Face-Lift 136

Guess the Plot

Wonderful Pleasure of Seeing

1. After spending the whole of her life in darkness, Abigail finally gets the chance to open her eyes to the world - but decides to wait until her mother finishes changing her nappy.

2. When Evan Landrieu, blind since birth, undergoes a revolutionary new type of surgery to restore his sight, he suddenly....ooooooh, shiny...

3. Being sucked into another dimension and living blind was the easy part. Returning home to the visual overload of modern society with its lack of malevolent overlords sends Ace Whitman into a tailspin.

4. World renowned painter Jesús Carles de Villalonga struggles to carve his name into the pantheon of Modern Art--and to fit his name onto the bottom of a canvas.

5. When Sam, a blind senior, accidentally captures a fairy in his briefs, she grants him a gift of eyesight, in exchange for freedom. Of course, Sam declines.

6. First of a five-part series introducing a race of benevolence-espousing, space-faring, but sense-lacking, gerundal-speaking aliens to our nerve-having species.


Original Version

Dear 'Nat',

Wonderful Pleasure of Seeing is about the unexpected consequences of an encounter and resulting dialogue between a young woman who travels to Barcelona to stay at the art studio of an eccentric world renowned painter Jesús Carles de Villalonga. [after "between," it's necessary to name two entities; no doubt you think you've done so, but look closely.] We discover from the odd juxtaposition of two strangers a generation and literally a world apart a unique perspective not only into the inspiring story of the painter's life, but an undeniably controversial viewpoint of the current Art World and its personalities, as well as a whimsical portrait of one painter's struggle to carve his name into the pantheon of Modern Art. [Lots of big words crammed into one sentence becomes confusing to the reader--and to the writer, who might have done better to move the "not only" after "apart."] The completed text of 35,000 words [Perhaps the woman should have stayed through April, so the book wouldn't be so short. Then again, how long can you stand to live with an eccentric artist?] would be classified as narrative fiction. The events took place from January to February of 2006 in Barcelona, Spain and have been documented in a weblog,_________________. [If the events took place, which part is fictional? If it's fiction, is there a plot? Will the artist mind you using him as a character? Wouldn't we gain more insight into the artist's life if it were nonfiction?]

Circumstance permitting, [If this book sells big . . .] my intention is to continue this ethnographic-biography style into a serial format, [I'm gonna write some more of them . . . ] thematically representing a variety of professions and centering around pivotal individuals who have capacity and power to inspire people of all generations and nations. [about other cool people.] [It's not that it's difficult to understand the big words, but you don't want to give the impression the book has stilted, pretentious language throughout.]

The SASE is enclosed as per requested along with a few pages taken from the piece. Please find my contact information below.

Many Thanks,


Revised Version

Dear _____,

Wonderful Pleasure of Seeing chronicles an encounter and dialogue between the eccentric world-renowned painter Jesús Carles de Villalonga and a young woman who has traveled to Barcelona to stay at his art studio. These two strangers, a generation and a world apart, offer a unique perspective into the artist's life, a controversial viewpoint of the current Art World, and a whimsical portrait of a painter's struggle to carve his name into the pantheon of Modern Art. The events described took place from January to February of 2006 in Barcelona, and have been documented in a weblog, __________.

The completed text of 35,000 words would be classified as ethnographic-biography. My intention is to develop a series, representing a variety of professions and featuring individuals who have the capacity to inspire people of all generations and nations.

An SASE is enclosed as requested, along with the first few pages from the piece. Please find my contact information below.

Many thanks,


Notes

If 35,000-word books were priced half as much as 70,000-word books, people might buy them. But most of the costs of a book's production are in the cover, which needs a designer and an artist and colored ink and thicker paper and glossyiness, no matter how short the book. So the price is almost as high as a thick book, and people feel they aren't getting their money's worth.