ReplyDeleteAnd congrats on the story.coi
I don't know. Actually the Kool-Aid tasted pretty good. No apology needed on my behalf. Besides, how could I be hurt by an author who uses words like "snarky" and "hussy"?
ReplyDeleteI found a whole blog a couple of weeks ago where I was not at all sure if it was true. Or rather, I started off assuming it was true, until I looked at the other blogs by the same person and they were not consistent. (And the fictional one was about a guy dying.) Confused the *@!# out of me...
ReplyDeleteWell it was interesting fiction..I enjoyed it! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a great story...congrats on winning an award for it! :)
ReplyDelete