Flash Fiction #1

Flash Fiction Prompt: Write a story in which something important is lost. (Source: Nancy Stohlman)

I started making room in the shirt drawer of my dresser for the annual occasion around ten in the morning. I never told her what to get me, as I was happy with anything, and so it had become somewhat of a tradition to receive a corny t-shirt. I didn’t wear them much because they didn’t have pockets I could hold my cigarettes in. But I kept every single one, and always made a special place for the next one.

The day dragged by. She was supposed to be here at Noon. It was now three. Oh well. I’m sure she just got distracted. It happens. Though, we had made these plans weeks ago. Maybe she forgot.

I texted her a quick, “Hey, are you on your way?”

“What?”

“Are you on your way?”

“On my way where?”

I frowned. “I thought we had plans.”

“Oh! I totally forgot! Some friends are taking me to the beach today, and we’re already half-way there.”

“Oh.”

“I’m really sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” I typed as I went back to my room in my one-bedroom apartment. I pulled open the drawer of t-shirts and started looking at them one by one. Corny sayings or images were on each one, and I smiled because she was always so proud to give them to me because she picked them out herself.

My phone beeped. “Love you Dad. Happy Father’s Day.” 

Book Review: The Weight of it All

The Weight of it All by N.R. Walker published by BlueHeart Press

I downloaded this novel to my Kindle as part of my Kindle Unlimited choices. The basic synopsis had me hooked: overweight guy gets dumped, decides to change his life. As an overweight gay guy myself, I thought, “Wow, I can probably relate to this story!” So I was eager to read it. Cut to three days later as I’m finishing the novel, and I couldn’t wait for it to end.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

After being dumped by his long-term boyfriend for being overweight, Henry Beckett decides to make some drastic changes. In a vain attempt at getting his boyfriend back, Henry does the most absurdly frightening thing he can think of.

He joins a gym.

Reed Henske is a personal trainer who isn’t sure he’ll ever be ready to date again. He’s sick of guys who are only interested in the perfect body image, never seeing him for who he really is.

As Reed tortures Henry with things like diet and exercise, Henry enamours Reed with recipes and laughter. As the friendship lines start to blur, Henry is convinced there’s no way Thor-like Reed could ever be interested in a guy like him.

Reed just has to convince Henry that life isn’t about reaching your ideal bodyweight. It’s about finding your perfect counterweight.


Characters:

I think there was only one character I liked through this whole novel, and it was a silly side character in the form of Henry’s best friend’s boyfriend. He only spoke a handful of words throughout the novel, and most were responding to sarcastic moments from his girlfriend and Henry, but at least the author didn’t say he was smiling all the time (more on that in a sec).

Henry is… okay well Henry isn’t a horrible character. However, instead of allowing us to learn about Henry’s insecurities or his nuances, the author just tells us he’s awkward and insecure, because that sets up him being anti-social. The old rule is “Show, don’t tell,” and pretty much all the author did was tell about the characters instead of showing the audience facets about them.

Reed, the other main character, is nice. That’s about it. Former fat kid turned jock (I would say spoilers here, but honestly, saw it coming a mile away!). Doesn’t judge people on the way they look. So of course, he falls for Henry. It wouldn’t be a cliché romance without it, right?

The other side characters are nuisances at best. The author wants us to feel like they all care about Henry and Reed, but really, they all seem kind of vapid and rude. Sure there were some kind hearted conversations, but they were intermixed with cliché conversations between a gay man and his girlfriends, and it was just all a bit too much. Also, the author makes it sound like Henry and his ex shared a bunch of friends and they each got some in the breakup, but yet we only ever hear about two of their mutual friends, and it’s really a quick minute worth of dialogue and then they’re gone again. Waste of time.

Story:

The story was okay. Full of clichés. I felt like I was reading a gay Hallmark movie. The ugly duckling might get his prince. The best friend of the gay guy is sassy. The cliché moment where Henry’s ex-boyfriend stumbles upon Henry and Reed at the grocery store (like, isn’t that in every romantic comedy?) Henry overcomes his social quirks to become the hero of his office. Henry’s boss turns out to be a lesbian after he has a quick coming out awkward conversation with her (saw that one coming too!). It just was all a bit cliché and I knew where every road was leading to as I read it.

Favorite Part:

Oh this was a struggle… a big struggle. I guess my favorite part is how Henry is relatable. He isn’t your typical gay romance lead character. In fact, in most gay romances I have read, he would probably be the best gay friend of the hot gay lead character. But I think the author was tapping into an audience that wanted a character that they could relate to physically and personality wise. For the most part, the author got this right.

Least Favorite Part:

Oh. My. God. This book really should have been called “Everyone Smiles,” because my GOD did they smile a lot. It seemed like at least once on every page there was “He smiled” or “She smiled” or “He gave me that award winning smile.” And if they weren’t smiling, every dialogue opener was “He chuckled” or “He laughed” or “He giggled.” I swear, it’s amazing how Henry could understand anything Reed was saying because he laughed through every bit of dialogue. Please get this author a thesaurus for Christmas.

Overall:

I gave this book a two star rating on Goodreads. I was one of the few. From what I can tell, this book is receiving rave reviews on there. I don’t understand why. But to each their own. Honestly though, if you are looking for a story with a non-cliché gay lead characters (see: overweight or not a muscle god), I would pick up TJ Klune’s Tell Me It’s Real, as it is way more well written than this piece of “literature,” and you actually like most of the characters at the end.

Why Are "The Real Housewives" a Thing?

I would like to admit something: I like watching The Real Housewives franchise. Mainly Beverly Hills and New Jersey, but am learning to enjoy the New York ladies. For years, I refused to watch these shows as well as others like them (looking at you Kardashians). I have now resigned myself to the fact that I am a Housewives fan. But why are they even a thing?

The Real Housewives franchise started in 2005, inspired by fictional soap operas like Peyton Place and Desperate Housewives. Starting in Orange County, the franchise now spans the country and the world. Currently there are seven active series installments airing in the United States, with two previous installments having been cancelled. The main series also has spin-offs like Vanderpump Rules and Manzo'd with Children.

The franchise follows the lives of typically well-to-do women and their families. While they are called housewives, a number of the ladies have careers outside of the home, and were known before their involvement in the franchise such as Kim Fields, Lisa Rinna, Bethany Frankel, and Kim Richards just to name a few. Some series put more emphasis on the women more than their families, while others, such as New Jersey, put an extra emphasis on the families.

Though it is deemed a reality show, and frankly seems more real than shows like The Hills, one wonders how many of the situations are staged and how many are authentic. For example, most seasons see the ladies taking at least one big trip per season, with the trips sometimes being labelled as "last minute". One wonders how last minute a glamorous vacation to Dubai ccan be. Also, it seems that most seasons end with all the ladies at an event, putting a nice end to the seasons. And it has been said by at least one housewife that the ladies sometimes hold off on "big events" so that they can be filmed. And there is also this story from Radar Online citing a legal case stating the show is at least partially staged.

I don't know if this says something about me or not, but my favorite episodes are the ones where there is a fight or a big confrontation, which is usually why I can't wait for the reunion episodes which always seem to devolve into screaming matches at some point. But like with most episodes of this franchise, it makes you wonder how much is genuine and how much is staged.

Notice that I didn't say fake. I do believe that these women are living their lives and that the events and details of their lives are real. But it is quite obvious that what plays out on camera is exaggerated or played up for the camers. Would some of these fights, such as Teresa Guidice flipping the table during her argument with Danielle Staub, be as bombastic without the cameras there? Probably not. Would the fight still happen? Probably.

So why is this franchise so long lasting and popular? As a daytime soap watcher, it's obvious that the franchise's framework is at least partially based on soap operas. And while daytime soaps aren't as as popular as they used to be, the general framework of a soap opera is. Just look at primetime series such as Scandal, Mad Men, and This is Us. You're watching people live their lives and the melodramatic situations they get into, with some comedy thrown in for good measure. A lot of these shows' popularity can be attributed to the items they borrow from daytime soaps, And so while audiences have tuned out of daytime soaps in large numbers, they have moved their viewing habits to shows that borrow from the soaps, and so I don't think people stopped liking what daytime soaps did with their stories, I just think that primetime shows and reality shows do daytime stories with a little bit more class and they are allowed to push the envelope more.

Also, I think that the idea of these rich and fabulous people living their lives and sometimes getting into these situations that can be very similar to the viewer's own situations, such as dealing with a child's illness or dealing with the end of a marriage,  helps a viewer relate and attach to these real life people, and therefore drives up the popularity of the franchise.

Lastly, I think that while some may call the shows trashy, there is a certain elegance about these women, and viewers watch these shows so they can fantasize about living a glamorous lifestyle of their own. Now, obviously, some of that is played up for the cameras, and I doubt every single one of these women is posh and sophisticated all the time, but that's what television has been so good at for years; giving viewers an escape from reality, even if it is watching a reality show.

There are obviously other reasons why the franchise is popular, and I don't think there's any one reason that stands out more than others. The franchise is a guilty pleasure of mine, and I don't mind admitting that. Will I be sad to see the franchise end eventually? Probably not. Am I going to enjoy it while it lasts? Hell yeah!

Book Review: A Family for Christmas

A Family for Christmas by Jay Northcote, published in 2016 by Jaybird Press.

I tend to shy away from holiday themed fiction. Why? Because everything written surrounding holidays, such as Christmas for example, tend to be very formulaic. Some moving thing happens to some character because of the holiday, and love blooms from there. I guess this could be said for any setting of romance fiction, but it just seems painfully obvious when it is set during a holiday. But A Family for Christmas was on my Kindle Unlimited suggestions, and the synopsis (from Goodreads.com below) seemed interesting:

Shy, inexperienced Rudy has a crush on Zac from the moment his new colleague walks through the door. On an office night out before Christmas, Rudy finds the courage to make a move, and they form a tentative bond. When he discovers Zac will be alone at Christmas, he invites Zac to come home with him.

Zac prefers to keep people at arm’s length. Yet when Rudy offers him a family Christmas it’s impossible to resist. With no parents of his own, Zac is pleasantly surprised to be welcomed by Rudy’s. The only drawback is that everyone assumes they’re a couple. Unwilling to disappoint Rudy’s mum and make Christmas awkward, they decide not to deny it.

It’s not a chore for Zac to pose as Rudy’s boyfriend, but the pretense makes him want things that scare him—things like a real relationship with Rudy. Zac’s suffered enough rejection in his life already and is afraid to risk his heart. If he can get over his past rejection and let Rudy inside his armor, he might get more for Christmas than he ever imagined.

Characters

Rudy and Zac are obviously the main characters, and Rudy is the most fleshed out of the pair. We see Rudy’s family, his interactions with them, and more of his inner monologue than we do of Zac. And that’s where part of my issue with this book resides. Zac is much more complicated than Rudy in personality, yet we get almost no exposition on why he is that way. We do get details about why he is a loner and why he shuts himself off from growing close to anyone, but we don’t get much in the way of character development within that. And for a story where one character changes the other’s life, you want to know more about what that other’s life was really like.

Aside from Rudy and Zac, there are side characters at the office and with Rudy’s family. The author seems to want to flesh out these side characters more, because he gives us random details about these characters, yet doesn’t take the time to make them fully formed characters. Yes, this is a gay romance novel. Yes, that means that the focus should really be on the two main characters. But, if you’re going to make Rudy’s family play such a big role in shaping Zac, then we need more than just random tidbits here and there about these characters.

Story

Overall, I liked the story. I felt it flowed naturally most the time, and I believed that these characters did grow to care about each other very quickly. That’s hard to do with me as I sometimes will stop reading books all together if it seems like everything is too forced. Zac and Rudy’s chemistry was radiating off my Kindle screen, and I enjoyed it very much. But as I mentioned in the Characters section, some more backstory on Zac would have contributed to me liking the story more than I did, and while Rudy only seriously interacts with his mother out of his whole family, I would have liked to see him have private conversations with other family members to get a sense of where he came from as well. His family is “good,” but we don’t really get a sense of why except that they love each other and are kind to one another besides the usual family putdowns and jokes (at least usual in my family).

Favorite Part

My favorite part of the story was when Rudy’s insecurities were touched on. I could completely relate to them, and that helped me connect with the story more. It helped balance out the lack of backstory we received about Zac, and made me like the characters more than I would have without some flaws being shown in Rudy.

Least Favorite Part

Obviously Zac’s lack of backstory should rank at the top of this list, but rather it’s the lack of development for Rudy’s family that does. We are introduced to his parents, aunt, grandfather, and siblings, along with his sister’s boyfriend. Yet we get almost no details about they like to play games with each other, and that they all care about each other. Rudy’s aunt is written in a way where you could tell the author wanted to do something more with the character, but couldn’t find a way. So instead we get bits and pieces of this character that feels larger than life, but has no life in her.

Overall

I gave this book a three star rating on Goodreads. I didn’t hate it by any means, but I didn’t love it either. If I had to pay for this book, I wouldn’t have rated it that high. Character development is big for me, and the lack of it knocked off one star immediately. The other star was more for the fact that the story seemed to drag on a bit, and while some of it was necessary for the relationship of Zac and Rudy to be believable, a lot of it felt like it could be devoted to character development instead of playing hide and seek with the family. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good holiday read and a nice romance.