This novel is limited to 100 free copies due to its part in Inkitt’s Novel Contest.
By colleensayre All Rights Reserved ©
Dear Family:
As you may know, I’ve been asked to write a book about my life. Not a ‘tell all’ that includes every dirty little detail, but a literary treatise that just happens to be about my life and work. The work part I can handle. The life part, well, that’s a different story altogether and one that I will need assistance in telling.
Since your lives are so intimately intertwined with mine, I thought it appropriate that each of you should have some say in what you want me to talk about, what you feel is appropriate and necessary for you.
So, here is my offer. Over the course of the next few weeks, or months if time allows, I would like for you to write down your thoughts about our lives. Please include your own observations, memories, anecdotal stories, and dreams that you believe will elucidate the story of my life and of our life as a family. It is my belief that a one-sided story told from the perspective of the protagonist is often flat. Perhaps with a multiple telling, the story will plump with the juicy tidbits that I’ve forgotten or, in my myopic memory, have been distorted. You may use any format you wish to record your thoughts and I will work diligently to keep them whole and in context. Please send me whatever you have whenever you have it so that I may begin as soon as possible.
Please note that this book will not include X-rated material nor will you be monetarily compensated for your time, input and/or effort.
Your cooperation is, and will be, greatly appreciated.
With love,
Mary Margaret
I hate it when a book opens with a letter so I think I will insist that this letter be somehow insinuated rather than reprinted. Or, perhaps the edits could be superimposed somehow so that the reader can see from the beginning my cautions, warnings, and the potential reprimands—Garrett called them threats--with which we began this adventure. I also do not like a book that begins with, “I was born . . .” but we will see how this turns out or, more accurately, how this book begins.
My preference was, from the beginning, and still is, that a ghost writer would take over the collection of journalistic scribblings we’ve received as the basis for this book, but my editor has insisted that I be the one to glean the true wheat from the fictional chaff, that I thrust myself bodily into the thoughts and memories of my family and wallow in their reminiscences. Besides, who needs a ghost writer when the subject of the book is, in fact, a ghost writer herself, she asks again and again. It is she who decided on the title for this book as well, A Solitary Life. After spending fifty two years with my mother, father, and two brothers, and having lived my life, I have a better title: Yikes!
And so it begins.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has had a hand in the production of my life story. My family has provided wonderful support and enthusiasm throughout its production. My dear friend and editor Sophia DeMarco has guided me through the pitfalls and minefields of writing an autobiography and although I stand here on the other side bruised, battered, and scarred, I feel better for having survived it. Thank you all for this experience which is, after all, my life.
annie08c: I really like this story, I can relate to it a lot and with how she feels, the boyfriend and the events that happened but I'm a little bit younger. It was really good plot, really liked how you stuck to the topic and you had a new title for every chapter making me guess what's going to happen. Ma...
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PaulSenkel: If you like Arthur C. Clarke's Odyssey, especially The Final Odyssey, then you will probably also enjoy this book. I definitely did.It does, however, address a more adolescent public than the above-mentioned book.I enjoyed the story and finished it in a few days. The overall situation on earth an...
ArgyrisMetaxas: Thrilling story which builds layer ontop of layer. A few mis spellings every few chapters. What I found special was that it took a modern day problem and took it to its logical conclusion and plays this realism with gritting precision. I'm always on edge ready to shout from adrenaline. This is gr...
Sandra Estrada: I loved every minute of it and I thank my lucky stars that brought me to the story, it's been a whirlwind of emotions, plot twist after plot twist but I never got tired of them. Abby and Kade's story is a hard one to understand but once you're submerged in their story and love, you can't help but...
Althea Kerr: This is a tale that is all too familiar to South African readers having lived through a war era on our borders and beyond. It is obviously autobiographical as the mind under duress is so detailed and real. It has fantastic suspense if a bit disjointed - perhaps that is the fear and loneliness com...
romboili000: As I read this book it made me realize the importance of trusting big God. And believing that you can love even when it feels impossible. This story definitely has made me what to become a better person in Christ and just life. So thank you that's all I have to say because you wrote this story so...
Alex Rushmer: Chapter One: Not much is happening in this chapter, but I was absolutely fascinated by the depth of your character development. I love how you just sat there with the reader and explored Eddward. Usually, that sort of thing gets boring very fast, but this was actually really cool! He's so unique ...
allisonflin: Without a doubt the most well written story that I have read on this site. Informative, discriptive, well punctuated. Then we have the story itself, which by the way I am waiting on the edge of my seat for part two of, the characters are more than likeable, you feel them and their emotions...
christylynnr5: This was a really good book. I couldn't stop reading it. I loved how the story had its ups and downs and it kept you on the edge of your seat. But the only thing I had a problem with was the grammar errors. I know everyone makes mistakes but this one had more than just a few. and in some places I...
dd1226: I love reading about other countries and I think this story about Cambodia after Polpot creates awareness of the tragedy that happened there and the actions of the U.N. to hold elections. The heroine of the story is easy to relate to, a modern, middleaged woman looking for an adventure, wanting t...
