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tarotgalSo I've been exchanging stories with one of my coworkers (we've only done it twice, but I got the feedback from the second story today). We both write YA and it's GREAT having an actual MFA writer student critique my stories. Because my novel is still only 2 chapters in, I polished up "Okay" and gave that to him to read. I was SUPER nervous because, you know, Strokes isn't exactly high literary text or anything.
I got his comments back today. He hit a lot of really great points. And apart from the HUGE compliment of comparing the style/characters to the way Q & Margo from Paper Towns are developed, he also said this: "It feels almost fairytale-like (pun semi-intended) how Sin stumbles down the rabbit hole from the very straight world of his family into a utopia mansion full of queens..."
And immediately I thought of Cinderella. And then, suddenly, I realized that I'd actually written Cinderella. I mean, Ducky doesn't come in as Prince Charming until story 7 in the set I'm working on. But in almost every other way, it's Cinderella. Abusive parent and generally treated badly at home. Sin loves cooking and cleaning (bless). Fairy godmothers spirit him away and patch him up. He ends up living in a big mansion. Substitute a gay nightclub for a ball and an SUV for a pumpkin carriage and you're there! There's even that moment in "Still Okay" where he realizes that all along Ducky had seen him on that first night and taken notice.
So. Yeah. I wrote Cinderella. And it's been, what, 5 years? 6? How did I not notice this?
But, then, I guess they do say there are only a couple stories out there and everyone just writes variations of them.
I got his comments back today. He hit a lot of really great points. And apart from the HUGE compliment of comparing the style/characters to the way Q & Margo from Paper Towns are developed, he also said this: "It feels almost fairytale-like (pun semi-intended) how Sin stumbles down the rabbit hole from the very straight world of his family into a utopia mansion full of queens..."
And immediately I thought of Cinderella. And then, suddenly, I realized that I'd actually written Cinderella. I mean, Ducky doesn't come in as Prince Charming until story 7 in the set I'm working on. But in almost every other way, it's Cinderella. Abusive parent and generally treated badly at home. Sin loves cooking and cleaning (bless). Fairy godmothers spirit him away and patch him up. He ends up living in a big mansion. Substitute a gay nightclub for a ball and an SUV for a pumpkin carriage and you're there! There's even that moment in "Still Okay" where he realizes that all along Ducky had seen him on that first night and taken notice.
So. Yeah. I wrote Cinderella. And it's been, what, 5 years? 6? How did I not notice this?
But, then, I guess they do say there are only a couple stories out there and everyone just writes variations of them.
