Q: Will there ever be a sequel to City of Diamond?
A: First, it is lovely of you to ask. I still cherish a great fondness for those characters. There was a time when I was ready to rush straight from volume one into volume two, full of the flush of obsessive enthusiasm. Various life issues got in the way, and eventually I had to accept, as C.S.Lewis puts it, “the child will never be born, for the time of its begetting is past.” And yet, I’m not ready to call code on this one. I may not turn back to it for a long time, and if I do, it won’t be the book I would have written. But I live in hope.
Q: Will you read my script and get me an agent?
A: No. I could just leave it at that, but there are a number of fallacies involved here. Let’s just say that if you’re asking me this question, you’re too far out of the loop to be ready for Hollywood. That’s not a terrible thing; you just need to educate yourself a little. I have some posts that might be helpful to you under Essays — try “Breaking In,” “Finding an Agent,” and “Constructing A Spec Script.” Good luck.
Q: You don’t have to help me break in, but wouldn’t you like to read my script/fanfic story/novel?
A: For legal reasons, I must refuse. Sorry. Not trying to throw cold water.
Q: Let me tell you my fantastic idea —
A: …And here I must stop reading your email/comment. This is not a reflection your idea, but on the litigiousness of modern society.
Q: Are you ever going to write novels again?
A: Yes. I have novels stacked up over my inner airport, circling desperately as they wait for a chance to land.
Hi, I just want to tell you I loved your Ivory books. I am loaning them to a friend tomorrow – she might be the same age as the book! – and that prompted me to go online to find another copy (I bought the omnibus from a thrift store off Amazon, I’m sorry you will not see royalties from that) which prompted me to check, as I periodically do, whether you have published anything new. To quote you, I live in hope as well. You have worked on some of my favorite shows, I remember seeing your name in the credits of House and telling my husband about the Ivory series; and I am about to look up Black Sails. I canceled cable years ago so I had not heard of it until I looked you up tonight on IMDB. Thank you for the wonderful books and tv shows. I would love to see a reissue of your books, or a release on kindle – I don’t know what the complexities are with your publisher, but your characters and world-building from 25 years ago are still among my favorites, and definitely worthy of a new generation of readers! Thank you for many hours of escape!
What would it cost to have a script written?
I just love your writing! The complete Ivory is an my ‘reread at least once a year’ list which leads me to a problem – I’m losing my eyesight and it has become very hard to read hard copy. Have/will you ever publish the Ivory books in an ebook edition? If I have to scan each and every page of my copy, I will do so and use TTS to read it to me, but I would prefer to buy it from you!
Hope to hear from you,
Annie