The Tammy Story- go for it?

[thehefner]

Mom seriously thinks I should just submit the Tammy story (that is to say, parts one, two, three, four, five, and six) as one single work. By which I mean, NOT as part of a larger, much bigger Hefner Monologues book as I currently have it planned.

She and Gordon (Gordon amazingly, the man whose highest compliment comes in the form of "Mwell, not bad") have said that Tammy is a "magical" character. She is utterly enthralling, a marvelous person to read about, and whether it's the person or how I write about her (both, I suppose), the end result is a person who, for all her very human faults... is "magical." Mom and Gordon are afraid that if this is just a story that's going to be followed by the much bigger stories of my father, of Dave, of Misty, that Tammy's going to be overwhelmed and drowned out. And I think they're absolutely right.

I've run it by Kevin, Katie, and Bloo, all of whom agree that the Tammy Hefner Monologue could work as a single story. Now to my mind, I don't entirely know how it reads on its own (as a whole from all the parts I posted above). I was writing the entire book with the overreaching theme not to tell the stories, but to explore why I tell these stories, you see? So the Tammy story, to me, feels like... like it doesn't "accomplish" much. I worry that as it stands, it's just more like an anecdote. What do you guys think?

Another problem is that it's too short to be a book. A novella, probably. But not a book, and I haven't really idea idea how to flesh it out or what I could add. Still, Mom thinks I should submit it to the agency that turned down my detective novel. I have to say, I really think my literary livelihood rests in the Hefner Monologues. Should I go for it, even as it stands now?

And if it does go through, particularly as one main "Tammy" volume, I am definitely gonna need to get in touch with her to get written permission to use her real first name. I mean, ok, I'll have to change several names as it stands, without question, but I think it's really important that Tammy be Tammy. I mean, it's the same deal with Misty, what other name could possibly suit either of them so perfectly? Dad thinks Tammy would be embarrassed by the story and urges me to change the name, while Mom and I both think she'd really like it, perhaps even be touched. I found out that she has a myspace page, so if I have to I can always end up going there, but I'd rather avoid that if I can help it. I'm fairly certain she wants to keep me as a sentimental memory, and she's still capable of giving me heartburn at times, so I think we both would rather keep any further contact between us to a minimum.

But all that is a worry I should address until after I've come up with a great, sellable final product. Which may be what I, more or less, already have.

Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions?

Comments

[whimmydiddle.livejournal.com]

I think you are limiting yourself by thinking only in terms of books. Journals & magazines are a great way to break into the field & establish a reputation with shorter pieces. One of my favorite writers is Jeanne Marie Laskas, who writes personal stories as you do, and she made her way from magazines to books in this way. I think John Irving (whom I idolize) went that route with his early shorter pieces too. And then later in your career once you get sufficiently well-known, those short pieces get collected into a book.

My impression is that it seems a little easier to get your stuff in print by starting small in this way. The Tammy piece could be serialized, but you might want to push some pieces smaller than that & prove your worth before asking a publisher to make that kind of commitment.

There may even be online journals that would be appropriate. Doesn't Salon.com publish that sort of thing?

[tompurdue.livejournal.com]

Salon doesn't really do fiction.

[chickenhat.livejournal.com]

And reality is stranger than fiction... that's the thing that's nigh freaky, the Hefner Monologues are autobiographical truth.

[tompurdue.livejournal.com]

Whoops, that's right: it is non-fiction. But it's personal writing, rather than political, and they aim mostly at political writing. When they venture out of politics it's usually into advice-column territory.

Sorry, Hef, if I insulted you by lumping it in with "fiction"; I was there and I know that these are as real as pententiary steel.

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

Pff, no sweat. That's a great poetic imagine too, I rather like that.

And yeah, from what little I know about Salon.com, I'm not sure my stuff is right for them. If the story weren't so frickin' long, I'd shoot for the New Yorker.

[2sick2pray.livejournal.com]

you could submit it to that site that published Yancy's eye surgery story. i forget what it's called now, though...

[thehefner.livejournal.com]

What concerns me is the length. It's too long for any sort of literary magazine I've ever seen (which is sorta to say, the kind that people actually read). Now, I could edit out, say, part 2 and re-work stuff of part 1 into the major bulk heart of the story (parts 4-6), but even still, I fear the length would be too much for, say, the New Yorker or the Atlantic Monthly.

Yeah, I think if I could make each of these stories stand alone and sellable, that might be the route to go. I'm just concerned about length, because let's face it, I'm a long-winded bastard.

But I gotta say, just as I did to those who suggested I save printing cash by doing the Bub and Johnny comic book as an internet comic... I just really want something that I can hold in my hands and call my own, an actual book. Well, I suppose I'm gonna have to work up to that.