Cutting The Fat - Maria Savva & Jason McIntyre
It's amazing how successful stories materialise from just a spark of an idea and Cutting The Fat is no exception. To me it has a bittersweet quality, where conflicting feelings seesaw and rational thought is pushed into the background in favour of justice.
But is it?
I can understand and certainly sympathise with the anger felt by those who are waiting for that lucky break in the `real world of publishing', where, after receiving day by day rejection letters from publishers that state: `Sorry but we not taking on any new clients.' In other words, unless you are already famous, there's not a chance in Hell you'll ever be published.
But what choice is there for the rest of us?
Self-publishing?
Many look down from lofty heights and say, `Who are they to do such a thing? If they had any real talent they'd snapped up!' Maybe, but wouldn't it be fantastic if submissions could get by the janitor, the slush pile - or at the very least, the junior editor who's just left school and has an uncle `in the trade' so was given the holiday `sifting' job?
But then if luck is on your side and `Hey, look, I have a book in print,' should happen, then what right has someone else to negatively criticise that very piece of our souls?
No wonder such ideas for this story evolve.
Yes, everyone has an opinion, but why should it be used to destroy?
Nestor Maronski - a fantastic character for us all to hate; a demon to slash that very soul with each barbed word of his own. And don't we know him so well? Someone we suppose has no talent except to use our work against us, with such arrogance and steel, as if he were the slayer and not the demon. So easy is it to slice apart another's work, without regard for the heart that lay defenceless amongst the pages - so why?
Like bullies in the school playground, negative reviewers see easy prey in writers, and as we have learnt, the only way not to let them win is to fight back.
Cutting The Fat has done it, but again I wonder if (despite the relish of sweet revenge) it helped? Was what happened to Nestor true justice, did it resolve the problem; did it really make us feel better?
Hey, that's not to say I didn't enjoy the idea!
Cutting The Fat is a clever story, well written and certainly thought-provoking. At the very least it could make the elite think twice about the souls of writers they wish to destroy.
Wishful thinking indeed.
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An added bonus - Only time can divide us - Maria Savva from her new book, Fusion
I loved the intriguing first line, `There was history in her face.' As I read through the story, its endearing quality went straight to my heart. A delightful tale showing you never know when or where love will creep into your life. A beautiful if sad story, which would tug at anyone's heartstrings.
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And the excerpt from Jason McIntyre's Thalo Blue shows talent in abundance.
