My thanks to Kat Caldwell who introduced me to author Rachael Biggs. I was so excited to discover Rachael and her book of short stories, And I Was Like November. I can’t wait to read it!
Stories of Women who Don’t Get their HEA
In a world where hyper-positivity and woke culture abounds, Rachael Biggs’ And I Was Like November offers a glimpse of the other side, while navigating themes of isolation and longing.
These are stories of what happens to the women that didn’t get their happy ending—the ones who don’t believe the clichés about family being everything and who know that live-laugh-love isn’t the cure all. Taboo topics that embrace a gritty reality include transactional sex, romantic obsession, maternal disdain and teenage drug dealing are linked by the need to survive in the midst of questionable sanity and deep loneliness.
“This is what happens when things don’t work out and the consequences and feelings we have in private as a result. They’re stories about women whose lives aren’t glossy, filtered, and Instagram ready, and the contrast of their brushed-under-the-rug realities is maybe more interesting and relatable. In a world where we’re bombarded with shiny fallacies, this is the beautiful side of ugly,” said Rachael.
And I Was Like November is available for pre-sale now, and pubs January 31, 2023.
Available for PreOrder on Amazon here
What Rachael’s Readers are Saying…
“Underneath these dark little gems of reality, spans a subversive biting wit holding it all together like a bittersweet honeycomb.”
Kamal Iskander, Writer and Film maker, Montreal Girls
“These are women on the edge of danger, or madness, or just struggling to survive on the edge of town. They move through worlds which might be alien to some, but their humanity—and their razor-sharp humor—always come through.”
Jenn Farrell, author of The Devil You Know
“Rachael Biggs’ sardonic wit and keen eye for the foibles of modern life never loses sight of the heart beating just beneath the surface”
Caroline Klimczuk, screenwriter
This collection of short stories had me exploring many different emotions. Sometimes light while often dark, Biggs has a great talent in painting vivid settings designed for characters often conflicted by their own life struggles. Shame, self-worth, family dynamics, self-deprecation, ego, power, marriage, addiction, relationships, single-life, sex, drugs, and obsession are all topics touched upon as a result of life-choices that are shocking, unconventional, and sometimes horrifying. Although each individual story stands independently, it’s not hard to see common threads throughout the read. Biggs has a wonderfully modern style of writing that is adult, harsh and bold, a refreshing contrast to happy-ending fluff, while allowing appearances of the vulnerable side of these female anti-heroes.
And I was like…wow.
Amazon confirmed purchase
Synopsis: In a world where everything is glossy and it seems that we’re triggered or offended by everything, “And I Was Like November” by Rachael Biggs is a compendium of fifteen short stories, each of which offers a glimpse of the other side. These are stories of what happens to the women that didn’t get their happy ending, the ones who don’t believe family is everything, and the women who know that live laugh love isn’t the cure all.
Critique: Original, eloquent, erudite, riveting, thought-provoking, and truly memorable, the short stories comprising “And I Was Like November” showcase author Rachael Biggs’ genuine flair for a riveting and narrative driven storytelling style. While available for personal reading lists in a digital book format (Kindle, $6.99), “And I Was Like November” is a strongly recommended addition to personal, community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Fiction & Anthology collections.
Editorial Note: Rachael Biggs is an author, screenwriter, copywriter, and journalist who divides her time between Vancouver and Los Angeles. She started writing as soon as she discovered pens and paper and began creating stories and winning contests as early as second grade. (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6883586.Rachael_Biggs)
Midwest Review
An Excerpt from Rachael Biggs’ And I Was Like November
It’s been over twenty years since I slept with a husband that wasn’t my own, vowing never to let my heart get involved in something so messy again, but my heart is nowhere near this.
At first it gives me anxiety, but no worse than the paralysis of not knowing how I’m going to pay the rent or being $32 short for my electric bill. I’ve been through countless jobs and back to school several times, racking up debt along the way, but the weight of my inner world has become too heavy to put up with the indecencies of working for a living.
Having someone take an interest in me feels good, even if it is just sexual. He’s flashy. Jersey Shore rich. Not my type, but I fool my body into thinking he is long enough to recalibrate the crippling depression of being dropped like a reeking trash bag by a struggling musician with a poetic vocabulary and beautiful hands. He said I was codependent; a word he’d learned from my replacement with her ironic glasses and facial piercings. She’s a Vlogger. I’m a wreck.
Maybe the wife would understand since she snatched him from his previous one. Maybe we’d laugh about it, or perhaps she’d slit my jugular after publicly outing me as a home wrecking slut. Her profile told me she liked trips to Vegas with girl gangs who mirrored her fake eyelashes and silicone tits. They took pictures of themselves toasting Dom Perignon in very small dresses, their $5,000 handbags perched in front of their alcohol-bloated bellies. I’ve had the same purse for at least twelve years. I got it at a thrift store on the pier and I still get compliments on it, but not from women like them.
When I ask my therapist why men cheat, she brings up the Madonna Whore Complex and since his wife was an escort, I guess that makes me Madonna. I will consider this pious label more carefully next time I’m coming in his mouth.
Meet the Fascinating Rachael Biggs
Rachael Biggs is an author, screenwriter, copywriter and journalist. She studied creative writing at UBC, UCLA, and with masters of the craft Syd Field and Robert McKee. In 2016 she earned a screenwriting diploma from Vancouver Film School with a focus on television.
Her memoir Yearning for Nothings and Nobodies debuted to critical acclaim and was adapted for the screen as Behind the Eight Ball.
She is a frequent contributor to print and on-line publications and her short fiction appears regularly in literary magazines including Door is a Jar, Angel City Review and Charge Magazine.
She divides her time between Vancouver and Los Angeles.