Critical Writer
Writers accused her of “All of the ignorance; none of the manners.” With every book review Anna became notorious as too honest to be a book critic. Unfortunately, she had a huge fan following and any book with Anna’s rare positive review was destined to be a bestseller.
She carried the air of arrogance like a tiara; never ever apologizing for her ruthless words that might have killed a book. But as they all say, ‘what goes around; comes around.’ Anna was challenged to write a book which would win hearts by a writer’s association. After much contemplation, she accepted it albeit with a clause.
What Anna hadn’t taken into consideration was she might not be in a very great condition when she retired from being a book critic. The clause about writing a book after retirement was brought to her notice; and with ailing eyesight and Parkinsonism knocking at her door, she accepted the challenge wholeheartedly. Anna was a daredevil even at the ripe age of seventy.
She put her heart and soul into her writing. Caressing each word, strictly correctly the flaws and marveling at the beauty that was hidden within her. She enjoyed the process of watching her novel grow. The pleasure was so addictive that she didn’t mind the pain and frustration that followed when she got stuck due to lack of ideas. Creativity was doing wonders for her health too. There was a mysterious glow surrounding her. Time flew and within a year, her manuscript was ready to be delivered to the world.
‘Let’s Go to the Mall’ covered the dark areas of mall culture in a very light-hearted way. The story revolved around a sweet family which gets separated in a mall during a stampede caused by a super weekend sale. One of the kids grow up to become a terrorist who despises Mall, the other becomes a Mall attendant. While the parents keep searching for them, spending all their life’s earning in travelling from one mall to another across the country. The family reunites in the mall wherein the terrorist kid holds everyone at ransom including his mall attendant brother and parents. As hours pass they recognize each other and all live happily ever after once the jail term is served.
Anna was so proud of her work that she wanted to give the honor of publishing it to best publishing house. But alas, the publishing house rejected her grand plan by politely declining the offer by stating that the novel was too futuristic for today’s times. It felt like a massive ovary punch which hurt her for days to come. Anna wasn’t the one to give up hope, so the rejection letters grew in numbers as the years passed by.
She took the rejection to heart and Anna became bedridden by her seventy-seven birthday. The family wanted to fulfill her last wish so her grand-kids self-published the book. When she touched the hardcover, tears brimmed over her hazy eyes and all she could mutter was, “I can’t even…” She died peacefully with the book in her arms and smile on her face.
‘Whether the book became a bestseller’- is something nobody discussed.
****&****
(The Idea germinated from this strip. Hope you enjoyed reading. Concrits and suggestions are welcomed.:))
She carried the air of arrogance like a tiara; never ever apologizing for her ruthless words that might have killed a book. But as they all say, ‘what goes around; comes around.’ Anna was challenged to write a book which would win hearts by a writer’s association. After much contemplation, she accepted it albeit with a clause.
What Anna hadn’t taken into consideration was she might not be in a very great condition when she retired from being a book critic. The clause about writing a book after retirement was brought to her notice; and with ailing eyesight and Parkinsonism knocking at her door, she accepted the challenge wholeheartedly. Anna was a daredevil even at the ripe age of seventy.
She put her heart and soul into her writing. Caressing each word, strictly correctly the flaws and marveling at the beauty that was hidden within her. She enjoyed the process of watching her novel grow. The pleasure was so addictive that she didn’t mind the pain and frustration that followed when she got stuck due to lack of ideas. Creativity was doing wonders for her health too. There was a mysterious glow surrounding her. Time flew and within a year, her manuscript was ready to be delivered to the world.
‘Let’s Go to the Mall’ covered the dark areas of mall culture in a very light-hearted way. The story revolved around a sweet family which gets separated in a mall during a stampede caused by a super weekend sale. One of the kids grow up to become a terrorist who despises Mall, the other becomes a Mall attendant. While the parents keep searching for them, spending all their life’s earning in travelling from one mall to another across the country. The family reunites in the mall wherein the terrorist kid holds everyone at ransom including his mall attendant brother and parents. As hours pass they recognize each other and all live happily ever after once the jail term is served.
Anna was so proud of her work that she wanted to give the honor of publishing it to best publishing house. But alas, the publishing house rejected her grand plan by politely declining the offer by stating that the novel was too futuristic for today’s times. It felt like a massive ovary punch which hurt her for days to come. Anna wasn’t the one to give up hope, so the rejection letters grew in numbers as the years passed by.
She took the rejection to heart and Anna became bedridden by her seventy-seven birthday. The family wanted to fulfill her last wish so her grand-kids self-published the book. When she touched the hardcover, tears brimmed over her hazy eyes and all she could mutter was, “I can’t even…” She died peacefully with the book in her arms and smile on her face.
‘Whether the book became a bestseller’- is something nobody discussed.
****&****
(The Idea germinated from this strip. Hope you enjoyed reading. Concrits and suggestions are welcomed.:))