A Complete Fiction

“I can’t gush enough about R.L. Maizes’s A Complete Fiction, one of the most fabulously complex, interesting, and hilarious novels I’ve read in years. 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. Maizes’s sensitivity in tackling difficult topics further underscores the bravery and badassery of this un-put-downable book. Read it, read it! And then talk to me, because I can’t stop thinking about it.” —Erika Krouse, author of Tell Me Everything: The Story of a Private Investigation, Winner of the 2023 Edgar Award

“Fast-paced and tightly wrought, R. L. Maizes’ new novel 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. We follow P.J. as she longs to publish a first novel and George, an editor, who turned her down for writing a book that he may or may not have plagiarized from her. Rooting for both with laugh out loud moments, I raced to the conclusion to find out how it would end.” —Bethany Ball, author of The Pessimists and What to do About the Solomons

“A Complete Fiction checks all of the boxes for an incredible read that sits at the intersection of cancel culture and #metoo. It’s packed full of contemporary anxiety, it’s hilarious in moments, and it’s a page-turner where readers will get a true joy out of being a fly on the wall to the conversations between characters. Maizes surfaces the absurdity of modern life, but in the way your smartest and most empathetic friend would. 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 and If the Ice Had Held

“The question of who has a right to tell a story fuels A Complete Fiction with righteous anger and verve. But R.L. Maizes turns the battles roiling publishing and society into a nuanced and humorous portrait of two flawed writers struggling to be heard. Through a twisting plot, revealing the complexity behind impulsive social media posts, we end up having empathy for the accused and the accuser. It’s a difficult feat that Maizes pulls off beautifully.” —Arsen Kashkashian, Head Buyer and General Manager, Boulder Bookstore

With little evidence, would-be author P.J. Larkin serves a “nibble” on the trendy new social-media app Crave, accusing editor George Dunn of stealing the novel she submitted to him for publication.

The nibble shoots to the top of the site’s “Popular Menu Items” and before you can say “unpaid literary labor,” George is fired, and his million-dollar debut book deal is put on hold. P.J.’s novel, based on the sexual assault of her sister, Mia, is snapped up amid the publicity, but is it P.J.’s story to tell? When Mia comes after P.J., and George proves his book is autobiographical, it’s P.J.’s turn to feel the public’s scorn.

Told in the humorous vein of Where’d You Go Bernadette, A Complete Fiction is the story of two writers trying to navigate the minefields of modern publishing and social media.

R.L. Maizes’s debut novel, Other People’s Pets, won the 2021 Colorado Book Award in Fiction and was a Library Journal Best Debut of Summer/Fall 2020. She is also the author of the short story collection, We Love Anderson Cooper. Her stories have aired on National Public Radio and can be found in Electric Literature’s Recommended Reading and in The Best Small Fictions 2020. Maizes’s essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, O Magazine, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and have aired on NPR. She is a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Fellow and the recipient of a Fellowship Grant from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture for 2024-2025 for her novel-in-progress.

Maizes was born in Queens, New York, and lives in Boulder County, Colorado, with her husband, Steve, and her muses: Arie, a cat who was dropped in the animal shelter’s night box like an overdue library book, and Rosie, a dog who spent her first year homeless in South Dakota and thinks Colorado is downright balmy.