The long and the short of it

A novel, in the end, is nothing more than a bunch of fabrications told around a kernel of truth

Three years ago, after I had finished extolling the virtues of those who write in newspapers, a particularly irritable, acerbic, and permanently discontented but very dear friend challenged me to write a novel and/or short stories.

Her dismissive and derisive tone – she used to be a publisher, after all – hugely annoyed me. So I decided to do both, that is, write a novel as well as short stories. 

I took my revenge by making the novel about publishing, and my short stories about people like her. I had a lot of fun doing it. 

A novel, in the end, is nothing