Ted, thanks for this, & my compliments & sympathies. Still love to see a copy for possible review, whenever they're available.

You read it well.

Brent,

Yes, I try not to think too much about the state of U.S. publishing. 34% fewer books were sold in this country over the last 12 months than over the the previous 12. Big publishers are aiming to publish a full 50% fewer books as soon as they can get it down to that number. The problem is that, like any art, literature is emphatically NOT democratic, and many people who blog or post on, say, Amazon simply don't have the right to an opinion. Too bad, but that's just one of the million things wrong with misapplying the concept of "democracy." None of this, of course has anything to do with you, or any of a dozen other very insightful bloggers; but "freedom of expression" (again misunderstood) makes no distinction between the gifted and the ignorant.

Anyway, my policy is that anything I post publicly on the Internet may be quoted or referred to or whatever, while any of my "real" writing, all of which is copyrighted, is off limits. Just as in the real world, legal action follows copyright violation.

Which is to say thank you so much for your generous interest in my (and other people's) work. If we had even 100 more people as genuinely excited by literature and as generous in sharing their enthusiasm, U.S. publishing might not be in the nosedive it is. So, within the (pretty obvious)copyright limitations mentioned above, please feel free to comment on or quote anything of mine on the Internet or comment on my books.

I hope you're doing great, and, again, we are all blessed by your rare and generous nature.

All the very best,

Ted

Ted, I've got to extend my thanks as well -- & my respects -- for the time & thought you gave to this exchange.