My mother and I were talking about Christmas and she said something like, "of course my dearest wish for the holidays is to read your novel."
*GASP*
THE HORROR!!
My fellow NaNo Rhinos may be facing this same request. Here, for your use, is a handy shut-em-up-quick explanation for your loved ones on why reading your 2009 NaNo this decade is a terrible idea.
The novel is my baby, and the first draft is like the first trimester. If you were to see it at one-trimester old, it would not be cute or cuddly. It would be disturbing and sad, because exposure at this time is a terribly risky procedure.
After the second draft/second trimester, it might be a look at little more like a novel, but still its touch-and-go survival after being exposed before it was ready will cause us all a lot of anxiety. And cause you a lot of guilt. Just sayin'.
You can look at it after the third draft/third trimester. It still won't be perfect - all wrinkly and cone-headed - but it will be cute and ready for your love. You can wait.Mom's reaction: "It's going to be a looong pregnancy."
You're telling me!
My darling Kate,
ReplyDeleteIf I am not allowed to take a peek at your first trimester MS for a Christmas gift, would you at least let me have a sonogram (wordle)? If I got one after each trimester, they would make a lovely framed artwork statement on a wall.
Love, Mom
LOL, Mom! Only you could love me enough to hang my wordles on your wall... Yes, I'll let you have them.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Kate
I thought you were going to say it was because your mom was in it. At my graduation ceremony when I got my MFA, the director of our program looked around at all the parents and said, "It's so nice to meet the people your children have been writing about these past two years!" Congrats on the halfway mark! I am jealous!
ReplyDeleteLOL Jorie! But GOD NO! In fact, my MC's mother dies in childbirth, and this is not some kind of metaphor. at. all. It's FICTION.
ReplyDeleteBut you know, I do worry that people I know will read too much into this book. None of the characters are based on anyone I know including me, but I can't shake something Anna Quindlen wrote - when she was a reporter everyone thought she made stuff up, and when she wrote fiction everyone thought she was telling true stories.
Thanks for the congratulations! Do you have a WIP? Are you doing NaNo?