He does not post questions the way any adult I know poses questions.

The number of maladjusted people (of all ages) on an editorial staff should not be underestimated. Why, look at me.

The real person I pity is the supervisor who expected this person to complete 3 layout jobs while he was dicking around with unnecessary work on only 1.

Nice hotels in Boston seem to cluster in the Back Bay, and you can go with any of the snazzier names, if your band is civilized. In addition to the Four Seasons, there is the Westin, the Marriott Copley, the Ritz-Carlton, the Sheraton in the Pru complex (with suites on the 27th floor!), and the old-fashioned Lenox (which was renovated 2 years ago). Probably the Four Seasons is the most luxurious; although the Ritz-Carlton has whole luxury long-term apartment blocks, if that is better suited to your needs.

Am I remembering right that there's a new Ritz up the street from the old one?

The first hotel I think of when I think of posh hotels is the Copley.

I walk past the Copley now and then, so while I've never been inside it, I can report that its sidewalks are all terrible patches. Also, being right next to the Hancock Tower, it's pretty much situated in a wind tunnel.

Possibly from the inside it is nicer, but from the outside it feels like a place on the decline.

Am I remembering right that there's a new Ritz up the street from the old one?

Something like, yes. Anyway, they closed the old Ritz tearoom for renovations, and opened the other place's cafe at the same time. I've never been there, though.

I remember the Copely from Stones tours, but that was 35 years ago, and I can't even trust the Plaza in NY - they're closing for a 5-year massive renovation project. I think I'll put the band at the Four Seasons - I've never stayed in a bad or even mediocre one.

The number of maladjusted people (of all ages) on an editorial staff should not be underestimated. Why, look at me.

Bebe, I would let you edit or copy-edit me in a heartbeat. I might write "stet" over half the suggestions (or I might agree), but I'd expect your points to be important, not anal. This guy - no.

In point of fact, he shouldn't have been looking for tiny little things to dick with at all. The copy edits, the real live copy edits, were done. Anne's - and Ruth's - were what I went over on that plane ride to NYC in April. They were handed over to SMP, in person F2F in my editor's office, on 10 April or thereabouts. They were approved - something to remember - and sent to layout.

The pass pages - in layout for the final version - were sent to me and returned to SMP with (counting) 17 days to spare before deadline; they had a series of intelligent questions and some excellent catches - all which I addressed on the accompanying notes I sent back. Who this person is, dicking with it less than a week before it goes final, I have no clue.

He/she doesn't differentiate between between typesetting questions (I'm the author - I have no say on the typesize to be used on the source materials used as chapter leadins, you know?), and/or questions of grammar, syntax, etc. And suggested rephrasings to make it "read better" - no. If I'm supposed to have some sympathy for this poor overworked yutz, aint gonna happen.

And I can't even write "stet" across the page because he's written nothing on the page itself. It's all on these post-it notes.

I would like to batter him with rocks.

And what's the hot hotel in Boston, these days? Where a top-flight rock band without destructive tendencies or any interest in throwing sharks out of windows might stay?

Four Seasons is fine. Nine Zero or Fifteen Beacon, if they're feeling trendy.

Excellent. Four Seasons it shall be.

I finished the detailed yea or nay notes to this nonsense for SMP. Six typewritten pages. The deadline is Monday. They can kiss ever inch of my splendiferous MS-ridden middle-aged arse. I'm not spending twenty bucks I don't have to Fed Ex it to them.

I also note that all this crap managed to hit me when Ruth was unavailable; it's BEA and it's in NY this year.

No, Deb, wouldn't shoot you for that...I know you can read, you know. Send him one big post it, with "Please don't be an idiot. Thank you." on it.

Any of my Rock & Roll Never Forgets WIP readers want to take a look at the first section of Chapter 7? Scary moments.

Up to 33,400 words. Two weeks of work. Meep.

OK, more writing contest scores back. The most variation I've ever had--an 87, a 77, and a (gulp) 55 (out of 100). This was an all-Regency contest, also judged by Regency writers, which I thought would be the best showcase for my kind of writing.

Turns out, NSM.

The person who gave me an 87 mentioned repeatedly that she just couldn't believe in a romance between an earl's niece and an innkeeper's son, and would I consider making him an officer and have the starcrossed aspect be from a family quarrel (at least I think that's what she said--I had trouble with her handwriting in spots)? The person who gave me a 77 thinks that the story should really begin when they're both back in England, and that the Peninsula section of the story is backstory (um, that would be 3/4 of the plot!). And the low scorer said it didn't really have a Regency feel, and that the storyline just didn't grab her, but she repeatedly praised my voice (fresh, well-written, strong characterization).

Live and learn. And I probably should've expected this. I've been describing the wip as a "Napoleonic War romance" rather than a Regency myself--I guess where I went wrong was expecting every other Regency writer to be as enthused about the concept as I am!