Her supporters argue that her romantic fantasy, PS, I Love You (HarperCollins), is a genuinely moving work worth its staggering commercial success: It sold for £150,000 ($365,000) on the basis of the first 10 chapters, snagged a cool $1-million for U.S. rights, and will make its way into 28 countries, including Serbia and Albania.

That smells like auction fever to me. Then again, what do I know... I thought The Bridges of Madison County stank.

That smells like auction fever to me. Then again, what do I know... I thought The Bridges of Madison County stank.

Loving Betsy. And yes, smells like auction fever to me, as well.

But it still means those 20 or 30 writers just lost a percntage point or twelve at getting a deal with Hyperion. That money, for whatever reason, is still tied up in one untried kid. And that means - I'm not a math person, but this much I can work out - that there's $1M less left in the kitty for other new writers.

Stank? That was kind.(I know I need to ease up on this, but I'll tell you...whoever on SVU had Munch say that it contained "flabby emotionless prose devoid of meaning" pushed him on to my "Fictional Characters I'd like to do" list cause he made my writer's heart beat faster.

t cynic And I doubt being Bertie Ahern's daughter hurt when it came to getting her foot in the door.... t /cynic

You think?;)

Oh, just a bit. I mean, how much do you wanna bet I would've sold my novel already for a shiny advance if I were a Bush twin or a Kerry daughter?

And I do get a bit angry about stuff like that, while simultaneously being resigned to it as How the World Works.

And I do get a bit angry about stuff like that, while simultaneously being resigned to it as How the World Works.

That particular problem can be self-correcting, though. A very sweet kid named Molly Jong-Fast - and yes, she is Erika Jong's daughter and Howard fast's granddaughter - had a novel published about three years ago, called "Normal Girl." The book was godawful, and died a natural death.

But the foot-in-the-door thing can make me very bruxistic.

Sort of on this topic, there's a new series in the SF Chronicle, where they follow famous or influential people around for a day.

This Sunday it was Melanie Craft, the romance novelist who married Larry Ellison last year. They followed her to her personal training session where she paid $70/hour three times a week to be whipped into shape for her novel readings, to her Japanese temple of a house where she ate jasmine rice and green tea for breakfast while sitting on cushions on the floor, to her salon where she had a manicure so her nails would look nice for her signing, to her signing where I had to stop reading because I'd crumpled up the paper and used it to scoop dog poop from my backyard.

This is influential? And how likely is it that this woman's next novel will get published not for its quality but because she's Larry Ellison's wife?

Note: I have no idea of the quality of her writing one way or the other. I only read romances recommended by Betsy or Micole. *g*

I get that, and hate it, as well.(And I'm envious, too...I admit it. I wonder what I could do with that kind of support.) And I hate that people read that stuff, cause people on the street have kind of a secret handshake attitude as regards writers and writing anyway, ime. Maybe we're rubes in the desert though.Oh, Deb, insent.