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Post by johnVC on Apr 16, 2022 15:24:44 GMT
Dear staff:
I hope you will consider my capital venture “More Than Animal” (5950 words) for TQR. I have previously contributed to TQR and have closed other exciting deals with Third Flatiron, The Colored Lens, Page & Spine, Polar Borealis, Bards and Sages Quarterly, and Zooscape.
Thank-you for your time.
Sincerely, johnVC
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Post by rockefeller on Apr 27, 2022 21:08:47 GMT
I've read Will Ferguson's 419, and am now into A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Among many other recognitions, both were Giller winners, and "Best Sellers" (whatever that means). Though each is very well written and researched, to me, the former is more a collection of novelettes loosely and contrivedly conjoined in an unsatisfactory ending, and the latter is, so far, kind of pointless, believable but boring. So when I say that I read More Than Animal (in which "Than" is too insignificant a word to be capped in the title) a few days ago and was not blown away, I hope Nic, the VC, will understand that this is not necessarily a condemnation of his craft.
They (whoever they are) say that the guitar is the easiest musical instrument to learn to play badly, and the hardest to learn to play well. I think this is even truer of writing, because even a weak guitarist can be enjoyable to listen to. Unlike with reading where one's undivided attention is required often for considerable lengths of time, one can wash dishes, have sex, eat dinner or jog while listening to music. Music embellishes, but does not infringe on one's lifespan and consciousness the way writing does. So there's that.
The problem with the cap in question here is that it's mostly expository. It describes a not particularly credible dystopian future where humanity's main pastime is burning shit down, one big "mostly peaceful" BLM protest if you will. Yes it's cool that, in the end, some bioengineer creates some sort of a dragon creature to eat these roving arsonists. But not a forty-minutes-of-my-life cool. None of the characters had any... well... characteristics, idiosyncrasies, backstory, any relationship to others or themselves. Just weird names. For me it was a 7000 word yarn with maybe 300 words of plot, of actual I-wonder-what-will-happen-now type story.
Rocks glances over at Dep sprawled in her nest. She appears to be wearing noise-cancelling headphones. Her eyes are closed and she is twitching, perhaps reclined dancing, perhaps something more, to sounds only she can hear. It is probably music, maybe something Doomey recommended and, as such, rekindles his presence. It is probably not a podcast or audio story. No one dances to the spoken word.
I know I expect, even demand, too much of fiction. But I cannot lower this bar. (Also no one is more critical of a thing than he who has failed at it.)
Rocks tries not to disturb Dep's bedding on his trek to the Porthole.
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