Bev, when you cruise by again, bebe - it's on its way to three other houses: Warner, Berkeley, and Pocket. If they're no-go? Tor and one I suggested, which is Mira, and also possibly Roc.

Although good buddy (and sister client of Jenn's) Laura Ann Gilman is no longer senior editor at Roc. Damnit. Although maybe for the best; what if she hated it?

Kessie, I'm a little hesitant about sending you an unpublished MS cold like that. erika, Deena, Nilly, Anne and Bev are five of my beta readers - they check all my stuff before it goes out, and tell me what doesn't work, and I genuinely couldn't survive as a writer efficiently without them. Once I get further down the road on a deal for this one, I'll be happy to send.

Deb, sorry to hear about Linda Marrow's reaction to the end of Still Life. But her other feedback did sound really positive. Fingers crossed for the new round of submissions.

When I'm done with something, especially when I'm working on a such a furious deadline, my moment afterwards is more a "whoo-hoo! so many other things I can do now" thing. But I think right now that's also related to what I'm writing. It's not book-of-my-heart stuff at all. The last time I tackled something like that and typed "the end", yeah, I was a little lost.

AmyLiz, I go back a very long way with Linda Marrow - one of my books is actually dedicated to her. Back when she was editor at Pocket, she was turned down by my (now ex) then-agent after offering on my first novel and its sequel, "The Goldsmith" and "The Apprentice, because "$10,00, pfft, we can do MUCH better." The books never sold. Linda then suggested "Fire Queen" (edit: suggested that I write one, based on traditional Irish mythology). I did, but she was outbid by Bantam. So I dedicated the book to her.

I do wonder what on earth she was looking for at the end of this one, though.

being dragged into someone else's reality, under the mistaken impression you can control things

I thought this was what it was all about, and in this way, the ending fit perfectly. I must admit I didn't fully understand exactly what was going on there, but I got the feeling I wasn't supposed to fully understand every little corner of the "How does that work?". I'm usually inflicted with this too much I-want-to-understand, which is quite a strange combination with my 'please leave some mystery unexplained for me to ponder once I've finished' fondness. Still, I did liked the way it seemed there was more story there than what was simply told.

I must admit I didn't fully understand exactly what was going on there, but I got the feeling I wasn't supposed to fully understand every little corner of the "How does that work?".

Yes, exactly. I can't stand books in which the writer feels obliged to give every possible nuance of their worldview to the reader, leaving nothing for the reader to chew on. Have you ever read Margery Allingham? She has an Albert Campion novel, "Look to the Lady", in which you are left with the distinct impression that something completely supernatural has happened, and she reinforces that at the end, by having a character ask, and be told to just basically shut up and don't ask, there are things in the universe we're not going to understand, just deal with it.

Or, if you want to be monotheistic, another fun mystery writer, Edmund Crispin, said in one book that the perogative of totally understanding every quirk is unlikely to be wrested away from the Omnipotence.

Point being that it sure as hell isn't fun when the writer plays God. I always feel that shows a grotesque lack of trust in the reader.

erika: looked it up at Imdb but it doesnt really ring a bell .. it might have been on here but i havent seen it.

Deb: Its ok, i understand that. Thats the cause that i only post the summaries on our site and the rest ín a friends protected livejournal. Good luck for getting it published , btw.

For those of you interested in romances, Harlequin is advertising for freelance slush pile readers at Mediabistro.com. The site requires registration, but I can just send you the information if you're interested.

It was a television series, Kessie. For me, one of the television series of all time. On for seven years. There was a review once that called it "the best show you're not watching" so don't feel bad...and we're a little off topic here. But sometimes I wish I'd been born earlier, so I'd have had a chance to write for it, especially in the early seasons, with one of the best ensemble casts ever...and I'm gushing again. And, um, Tim Bayliss likes carrots, at least part-time.

Ginger--thanks for posting that. I just might apply.

I was thinking of you in particular, Susan. It struck me that it might both pay a little money and give you some insights you could use in writing and marketing.