Sunday, November 21, 2010

Girlfriend Has A Secret

I dated this totally awesome girl when I was 16, and like most high school relationships it only lasted a couple of months, but we stayed friends after it was over.  We eventually went our separate ways after graduation, but each summer we would hang out a lot.  This previous summer was our last summer at home before finishing college, thus making it our last summer that was guaranteed to be together...we decided not to go our separate ways this time.

She knows me better than I know myself, and I like to think I know her just as well...but there's one very big thing that I do not know about her that has me convulsing with curiosity.  For as long as I have known her she has been working on a novel that is literally on the verge of getting published, but I know almost nothing about it!

  

You would think I would be the first person she would go to for feedback since I majored in English and have read an embarrassingly vast quantity of books...but, she is smart enough to know that my opinion would be extremely biased and skewed.  I understand that any respectable author knows not to get feedback from the person they also snuggle with when watching movies. (But that doesn't stop me from begging her to read sections out loud...I love listening to her read her work.)

I haven't been this curious about anything in my entire life, not even when I was a child and there was a massive gift for me under the Christmas tree.  Much like that elusive gift, I try to be sneaky and find out what it is...but she is the smartest person I know, and despite my best efforts, I can't figure out what she's been writing about for all these years.

I would try reading over her shoulder as she writes, but she is more protective of this story than a mother bear is of it's cubs...and should I come between mama-bear-girlfriend and her mysterious novel, she will rip my face off!

The threat of losing limbs doesn't stop me.  I MUST KNOW WHAT SHE IS WRITING ABOUT!

She has told me the gist of what the story is about and has even read selected passages to me  (surely, this is an evil ploy to make me even more curious).  Every time she does this I always find myself stunned and overwhelmed with pure awesomeness.  I admit that my opinion on anything she does is horribly biased because she is my favorite person, but I do believe I am dating the next Tolkien/Bradburry/Lovecraft.  The way she writes with such eloquent detail, and how her plot is meticulously constructed with multiple layers of meaning gives me the impression that her book will be a deliciously layered literary cake that will send her future readers into fits of amazement.

...like I said, I am a little biased.



Anyway, she wants the final product to be a surprise, and like any good artist she doesn't want the world to see it until it is complete.  Because I know bits and pieces about the book she often interrogates me to make sure I am still basically in the dark about it.

I often think that if I were to know too much, she would lock me in her basement until the official release on the off chance I would tell anyone about it.


I'm actually quite nervous about even mentioning that she is writing a book at all.  If I somehow was responsible for making her debut as an author anything less than totally awesome I would have to commit seppuku.


What I know about her book is akin to watching multiple movie previews to Star Wars but never actually watching the movie.  My interpretations are so off base that when I tell her what I think it is about she explodes with laughter at how horribly clueless I am about her book.  This could be because she is relieved that I still know nothing about it, or it could be because my pitiful attempts at analyzing a book I have never read are hilarious.


 In addition to writing this book she has also done multiple drawings of her characters, and sometimes needs a model to pose for her so she can make sure she has the right angles...or something.

I may not know much about her book, but I do know that being asked to pose shirtless with a sword has fed my ego considerably.  ...even though I never did get to see the drawing.

If I never make another post on here again, that probably means I revealed too much about her, her book, or our relationship.  I can't wait to finally read her book, it's the final piece of the puzzle that I need for solving the enigma that is my girlfriend.

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Matt
I got my English degree and mountain of student loan debt from the University of Iowa. I like boo berry cereal, martial arts, running and cats.
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