Manifesto of the Lollipop Version
by Annette BonnePlume
(and Mr. Cat, who hasn’t read anything but hasn’t approved either)
At my age, you learn one thing:
there’s no need to show everything for it to hit home.
The Lollipop Version is not a weakened version of my stories.
It’s a second version that I have chosen.
It favors suggestion, symbolism, and emotion
over explicit brutality.
I have simply chosen to tell certain things
without laying them out on the table like a corpse that’s too fresh.
The trials, the themes, and the meaning remain the same.
Cruelty, absurdity, injustice, and chance were not asked to leave.
I’ve only removed the unnecessary noise,
the kind that sometimes prevents you from hearing what really matters.
Some readers prefer to look at the shadow rather than the wound.
This version exists for them.
And for those who know that imagination works wonderfully well
when given a little space.
As for the others…
They know where to find the original version.
I am not their mother.
Check the books available in the Lollipop version.