Reviewer: Miranda Fave Signed [Report This]
Date: 05 Jul 2013 01:14 Title: Chapter 1

Wonderful Steff. I know, I'm remiss in not getting through Arc after the early parts so some of the events don't have context from prior reading but all the context that's needed is here. You give everything flavour or texture as you write it. The Spanish setting had all the feeling of Spain and yet you did not have recourse to use white stucco buildings, sun baked walls or blue seas. You imbue a sense of place and setting somehow in your writing. Beautifully done so.

A wonderful rendering of different scenes and amid it all it feels all dream like, an eye in the storm of their lives, a moment of passing peace for Corry and Scotty. The respite of the break feels like that as you read it. The break feels like almost the perfect break, just what the soul requires - food, company, wine, music, sailing and even dancing.

As for Catalina I think I'm in love with her myself. She just danced off the page as a strange rare beauty, an exotic thing, a passionate thing with heart and music in her feet, a rare energy and a personality so fierce and energetic that it would be hard to find a match for her and yet she could probably have been the perfect soul mate to all three. I loved the trio and the competition to be her 'husband' the humour was well judged and whimsical and yet the marriage between Perez and Catalina feels read and honest too.

And then there is the relationship here between the three men. Like Corry I found myself liking Perez straight away. I'm struck too byhow Corry comes to his decision - it seems he has a moment of deciding - he iether likes you or he doesn't - I don't think there's an inbetween with him reading this here.

Admittedly, despite how much you write Corry I've not always read much of him. In a way because he was an interloper onto the scene with Scotty to begin with that made him an intruder, someone I didn't want to like or read about. But you've burrowed your way in with him. He is just such a likeable chap. And I swear, he should be some sort of Mary Sue but he never is. I read his bits and I find myself getting charmed by him. He lowers my defences - it really is no wonder that he gets through the walls Scotty built up around himself. Again here, Corry wins me over. As soon as he decided he liked Perez and how, that's when I found myself realising I liked Corry all over again as each time in each story he does something that wins we over.

And of ocurse there's the meater end to this story too, the hurting and the pain, the sense of being adrift, the damage wrought by grief. Funnily, or not so funnily, the welcome Scott gets from Perez is similar to words said to me by someone who had shared experiences - their words for the great calamity that is mourning and grief was simple, blunt, seemingly offered no comfort or help and yet it gave a strange reassurance cos it was the feeling of someone else in the know of such a close loss and it was simply: Shitty things happen. And that's that. and just something about this piece put that in mind with me. Anyway.

As always Steff, wonderful writing. It always feels like a gift to read something from your pen.

Author's Response: Wow, Kev. Your ability to make someone's day with feedback never ceases to amaze me.

This is actually kind of side-lined from the Arc of the Wolf, so don't worry. Forty-Eight also needs bashed to neatness and compliance, so you're not missing anything huge yet, except that it was up there in the 'Worst Years of Scotty's Life' list. Yes, this was written as something of a challenge, if I remember right, and it was during a bad patch. I loved Catalina, too; she's all woman, but in the good ways, and the banter between the three about who should be married to her was a ton of fun to write. She and Cayo are a perfect match, and his warm-hearted affection towards Scotty and Corry genuine; he has nothing to fear from competition, nor from sharing a dance with her.

Cor's a good judge of character. He's willing to be amiable with anyone, but when it comes to Scotty, there's gotta be a balance between his own good nature and his protective streak. Perez would have been likable just as a person, no problem; in the context of Cor's unofficial little brother, though, Perez also had to meet the 'good for Scotty' criteria, and did.

Don't feel bad. I was always prepared for people to get frustrated by Cor being so much in things. But you're not the first to say he's charmed them, and become part of the story. It's fair; he did the same to me. He was never meant to stay, but he did. It was Anna, I think, who said that it was almost impossible to not love Corry, just because he loves Scotty so damn much. And he does. And he fills a position that young man so badly needed: Someone who loves and protects, unconditionally and unreservedly. I'm glad he keeps charming you. ;) I hope he never stops.

Indeed, with the heavier aspects. Scotty and Perez served together for at least a year, maybe even two, and Perez was as close as he let himself get to anyone on the Sun. They definitely built their own rituals.

Geez, Kev. You are, by far, the only person to go in-depth on this story, and it means the world to me.