As promised, here is the video of me reading at the first-ever Chuck Palahniuk’s Midwest Story Night in Youngstown, Ohio!! And for those of you who would like to read along, below is the text… Without further ado, here is SPLIT LIP.
The recurring seafood/lobster dinner and “burning the meat off your curtains”. Excellent imagery, and the transitioning of the seafood was well executed.
"You look up at Mr. Right and his mouth is an O and his eyes are Daffy Duck with egg yolks dripping into the whites, and when you reach down to press four firm fingers on your freshly de-furred burger, he grabs the inside of your wrist and says, Don’t."
I figured I'd scan the first few lines on the email version and wait to read the full story later ... here I am, approximately 2:30 minutes after my email notification popped up. Story read.
Do I laugh? Do I scream? I do both. That was simultaneously horrifying and hilarious.
Gonna have to give it another listen later when can be more focused, cos I really don't wanna miss a single sentence, and I'm in an empty classroom at work it's not optimal conditions. Love the accent and the voice. Just the kind of American I can get on board with!
Any chance you could post the story in written format too? (Or send it to me?) Please. I'm much more of a reader than a listener, if I want to really appreciate the words and thought that's gone into structure. Don't worry if not, I'll understand.
Well done, friend! Really pleased for you, you absolutely smashed it to bits!
Feb 3, 2023·edited Feb 3, 2023Liked by Maegan Heil
I did not think I would understand what the MC was doing to herself, and I was also not sure I wanted to know, but this was amazing. My only disappointment is that I won't get to read Chuck's thoughts on it...I'm actually writing a scene now with, I'm assuming, similar motivations (PG-13, though ;-)), and it's exciting and inspiring to see how you've done what I'm trying to do. Bravo for that! What we'll all do for love, right?
And oh yeah: "(which you have so smartly set out ahead of time so you do not find yourself fumbling with the package, frantically trying to free a unit of cloth before the smeared goop cools into a tearing-the-meat-off-your-curtain state.)" was my favorite-apparently she's done this already and made a terrible mistake by not setting out these muslin strips beforehand...
Absolutely FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!!! Hilariously disturbing story and excellent delivery! I love your use of tantalizing sexually descriptive words and euphemisms that keep the audience engaged and turned on by the whole scenery of a girl spreading herself wide and waxing her va-jay-jay and then the whole twist of the knife when it all turns to bloody yucky chopped up fish chum and guts. Your stage presence totally rocked too! Totally captivated by you! A++ Can't wait for your next tale!!
This was phenomenal! Great story and you read it very well. Good job!
The recurring seafood/lobster dinner and “burning the meat off your curtains”. Excellent imagery, and the transitioning of the seafood was well executed.
Great story
"You look up at Mr. Right and his mouth is an O and his eyes are Daffy Duck with egg yolks dripping into the whites, and when you reach down to press four firm fingers on your freshly de-furred burger, he grabs the inside of your wrist and says, Don’t."
I figured I'd scan the first few lines on the email version and wait to read the full story later ... here I am, approximately 2:30 minutes after my email notification popped up. Story read.
Do I laugh? Do I scream? I do both. That was simultaneously horrifying and hilarious.
great reading and story. Please do more.
So good, Maegan! I'm in awe right now.
Gonna have to give it another listen later when can be more focused, cos I really don't wanna miss a single sentence, and I'm in an empty classroom at work it's not optimal conditions. Love the accent and the voice. Just the kind of American I can get on board with!
Any chance you could post the story in written format too? (Or send it to me?) Please. I'm much more of a reader than a listener, if I want to really appreciate the words and thought that's gone into structure. Don't worry if not, I'll understand.
Well done, friend! Really pleased for you, you absolutely smashed it to bits!
(so proud)
I did not think I would understand what the MC was doing to herself, and I was also not sure I wanted to know, but this was amazing. My only disappointment is that I won't get to read Chuck's thoughts on it...I'm actually writing a scene now with, I'm assuming, similar motivations (PG-13, though ;-)), and it's exciting and inspiring to see how you've done what I'm trying to do. Bravo for that! What we'll all do for love, right?
And oh yeah: "(which you have so smartly set out ahead of time so you do not find yourself fumbling with the package, frantically trying to free a unit of cloth before the smeared goop cools into a tearing-the-meat-off-your-curtain state.)" was my favorite-apparently she's done this already and made a terrible mistake by not setting out these muslin strips beforehand...
Maegan -- I've been really jammed up and want to give your story proper attention. Thoughts soon!
And, BTW, Go Blue!
Finally got a chance to listen, so good!
My wife is a hairdresser and when I heard “Sally’s beauty supply store” I audibly when...”oh no.”
The entire thing is gripping and just plain fun to listen to/read.
Absolutely FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC!!! Hilariously disturbing story and excellent delivery! I love your use of tantalizing sexually descriptive words and euphemisms that keep the audience engaged and turned on by the whole scenery of a girl spreading herself wide and waxing her va-jay-jay and then the whole twist of the knife when it all turns to bloody yucky chopped up fish chum and guts. Your stage presence totally rocked too! Totally captivated by you! A++ Can't wait for your next tale!!
This is such a great story to listen to! Awesome work, Maegan! You keep the reader so present.
Read this aloud to my mister right just now, cry laughed the second time reading this today 😂😂😭 way to make true horror have humor 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼🫶🫶🫶