"Running with Guilt" by Maggie Stancu

Discuss the May 2015 book of the month, Holding Fire.
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kio
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Re: "Running with Guilt" by Maggie Stancu

Post by kio »

zeldas_lullaby wrote:
kio wrote:I loved how complex and flawed the main character was. She's not only the protagonist, but an antagonist as well. Her guilt almost reminds of the guilt you see in Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. I love the play on the name Vic. A "vic"tim turned killer :) I had a little hard time following the timeline, but is was very well done.
:text-goodpost:
Thanks :)
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

You're welcome! :-)
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Post by khudecek »

The ending was a surprise. I didn't see it coming, either.

But I wanted to know how she got into the situation she was in. What did her boyfriend do that he deserved to be killed and what did Paul have to do with it?

But I understand why we don't know. There was a 10,000 word limit. ;)
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Post by Momlovesbooks »

I was impressed that someone her age could write such an insightful short story. I wanted to know some background on the characters and why the protagonist came to be in her situation. However, I understand the short story time limit. The writing was superb and the ending was a great twist!
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Post by michelewhite0068 »

I must confess that when I started reading this story by Maggie Stancu, I was under the impression that I was in the hands of a young person (I was thinking someone that was around 20 years old). While the writing was astounding and the twist at the end made sense, it made sense in a way that young people think today. As someone of an older generation, I still found the story compelling, otherwise I would never have finished it. I thought the story showcased Maggie's potential as a future master storyteller. The mindset of the author shows throughout the story, which adds to the believability; and yet, it was obviously written by a relatively young writer and dare I say it, she has a small bit of naviety regarding the ending. Not that it didn't make sense or that the twist wasn't a good one, but I guess I feel a little cheated because of one aspect of the ending. Great first effort ...nothing short of amazing. :text-blondmoment:
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Post by avid reader28 »

Well, I thought the story was well written , packed with tension but I had quite hard time relating to the characters :)
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Post by bluemel4 »

I really enjoyed this short story. I agree with what many people have already said about the time stamps adding more tension and helping the story move along. I honestly thought Paul was a demon or devil of some sort. The way he showed up was spooky and seemed supernatural. I saw the twist coming at the end. I love the way Stancu made the character less and less recognizable to herself through physical changes.

Great writing. I am so glad Stancu took a chance and let us read this great piece.
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Post by calfurshoney »

It was a good dark story. Scary how Paul stalked her but saved her to go on do his next deed. Love how it ended, surprisingly caught me off guard. Look forward to reading more from Maggie!
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Post by castor »

Not something special. I would say it is a decent short story. But I should admit that given the young age of the writer, it is a very good effort and shows that Maggie has a potential. I agree that the timestamps give more tension to the story. I also liked the twist at the end, which I did not expect. I think that Maggie should built more on the background of the story. The word constraint mentioned by others is not a valid because other stories in the book have triple length than this one. This story is about 3000-3500 words. Not even near the 10000. Anyway, I would to read more from Maggie in the future because I believe she has the skills to write even better.
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Post by zeldas_lullaby »

Yeah, I think she's ahead of the game to be writing so young. When I was her age, I was a decent writer in a technical sense, but I had no fictional stories inside me. None at all. I know because I remember my senior-year English teacher assigning us to write a short story, and I struggled massively. I think Stancu has a good future ahead of her if she's already writing this!!
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Post by bookowlie »

zeldas_lullaby wrote:Yeah, I think she's ahead of the game to be writing so young. When I was her age, I was a decent writer in a technical sense, but I had no fictional stories inside me. None at all. I know because I remember my senior-year English teacher assigning us to write a short story, and I struggled massively. I think Stancu has a good future ahead of her if she's already writing this!!
I agree. I was very impressed with her writing, along with the authors' work in this collection. When you consider that many of them are very young, it's doubly impressive!
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Post by Kappy »

I found the ending especially interesting because of multiple possible interpretations. If you read the last sentence carefully, you will realize several things could have happened afterwards. For example, the gun could have misfired, or she could have changed her aim before pulling the trigger.
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Post by kstockard »

I loved Maggie Stancu's running with guilt. First of all, the date and time made the story seem like an episode of the first 48. To me, that factor really adds to the story by adding a layer of suspense. It also helped to set up a clear timeline, which I really enjoyed. I also loved how she used repetition of the phrase "I killed a man" to add to the character's psychological state. I am just really impressed with Maggie Stancu in this short story. Love it!
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Post by zanderlyrose »

I haven't read any short stories in a while and was pleasantly surprised by this one. I really liked the ending, as well as the little backstory into why that was provided.
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Post by TrishaAnn92 »

This was my favorite story! The main character was complex and to see how her guilt ultimately affects her was really great. I wouldn't have minded reading more about the characters at all.
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