Michael Pellegrini's Blog and Rants and Stuff

I got a new rejection back on my taxi book today. The agent was named Toni Lopopolo. She wrote:

"Thanks, but I'll pass - your story may be a good one but I enjoy a 'point of view' - i.e., use a character's POV to 'see the story' - as written. This is the [something unintelligible] author method and it seems dated and distant to me. If you don't have these books, get them: 1) Stein on Writing, by Sol Stein, and 2) Self Editing For Fiction Writers, by Brown and King.

You see, if the novel is not put in one character's point of view, the intimate [something unintelligible] 3rd person - then it's no one's POV and that doesn't work for me." T.L.

"Dated and distant?"

Stupid bitch! I intended it that way. It's omniscient third
person! What about it? I like it that way!

If it seems dated and distant, maybe it's cause I was consciously trying to imitate Steinbeck's style, and yup, he has been dead a while... Yup, another dead, hack writer. But I like him. A dead hack writer with a Nobel Prize for literature...

I will persist!

Washington Governor’s Race

At right, Dino Rossi, at Today's Press Conference

Dino Rossi continues to plunge boldly ahead, working towards his dream of becoming Governor of Washington state. Too bad it’s all just in his mind. Although they won’t admit it, Republicans lost bigtime when Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges, ruled that he had no power to order a revote. The ruling means that if Bridges does eventually set aside the election, his possible options could then include either declaring the office vacant – which would mean Lt. Gov. Brad Owen could take over as interim Governor – or, Bridges could declare Rossi governor. Those options are, however, a long shot, and the Republicans know it. The standard of proof in getting the election results tossed out is very high. It’s unlikely that the Republicans have enough evidence to sway the judge. At a news conference today, Rossi downplayed the ruling, saying that if the Judge vacated the election results and appointed him Governor, he would not take the office, but would instead ask the legislature to call a special election.

Bush and an advisor in a stratgey session.

Looks like we’ll soon be headed into Iran.

The hysteria about possible nukes in the hands of the Iranians has been building and building in the past few weeks.

The Bush administration has been making a much more subtle case than they did with Iraq – drawing the “bad” news out slowly, trying to shape public opinion, making it so the public can only make one conclusion: that Iran has nuclear weapons and it’s the United States’ job to go in there and disarm them – to save the world from the Iranian menace.

Bush, a true schizophrenic, in one breath termed the idea of invading Iraq “ridiculous,” and then flatly stated the US was “keeping all options open.”

Talk about mixed messages.

One small problem with all this: can you say WMD? In the words of President Ronald Reagan, “There they go again!”