Huge thanks, Rachel, for letting me take over your blog today. I can't believe this is my penultimate post for the tour!I veer between writing very simple, straight-forward stories and weird ones that my mother doesn't understand. The Girl who is Good probably falls into the latter category.
Before this story was placed in a competition, and indeed afterwards, people (competition readers, mostly) have got very confused by it. I don't think it's confusing - you just either believe she's imagining everything or you believe every word is actually happening... Or, if you really want to, you can believe a mixture of the two. I don't mind. I know what I think is happening, and I'm happy for you to have different ideas.
Sorry, I didn't mean that to turn into a mini-rant.
I have no idea how this story turned out the way it did. I had the first line in my head for a while: The girl who is good sits between her parents in an elegant restaurant, doing and saying very little, and being very good. It seemed harmless enough.
I'm a huge people watcher - and when I see unusual groupings in restaurants or cafes I always wonder what's going on. After all, a girl in her late teens doesn't often dine out in restaurants with her mother and father, does she? She'd be with her friends or boyfriend.
So this nameless girl then decided to bring her dinner back up and hate her parents. I went with it - this was a case of letting the character speak. The fact that she's bulimic, I think, does make sense of the rest of the story... but I can't tell you what it is, because it would spoil it.
About AnnalisaI live in Cornwall, with a good supply of beaches and moorland right on my doorstep. I live with my husband, two boys, a dog and a cat. Despite my location. I neither surf nor sail, and have never had any inclination to try. I much prefer walking along the beach and listening to the waves crashing over rocks. For this reason, I really love the beach in the winter!
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If people are forming their own opinions then I'd say the story was effective.
ReplyDeleteI hope so, Alex!
DeleteAh, this one was particularly unusual, which is why I liked it so much! I think I am a member of the "some of it is happening, but some of it is imagined" camp! :D
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it. Interesting to know your take on it too :-)
DeleteThanks again for hosting part of my tour, Rachel :-)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great read! And that cover is amazing :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Meradeth. The fabulous Kyra Lennon gave me a lot of help with the cover.
DeleteGreat post!
ReplyDeleteBest of luck, Annalisa. :)
Thanks for reading, Melissa :-)
DeleteVery interesting read when a story can be interpreted differently by the readers:)
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting to write a story like it too, Marta.
DeleteThat is a great cover! And I'm glad that other people's opinions didn't sway what you wanted the story to be!
ReplyDeleteOh no, I'm far too stubborn to be swayed by what people think, Ashley :-)
DeleteWhat a different cover! (That's meant as a compliment :) )
ReplyDeleteSounds really interesting.
Thank you - I always take 'different' as a compliment. It's a common description when talking about me in general, according to my friends :-)
DeleteWonderful post. I loved the tone of this one.
ReplyDeleteThanks Christine :-)
DeleteIt's an interesting story. My take on the story? Everything happened. I can't say anything more.
ReplyDeleteWriter In Transit
Thanks for answering discreetly :-) I'd love to hear this story being debated in a reading group lol
DeleteI have to read this story! ☺
ReplyDeleteI love this comment, Dana! :-D
DeleteI loved this one - and I think the ambiguity is what makes it!
ReplyDeleteThank you Linda :-)
DeleteSounds like my kind of story, Annalisa. Happy Monday, Rachel.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mary :-)
DeleteI'm a people watcher too, and imagine what their lives are like. Sounds awesome...
ReplyDeleteI could happily spend all day in a coffee shop, just watching.
DeleteI think it sounds like an interesting story, and I especially like the title; I immediately started thinking about all the ways that the girl was/wasn't "good". And I people watch too; that's one of the reasons I like to write in cafes. I often write down funny/weird things that I see/hear other people say, do, or wear.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many stories out there, just waiting to be written! I keep meaning to write in cafes, it's such a romantic image of a writer... but instead I just stay home :-/
DeleteStories have a way of creating a life all their own. Great Story Annalisa.
ReplyDeleteThey certainly do that, Sheena-Kay!
DeleteI am always people watching myself. I can't seem to help it. My girls get embarrassed, and are always saying, "Mom, you're doing it again!" Oops.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like such a great story! Can't wait to read it.
But isn't that why we have kids, so we can embarrass them? :-)
DeleteThat cover is just amazing! Can't wait to read the story.
ReplyDeleteI still gets shivers when I look at the cover too :-)
DeleteI was in the literal category. Never really thought it might have all been illusion.
ReplyDeleteI'm rarely confused by stories, not because I am smart, but because I am an arrogant reader...it is as I say it is and that's the end of that ;)
Fair enough, Liz :-) One critiquer for a competition disliked my use of the word 'suitor' in a story that contained a motorbike. I thought that was an odd thing to be confused by in this story lol
DeleteI have this book on my Kindle. Can't wait to have the chance to read it sometime!
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it, Heather :-)
DeleteI am off to check it out now!
ReplyDeleteThanks Patty :-)
DeleteHi Annalisa .. I must read it now - and then see what effect it has on me! Catching up on life .. and reading .. cheers Hilary
ReplyDelete