Backhanded Compliments

Surfing around my new favourite blog, The League of Reluctant Adults I discovered a writing competition to write a REALLY short story in under 250 words, which in some way relates to a picture of a goblet of red wine...  Always looking for excuses to write I had a little think...  and Naomi my latest character, a newly recruited Guardian Angel, with an expensive shoe fetish and attitude problem was born.  However under 250 words has never really been my forte, so I decided not to sweat the word count and just go with it.  So I finish it up and try to make it as tight as possible, as you may have noticed I'm prone to be over verbose and flowery.  Then I send it off to Phil & Nicki for their opinions.  Now I haven't heard back from Nick yet, but she is working in Japan so I can understand that. 

 

Phil however asked me with disbelief in his voice if I wrote it, as it sounds nothing like me.  And I quote "it actually sounds really good!"  Now for about 3 seconds I'm caught in the afterglow of that really good part until the backhand slaps me upside the head...   So if I'm translating correctly, it doesn't sound like anything I've ever written before because... it is really good!!  HOW OFFENSIVE is that....  But I've decided to cut him some slack, as he is sick as a dog, poor baby.... And as he pointed out the only thing of mine he has read before was some extremely bad fanfic from a very very long time ago, that I'm embarrassed to own up to, due to it pretty much being pure porn.  And in Phil's opinion sounded like it was written by a "horny 12 year old".  NOW COME ON!  I let the last back hand slide, but that was a full frontal assault...  And all within about 10 mins.  But then on the other hand, it was really really bad (I'm hoping due to the fact that it was written in my teen years, with nothing other than imagination to back it up, and not the fact that I'm lousy at writing love scenes).  Let’s just say if I had any dreams to become an erotic novelist, they would have been pushed dramatically to the back burner after that comment.

 

Anyway I have decided to overlook the backhanded slap, and focus on the fact that at least my husband (who is legally obligated to love me, I might add) likes my writing or at least that particular story.  Yay me!!