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Dave, thank you kindly. Don't look too hard in October, though. I'm still waiting for final approval on the script. At this stage, the absolute soonest it'll come out is Jan or Feb 2004.

Re: agents, I did try my luck with fiction agents and didn't get very far. Those were the ones who told me that my ms. would make a good comic book. I do have an agent now, and he is actually a decent guy, but all he does is computer books, so I'm not sure if that helps you out. Definitely stay away from those who want any kind of money from you. Real agents work on percentage.
Yeah, the publishers I know in my job have told me that.

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I may be in the position to meet some literary agents when things finally start moving at Marvel. I'll keep you posted.
Many thanks. As I said, I can get a list of names out of an agent's directory and send them query letters, but it wold be good to have an inside opinion on even a few of them. My brothers-in-law have been struggling pop artists for many years, and they have few good things to say about agents. I'd like to avoid a bad one.

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Can you share any details about your book? I promise I'll only steal your idea if I really like it. And where are you now if not in civilized lands?
I am writing two books. One is a book on entertainment law in Hong Kong. I didn't have to go through an agent to get that contract - I was approached directly by the commissioning editor of Sweet & Maxwell, a publisher of law books. This one has become bogged down, primarily due to a lack of enthusiasm as I am now leaving Hong Kong (returning to the "civilised lands" of Australia), and so there seems little point for me to write a book about Hong Kong law. Still, I will finish it - its just a question of when.

The other book is a fiction book, which is, oddly enough, about a lawyer in Hong Kong. By way of reassurance that the book is not autobiographical, the main character is female, and is partly inspired by a Law Society of Western Australia investigation into why women are leaving the legal profession en masse. It is an escapism story, recounted as a monologue by the main character while she is being chatted up by a drunk college student while they are both on holiday in Portugal. The story evolves into dire consequences for some of the characters. Its about 300 pages long, and has the potential for a sequel. I'm presently going through and editing the superfluous or poorly written (usually too dry) bits.

I've taken a long time to write it because my training as a lawyer compells me to examine every sentence to make sure it doesn't read poorly. Also, a lot of it was handwritten on my morning and evening ferry journey, and my handwriting often reflects the vigour of the ride. If there are big waves in Hong Kong waters, and my pen goes all over the place, it makes it difficult to decypher later. :)