Haven't drabbled in a long time, but had to say this. Sorry for the downer.

Drabble: Two People Sitting at a Table

The conference room table is long and shiny, buffed until we are four people rather than two. The two in the table are still walking through the Saguaro cacti, talking philosophy and planning a wedding. They have love and hope and a friendship they are convinced will see them through anything. Even loss. Even constant separation. They will sit across countless tables together—eat countless meals and have countless conversations. They will struggle and triumph and promise, but in the end they will still be trapped inside the mahogany, looking up at the people we swore we would never become.

Kristin, that is wonderful imagery. I can see it in my mind. And feel it, too. Nice.

Kristin wrote a perfect drabble. Dayum.

erika, I have AMC in my mailbox and will get to it as soon as I humanly can, I promise.

Aimee didn't see the transsexual? Where was she looking...?

Apparantly not in the right place.

But s/he was right there! In the dining room! With the teeshirt that said "Flamingos: The Other White Meat"!

I only saw pasta and cheese.

Seriously, I kind of like the idea of having an invisible transsexual named Lugo in our dining room. If the FBI ever drops by for a chat, I can ask Lugo what s/he thinks about it, and scare the g-men to death...

We really are a classic San Francisco house, though, all joking aside.

Dude.

Cruel Sister word count: 74,219.

Just finished the Big Bang. What's left is a winding down and the epilogue.

And then?

Done do0-be-do- done DONE.

One of my editor/agent chair duties is to have a list of questions ready to start discussion at the Saturday morning editor/agent panel and for filler in case there's a lull in the Q&A, and I'm trying to make a good list. Here are the ideas I've had so far:

- What are the most common mistakes writers make when submitting to you?

- What makes a submission stand out and make you want to see more of an author's work?

- What do you see as the main trends in the romance genre?

- What would your advice be for a writer whose muse and/or interests don't match the trends? Most people in the industry that I've met advise you to write what you love anyway, because that's your strongest work--given that, how do you improve your chances of finding a niche in the marketplace?

- What are your favorite and least favorite aspects of being an editor or agent?

Any other ideas? I'm trying to make them general enough to apply to most of the people in the room, and save the "How do I find a home for my quirky overlong historical romance-military fiction hybrid?" stuff for one-on-one discussion.

erika! This month's column by my editor at Minotaur - Ruth Cavin - should interest you:

It's the quality, stupid!