If an agent doesn’t pick your manuscript up as interesting, don’t be disheartened. It really could be that it’s not the right “fit.” Remember, there’s no accounting for taste. Some prefer vodka; some prefer wine; some find that vinegar works just fine. Move on, move on, because, as that contest’s results prove, sometimes it’s the agent who is just not the right fit for you and yours.

What’s especially fun is to watch a complete sceptic turn white, eyes bulging, hair on the arms erect, lips quivering, when you take them to visit a friend’s house known to be “haunted.”

when I write, I write with an eye to being able to change the details while holding the story so that, when an editor asks for an update to “present day two years from now,” I can easily do it without having the story fall to pieces. What doesn’t change are the characters or the plot. Just the elements of the setting.