To the editor:

I like reading fiction, it provides a fine escape from the everyday.  

I am not proficient at writing fiction however, at least not as proficient as some scribes I read in the Dartmouth Week. Two of my favorite fiction writers are Betty Ussach and Dave Ehrens. I check the DW website each day to see if my favorite fiction writers have contributed any new fantasy to their prolific collection of work.  

Most days I’m not disappointed.

This week I was enthralled to read of a dystopian future in which a gang of sheriffs ride into polling places and seize ballot boxes. 

It was a bit lacking in plot, a bit more horror than their usual fantasy, and the character development needs some work.  In past weeks, I’ve been treated to other fictional tales involving the gulag-like conditions of life in jail, a lack of educational opportunities, career and rehabilitative programs.  

How these two think up these stories is beyond me. It does get a little boring reading the same thing over and over however.

If you would like a short course in fiction writing, please read opinions from the likes of Betty Ussach and David Ehrens. You can find them in most newspapers in the area as fiction writing seems to be their dedicated profession these days.  

If you don’t want the course, too bad, you can’t avoid their weekly diatribes. Just please remember to take them with a grain of salt or, perhaps a shaker.  

As real a picture as they try to paint, the reality is much less sensational than their fiction.

William J. Villineau,

New Bedford