Circa 2005

Twenty years ago, minus a day, I began writing a story. Skinny Legs and All, A Russian Debutante's Handbook, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius had inspired me to write something. That something, nineteen chapters and 53,000 words, is available to read on this website (right column or "Move to" or however it presents on a mobile device).

I spent a year (10 months?) writing it. A local writers' workshop eviscerated the first five pages.

"When does the story begin?"
"If I grabbed this off a bookshelf at the bookstore then flipped through it, I would put it right back."
"No one talks like this."
Et cetera.

After the group disbanded, one person (away from the public savaging) said she liked my writing. I believed her confession was genuine, but now as I type this, wonder if the public flogging had spawned an amount of pity.

In 2010, I posted the story to a now-defunct website where other people shared fiction. I got one review.

I removed the story after a few months then abandoned fiction writing (and the enterprise of audience-attracting) indefinitely. Thirteen years later, on a random day, an inclination possessed me, and I challenged myself to read my old story again. Naturally, impulsively--inexorably--a rewrite followed. In 2023, I added thousands of words and a much different ending. A much different middle. That's the version available today.

P.S.
I adore that review.