A Complete Fiction

PJ has finally written the book to make her famous... But has someone stolen her story?



Ride With Me driver P.J. Larkin has written three unpublished novels and is desperate for her latest, a #MeToo story, to find a publisher. Her agent has sent it to George Dunn, editor at Peapod Press, but he rejected it. George has just sold his own novel for a million dollars. But wait: did he steal P.J.’s novel?

That’s what P.J. imagines and impulsively posts about George’s book on social media.

Within hours, George is embroiled in a scandal, his job and book deal in jeopardy. Amid the publicity, P.J.’s novel is snapped up by another publisher.

But has P.J. revealed her sister Mia’s secrets in her book? Mia thinks so.

Now it’s P.J.’s turn to feel the online heat.

R.L. Maizes creates appealing characters and writes with humour and heart about the shenanigans of the publishing world. A Complete Fiction is a timely and hilarious novel about cancel culture, and who owns the stories that writers tell.

After all, who could make this stuff up?

After her a highly praised collection of stories, We Love Anderson Cooper, R.L. Maizes wrote a successful novel, Other People's Pets. Her stories and essays have been published widely and she is the recipient of a number of prizes and fellowships. Maizes was born in Queens, New York, and lives in Boulder County, Colorado, with her husband and her muses: Rosie, a rescue dog, and the ghost of Arie the Cat.

‘Fabulously complex, interesting, and hilarious. As two protagonists fight (and fight dirty) over their respective truths, Maizes asks hard questions about cancel culture, power, politics, sexual abuse, and narrative that make me interrogate my own values…Un-put-downable!.’ Erika Krouse, author of Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation

‘Fast-paced and tightly wrought, A Complete Fiction, goes right to the mercenary hearts of two writers and with humor and pathos manages to skewer the publishing industry and the pressure cooker of literary social media simultaneously.’ Bethany Ball, author of What to do About the Solomons

‘Packed full of contemporary anxiety, hilarious in moments, and a page-turner…This novel is a beach read for people who also care about the cultural zeitgeist.’ Wendy J. Fox, author of What If We Were Somewhere Else

‘I loved this witty and completely absorbing novel. Maizes has compassion for her characters and their very real mistakes, and she allows them to negotiate the varying degrees of harm they do one another with artful nuance.’ Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Dog of the North