Writer-to-writer

From: info@fairytalereality.com To: Ashley <ash-prince03@gmail.com> Cc:  Date: Thurs, 14 Apr 2011 09:19:30 Subject: re: re: prof. march Dear Ashley, I just have to tell you how much I am loving your story, and working with your story. I had a stepmother, just like you—and I even had two stepsisters! Fortunately, they weren’t quite as insufferable as yours (if you don’t mind me saying - I don’t know what your relationship is to them, now, but clearly you’ve made peace with the idea of writing about them.) In response...

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Sibling Rivalry

The night of many girdles, at least, inspired me to write one of my best college essays. I gathered Sylvia’s creamy white Maidenform, Donna’s animal-style Nancy Ganz, and Debra’s flesh-toned Spanx in one hand. Then I reached for Debra’s cotton-candy Betsy Johnson cashmere shrug, and said, with a pleasing smile, “I’ll do a load of hand wash right now.” It was as if I’d just announced my intentions to slice everything into ribbons. “No, I don’t need it washed, just pressed!” Sylvia grabbed her underwear from...

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Super Underpants

Donna was generally so afraid of dirt, and of food, that there was never a chance she’d get any on her clothes, and since she would never exert herself, there was never a chance of B.O., either. Still, she’d bring me an outfit (or two, or five) every day to wash out the perfume, which she changed daily. In a typically brainless gesture, she dumped the pile right on the stack of laundry I had already folded. Debra came in right behind her. Debra, who was a year older and about ten ounces heavier...

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Teen Princess

I used to spend an hour or more in the laundry room each day, reading between tasks. The moist, tropical warmth of the dryer made it a cozy place. The loose ends of my hair would curl on their own, as if free for once to express themselves. One day I was sitting on the washer waiting for it to finish the spin cycle. Just as it slowed to a stop, I finished reading Kafka's Metamorphosis, and between the dreamlike story and the lulling motion of the ride, I was in another world. Everything was still for a moment, and far in the distance...

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