‘He was, but he’s set up on his own now, and taken a few of his best writers with him – and he’s also just negotiated the sale and serial rights to Sergei’s autobiography and it’s going to be huge.’

She looked totally stunned, but recovered quickly and said Nathan didn’t have her contacts, to which I replied that clearly he could have any contacts he wanted, and I thought he’d do very well for me.

And that was that: I had publicly declared myself to be Nathan’s property.

Then I excused myself because I could see my old editor from Salubrious waving at me over the throng, and it turned out that Ruperta is now chief fiction editor at Crimp & Letchworth! We adjourned to the American Bar for a good gossip, and I told her about changing agents, and she said now I was becoming so successful it served Miracle right for ditching me at precisely the wrong moment and why didn’t we meet for lunch one day soon and talk about what I was writing now.

And so we agreed to that. How wonderful it would be if Nathan could sell my next book to Crimp & Letchworth and I’d be able to tell Tim (politely) that I’d had a better offer!

Eighteen

In Demand

NOVELTINA LITERARY AND CRITICAL AGENCY

Mudlark Cottage, The Harbour, Shrimphaven

Dear Wilfred Quinn,

Thank you for your letter, cheque and most interesting manuscript.

I haven’t before received a novel entirely written in poetry. As you say, it is quite innovative – although there is nothing entirely new under the sun as far as writing goes, and didn’t Vikram Seth do something like that a few years ago? Not to mention Elizabeth Barrett Browning with her Aurora Leigh.

Yes, it was romantic that you were named after Wilfred Owen, and you are quite right not to want to change it, although I can see that editor’s point: if you are writing cutting-edge, angry-young-man stuff, Wilfred doesn’t somehow go, does it? However, by simply shortening it to Will Quinn you will have something that sounds just right. (And for all I know Will Self’s real name is Wilfred, so you won’t be alone!)

I have enclosed my full critique on your interesting work, but I do feel that I must warn you that I think a novel of this nature would be difficult to sell to mainstream publishers, despite your brilliant record in having poetry accepted. However, the route I would suggest is that you first try to have a collection or two of poetry published in book form by a specialist poetry publisher, and then follow on this success by interesting them in your poetic novel.

I hope my advice has been of some help to you.

With best wishes for your success in your chosen field,

Tina Devino