Nov 05, 2023
Oh wow, it's getting very meta. To the point where I'm not even sure what to say about parts of it. How deep does the meta hole go? Are these your genuine feelings, or is there enough separation between you, the author of Letter from Yokohama, and Lucille, author of the fictional Letter of Yokohama starring Jess and Luigina? I don't want to attempt a literature analysis end end up analyzing your life instead.
If you told me that this doesn't have much to do with how you really feel, and Lucille is a separate character, and this is all just for the story, I'd believe you. I have no doubt you could pull that off. And especially since you're publishing it publicly, I suspect it's not an issue, but not knowing for sure, and given the similarities, I'd rather be safe than risk saying something insensitive. Reading your writing has been a very positive experience for me. I hope writing it has been a net positive for you.
But, well, the parts I do feel safe commenting on.
I bet Lucille thought she was very clever renaming East Eden to Nod. Only about two billion people in the world would get that reference.
The writing struggles were very relatable. That feeling when you keep trying to get the next line right, and nothing seems to work, and you keep deleting it and trying again, it's super frustrating! And, not to make this about me, but the line about not finishing the one-shot because she doesn't care for the genre, that almost felt like you were talking about me and Enchanted by a Witch.
I thought I had made peace with it months ago when work forced me to finish it up early anyway, but if I'm being completely honest, the announcement of the finalists reminded me it exists, reminded me of how I felt while writing it, the discussions I had with people about it, etc., and it brought up some feelings I thought I was over.
Anyway, the vision quest was very well-written. I chuckled at Lucille thinking it could be the melatonin of all things. I guess one of the side effects is strange dreams, but I mean, given recent history, it's probably a psychedelic flashback, right?
Whatever the case, the two Lucilles being in sync was a nice, funny touch, but I was definitely right when I said I might be in for a bumpy feels ride, even if not for the reasons I guessed.
