Nicholas Barnes

The Lost Writings of Steve Garvey Nicholas Barnes

"When I'd finished a glass of sherry, I picked up the pages and went over my work (something I realized I immediately despised -- re-reading is a horrifying task, and I have not done it since -- they usually go straight into the fire). I could scarcely bring myself to go beyond the second line, but willed my way through it, squinting, out of the corner of my eye. My story was horrible -- so thickly pretentious, so convoluted, twisted in on itself to such a nauseating degree, that I vowed never to write another word. I did not adhere to that vow, but have cured the after-shame problem by, to wit, burning most of the things I write in my fireplace. But there is the matter of survival. So, in reality, quilting is what I have to offer this world."