quote:
Originally posted by Marc Campbell:
Dave, you have the scent of a man who has already spent his advance. From a purely layman's point of view, it does seem like the most entertaining things in Hong Kong have nothing to do with law. I hope the finishing up goes smoothly.
Advance!? Academic texts rarely get advances. If I had an advance I'd probably be more motivated (by guilt).

quote:

quote:
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.
Sounds interesting and vaguely sociopolitical. I'm a great fan of the literature of the subversive.
Many litigation lawyers are closet subversives by nature - we test the limits of the law. Whereas commercial lawyers are firmly within the establishment. Any subversion in the story is firmly masked by the focus on the sheer bastardry of the profession. It takes an insider to write about the tricks.

quote:

quote:
I'm presently going through and editing the superfluous or poorly written (usually too dry) bits. ...
So the entire manuscript is already written? That's excellent. Finishing is the hardest part. Have any non-lawyers read it yet?

Well, its written, just not typed. So its as good as incomplete.

I keep threatening to make my wife read it, but she hates what she's read so far. But she's an accountant, so, y'know... >shrugs<

She always repeats me a joke:

Q: What is the difference between lawyers and accountants?
A: Accountants know they're boring.

With that in mind, and since this thread is about you, and not me, what made you decide to write fantasy? Isn't it the most difficult genre to write, because you can't draw upon your own experiences, and because imaginations can run right off the rails?

quote:

quote:
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.
A lawyer complaining about agents...now I've heard everything. :)
LOL
....hey, wait a minute...