Book Review - What Will Happen Next

For this review, I decided on the work of Cendrine Marrouat, a poet, photographer, fiction writer, playwright, and podcaster. Part of her passion for books is not only in the reading and writing aspects of the work but also in supporting indie authors and helping them to solidify their brand.

There were a wide variety of published works for me to choose from, so I settled on her most recent title What Will Happen Next, a short story that was released in 2021.

I have to say, I consider myself to be fairly widely read. I read all genres, though my favourite by far is fantasy. I've read poetry books, non-fiction books, plays and others, as well.

As I read What Will Happen Next, I experienced a media mix that I haven't seen before. It was refreshing to see an author experiment this way, and it worked well for the story.

The short story follows Emma Elicia, a young woman who was raised by adoptive parents. Without getting into spoilers, the book takes us on a journey with Elicia as she comes to terms with being adopted.

I like that Marrouat didn't stick with the typical trope when it came to Elicia's parents. Her mother and father clearly love her and are good parents, but, as can be expected in life sometimes, it's not enough to help Elicia feel like she has all the answers.

After reading the story, I had the pleasure of getting to speak to Marrouat about her work.

Originally raised in France, Marrouat moved to Winnipeg, Canada in 2003, where she still resides. She has worked as a translator, French instructor, journalist, and blogger. Since then she has published books of poetry, created new types of poetry, and has also created several platforms dedicated to sending out positive and uplifting messages through art.

The sixku (pronounced sis-ku), flashku, kindku, pareiku, and vardhaku are all types of poetry that she has either created on her own or worked with another artist to create. Each type of poetry is based on a haiku, but the lines change and in some of them, other media is mixed in.

Her story, What Will Happen Next, was originally written in 2008, shortly after her play In the Silence of Words. "I was at a period in my life when I was experimenting with different genres, and I was still in playwrighting mode," she says.

She said she liked the idea of a hybrid story that could be considered mixed-media with a short story and a play. At the time, she'd also been speaking with many people from adoptive families and drew inspiration from their experiences.

"Those people were really happy. They loved their adopted parents, but there was always something in them ... they didn't really know where they belonged, even though they were happy, well-balanced, and everything," she said.

They all had this need to look for their roots, and Marrouat found that thought intriguing. She felt this theme would work well with her desire to mix a play and a short story together.

She says she was happy with the story when she completed it, but other things were calling her name, so she left it on the backburner. It wasn't until 2021 that she started reading it again and found she still enjoyed it.

"It definitely needed more work, because it was obviously a first draft," she said.

Several drafts later, Marrouat was able to polish up her story for publishing.

A large part of the story is written in a standard short story format. However, there is a flashback scene written as a play. Marrouat says she intended for the reader to experience this scene in a more visual way that typically wouldn't happen with regular prose.

"The really, really good plays force you to read between the lines," she says. Playwrights will scatter different elements throughout the play and the viewer (or reader) picks them up slowly throughout the story. At the climax, all of those different elements come into play giving the audience a sudden understanding.

So, for Marrouat, she felt that writing the flashback scene as a play she wasn't info-dumping what had happened. Instead, she was allowing the reader to visualize and read between the lines to understand the story.

She describes herself as a minimalist, and she feels that by using the writing style of a play she is showing that. Marrouat also focuses on haikus because of their minimalism. She said she likes the challenge of evoking emotions for the readers in those few lines.

When she originally thought of short stories, Marrouat felt that the format was too dense with information. The long prose filled with heavy descriptions didn't capture her imagination.

"Then I realized... that you don't need to write long and detailed descriptions to be effective," she said.

Marrouat says she considers all of her work, whether poetry, short stories or photography, to be a form of art and is puzzled how others don't see writing that way.

"Anything that requires creativity is art," she said. "I have a problem with people who tell me writers are not artists. I do not understand why they aren't artists because they create with words."

She says it doesn't matter how they create and what words they use. In the act of creation, it becomes a work of art.

Marrouat has found that her different art forms have all influenced one another, helping her to evolve as an artist. She says all artists are constantly growing with their work. But she believes that by using several different art forms, her art is enriching her creativity in many different ways.

Her advice to others is to try not to focus on only one art form. "Challenge yourself and do other things in art so that you can really understand your style and really enjoy what you're doing," she said.

Marrouat says she's currently working on a collection of short stories, which will include some of her flashku. She also has an anthology that she's working on with David Ellis, author and co-founder of the platform Auroras & Blossoms.

To see more of Marrouat's work, visit her website at www.creativeramblings.com.