Letters

"Letters, we get letters, we get lots and lots of letters." The old refrain bounces up from memory when I find certain emails in the box. The song could have been from the "Tonight" show or Arthur Godfrey, for all I can recall. Do we ever get letters! I thought I'd share some of them, anonymized to protect the guilty:

I like what i read in your pages, and am writing to ask if you will be willing to mention my latest novel, ... ,published by Spuyten Duyvil - a literary press based in Brooklyn, NY. You can get a copy at the library, the novel is available in most public libraries thanks to a good review in Publisher's Weekly. If your local public library doesn't own it, they will order it for you.

The author continues writing herself in third person and lists five websites I should consult, but provides no signature.

I would like to alert you to ... , the unfolding blog-book that is being written by ...

Here the author provided her name, URL for her own website, listed the URL for the blog twice, and even gave me her phone number--everything but a reason why I should mention her or her book.

I am a very lazy sub editor, (I believe they're called copy editors over on your side of the pond), and I came across your blog entry of Wednesday, August 11, 2004 while I was actively seeking a cliche for a headline.

O.K. He had me. I just had to email back and inquire why someone was searching for a cliche to use in writing. A lively exchange of nutty messages ensued, including a discussion of kebabs.

Oh, no, not another blog about a book? Not exactly, it's a "novel-in-blogress" based on a real journal kept in the 70s by a married woman at Yale. A nice mix of sex, intelligent talk, issues and three good characters in a classic three character drama. I'd invite you to link to the site, but want you to come by first and explore it.

Another woman, using her initials, she gave me the blog's name and URL in her signature, but I was too bored by then.

I must credit your ability to cloak your warm 'fuzzies" in particularly cold and sharp 'pricklies." You write with a strikingly sharp stiletto.

We thought you might be interested in the linked ... story. It features the rise of Romentics, romance novels for gay men. Romentics are written by real-life lovers, Scott&Scott, whose own romance could fill the pages of a romance novel. (Just call us "Harle-queens".)

And then there were the college boys who wanted me to buzz their little business taking college students' essays and publishing them without compensation while selling the publications. They were scarcely literate in their website and email copy, especially waxing irate when I pointed out the injustice they were committing in exploiting their classmates. They insisted they were going into debt with their first book, but still soliciting submissions for a second. How dumb do you guys think I am? And if it is true -- how dumb are you?

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