Yes, thank you. It's taken me years to get past some of the nonsense that was American publishing in that era.

Yes, thank you. It's taken me years to get past some of the nonsense that was American publishing in that era.

As opposed to the nonsense that is American publishing in this era? (:

Heh. Victor, so far this time around, I'm in the catbird seat, and I want to stay there. My editor's a legend and she loves me. Fingers, sooooo crossed, I'm surprised you can't hear tendons snapping.

Last time around, the Big Ole Masculine Kingpin of Publishing (and I am not naming names) helped himself to the sequel to Fire Queen and decided it needed "some good rapes. Readers like good rapes. Problem with women writers, they're afraid of sex and violence together."

(this, to a natural cross between an amazon and dom, right, brilliant....)

I want to come up with some witty condemnation of that editor Deb, but my mind got stuck on "But that's just wrong. And gross. And wrong." so that's what I'm going with.

I'm in the catbird seat, and I want to stay there. My editor's a legend and she loves me. Fingers, sooooo crossed, I'm surprised you can't hear tendons snapping.

Woo and hoo! My manuscript (already published columns and essays, so no big whoop) is gathering dust while I'm preoccupied trying to launch a magazine. Blech.

Perkins, same editor told me that they wouldn't look at people like Hemingway and du Maurier today ( that being 1991 or thereabouts); too hard to (get this) "niche-market" them.

I destroyed the sequel rather than let them have it, put the book I was working on (it happened to be Weaver) in a drawer, and walked away for nine years.

Victor, why is it gathering dust? Is it done? If so, why not submit, and get it off your plate and let your agent worry about it?

That must have been hard, and scary, Deb, but rewarding at the same time, even though it's a shame you were kept away from writing ( or at least publishing) for several years.

Not so much scary as just a kind of cold little "screw it, I know I'm good but if they want crap so they know where on the shelf to put me, they can kiss every nook and cranny of my girly arse" feeling. I let it go on way too long, though.

Any techies out there? I'm trying to load a picture to Peroplesforum and I don't know how to shrink it; I keep coming up with Big Giant Head. Brrrr.

Email it me, deb. Do you mean shrunk in terms of scale? Give me rough size ideas and I'll do it in Photoshop.