A Complete Fiction

 RL Maizes has written another book, even better than her other terrific novels and short stories, Other People's Pets and We Love Anderson Cooper.

In her newest novel,A Complete Fiction, Maizes brings us into the world of publishing, also into the life and mind of the writer.  I could not help wondering throughout the novel if this scenario has happened to an author or that it is a problem that worries writers when they send in a script to a publishing house.

In a quite entertaining way Maizes covers the very serious subject of the #metoo movement.  Talking about sexual abuse and how it affects the victim and also by extension the family of the abused. The subject is the topic that propels the plot forward of two authors writing a story of someone being abused in the workplace.  Each story is different but there is one theme that is the same in both novels, the viewpoint of the attacker.  

When R J Larkin who has written a novel based on her sister's personal experience  has made the rounds of publishers but has not been accepted for print finds out that George Dunn who read her manuscript has written a similar book, she accuses him of plagiarism on social media.  The internet blows up with opinions both for and against each author in a back and forth that threatens to unravel each person's life and their book deals.

Looking at the subject of #metoo and deciding who has the right to tell someone's story.  How far should an author go to have their work published?  It is something to wonder about when you read a book, is this story autobiographical?  Have the names and circumstances been altered enough for anonymity? 

Then there is the world of publishing, how much of an advance publishers offer and what the legal ramifications are about plagiarism accusations and making sure the facts are correct if accusations are made. 

In the end of this fast paced entertaining novel authors, friends and family all come out having learned incredible lessons.