Whoa… eff-ed up. Honestly didn’t see it coming.

Oh my gosh. That ending was a bit different shall I say! Either way I like the ending, unexpected and calmly menacing and links well with the quote at the top which mentions them being “THE GREATEST CRIME WRITER OF THE DECADE”, that was clever!

horrid, ghasty, and grim… I loved it!

Alright so you want some criticism, here you go:

1. Do headlines compete for interviews? No, but papers might. And papers have headlines. Maybe distinguish between the headlines and the papers more? Or, instead of an “exclusive interview” they could be competing for an “exclusive exposé” about the writer.

2. The last sentence in the 4th paragraph (“His wife died young…”) is a little rough. Try something that flows better, maybe “His book jackets divulged the tragic death of his young wife.” Commas should be used sparingly.

3. Paragraph 5, don’t start the sentence with “And.” It sounds better as “He always hand-drafted…”

4. Try “piling on the pressure” instead of “piling the pressure on.” Both are technically correct, but the first flows better.

5. Ending the sentence with a comma and “as it happened” is kind of rough. Try “At the moment, they were piling on the pressure.”

6. “Still-dripping,” not “still dripping.”

7. Remove “very” from “very favorite ink.”

8. Remove the last comma.

Now that you have my constructive criticisms, I’d like to say this is really good work! I enjoyed it very much.

Well done!

You’ve made a WONDERFUL villain, in a fantastic scene!

Take my advice with a grain of salt. I’m not published, so I could be wrong. Keep writing!

Brutal and a very dark turn for the would-be writer. Sort of begs the question, “What would you do for fame?” I liked the twist from pitiable ‘wife died young’ to menacing.
And looks like Eloquent Mess covered all the grammatical corrections.

Wow, sounds like Stephen King’s next novel, would hate to spoil it with a sequel or prequel that ties up the loose ends. Has a strange visual prowess, I think that’s the word I’m looking for. Still, I think it needs a better title.

I guessed from the red ink and the wife’s death that the ending would be, well, disturbed. I was not surprised to find him using blood, but that doesn’t make it less gruesome. It was the quill pen that tipped me off.

I loved this! There isnt any flaws that i can see, so 5 pencils! :D

Great ending!

Fantastic ending! I didn’t see it coming at all. Five out of five. But I’m afraid I have to agree with TheRealBeale about the name as it could be better.

Nothing new to add, it was fantastic.

I just adored the twist at the end, it definatly made the story!
This piece was flawless, so without a doubt it deserves five pencils.

Thanks for the feedback all – Eloquent I saw through some of the criticisms, though other bits I kept, just because I like them I suppose :)

I’m going to keep the title as well, now that it’s featured I think it’s best to leave it be. Porcelain’s praise in particular was very humbling – flawless is a big word, so thankyou :)

And Elsha, congrats on spotting the twist, or at least guessing there would be one… NOTE TO SELF: MUST TRY HARDER TO TRICK ELSHA :D

You, sir, are both twisted and talented. I think I’ll find somewhere quiet to freak out!

heh
see, I guessed there was something nasty coming up but it was still effective
nicely done

I love it. The idea of an outrageous, shocking, writer of “fiction” merely relating his own biography for entertainment value is top notch.

disturbing. i like it.

Very smooth and just provocative enough. Great job.

Nicely done.

Loved the twist.

I’m like 2 months late, but who cares.

The ending twist was completely unexpected and horrible that I enjoyed it.

This was nominated for the ficly book.