Sorry, JB, I didn't mean to suggest that you weren't open to suggestions. A thousand and one apologies. I know, though, what you mean about people messing with your kid. However, I would be happy for my kid to be taught good presentation skills.

Back to the edit.

Adele.

It's just something I've noticed. They are an American publisher, and they don't get some of the nuances or irony in the text unfortunately. At least not without an explanation.

I told them I didn't want to 'Hollywood-ise' the story by tying up all the ends so neatly. On certain issues we've had to agree to disagree, but in the main, we seem happy with the final draft.

JB

Well JB, as good ol' blues sang, "If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere."

Best of luck!

Adele.

<Added>

blues = blue eyes

Princess A,

That’s the spirit, nice one. You know its gonna be great, and that woman…well, she’ll be off slating and thus demoralising some other writer.

Anyway, why don’t you just do one “extreme nasty woman” edit and follow her advice, just to see what difference it makes, but just save it as another file. Then you can rip it apart and it makes no impact on your real edit, and if you do happen to like it then you can combine the two or whatever.

I know that’s probably what you’re doing but thought I’d say it anyway. Really I think its interesting to have the view of someone who is thinking in pure selling terms, but definitely don’t take her word as Gospel, coz we all know that is so not what its all about.

And it’s not “if”, it’s “when”. Did they not teach you that at Princess school?

Cath – I bet you’re a great dancer really. Did you really have to hide in the bogs coz of a crazy dancing man, or was that just for sly drug intake? Just kiddin, as I know that is a scurrilous slur on your sweet innocent character. Was he lanky by any chance, and into hip hop?

Hope you are keeping well and all your mad hoody wearing happy slapping slapper kids are okay!

Dav, I don't know the woman. She may well be charming and I'm certain she's very professional. She simply doesn't like Helen, just as I don't much like the sound of Robert Mugabe (strange anagram of e ba gum - must be from Lancashire )

Thanks, though, for your continuing support.

Btw, are you a good dancer?

Adele.

<Added>

PS I didn't go to Princess school, I went to Serf school, but was expelled for not tugging my forelock :)

Sigh. Davy's banging on about the gospels again. I suppose it's easy to have such a positive attitude when you're high all the time.

Out of interest, I went to about 14 different schools and got expelled from 3 of them. I am often told I am an amazing dancer, but then, I did have professional training in tap, modern and at one stage, ballet.

JB

Blimey Princess, she’s really got to you if you think Helen is worse than ee ba gum! You’re not gonna put in a twist where Helen’s ultra fervent anti-colonialist agenda leads her into becoming a mad despot, murdering hundreds of thousands her own people just for pointing this fact out? That would be sad. I’d still snog her tho.

I bet you looked great in them Serf school rags btw.

Oh boy yeah, I’m a reet mover on that there dance floor. Kind of…well, to my knowledge I’ve never driven an unsuspecting girl into the loos with my flailing limbs. I dunno, but I’m always up for learning a few moves tho

Especially posh banker ones where you can whisk ladies off their feet.

And waxy, I’m not surprised on your dancing qualities, I can smell the fake tan now. And who said anything about being high. If only …

Maybe later tho

JB, you must form a troupe of amazing dancers with my Austrian friend and take the Vienna Opera ball by storm. For the record, I was never expelled from real school, despite metamorphosing from a swotty teacher's pet into a bored and disengaged teenager. I wish we'd had dancing lessons, but they were not for the likes of us

Adele.

I've never used fake tan in my life and regretfully, I no longer do ballet. I used to have a serious problem with those tights.

Much as taking the 'ballet' world by storm sounds amusing, I think I'll reserve my future energies for literary pursuits.

JB

Beadle, this could be akin to thinking Girlfriend in a Coma is a love song: There's a story by Toby Litt called 'Alphabed' (in his book of short stories Adventures in Capitalism). Anyway, I thought that story was a touchingly honest portrayal of relationships and I told Toby Litt so one night when I bumped into him in a bar. He told me he thought it was depressing as hell and ran away.

Actually, could he have gone to hide in the toilets 'cos I was dancing??

Dav, I reckon I can still cut it to a bit of D&B (tip: move your arse to the bass, not the beat), but that's as far as it goes. I'm cool, just about to enter hermit-dom in order to finish T&K. And of course doing the occasional bit of running around after the 16-yr-old-just-left-school happy slapper hoody kids to prevent them falling through the net and becoming disengaged and disaffected and socially exluded and - whoops, sorry, I just went all New Labour....

And hey, nothing wrong with burger flipping. I did a bit of pizza flipping in my time, y'know.

Cath