IS THIS A BOOK? Some ten days ago Cassandra my publishing agent and I paid a visit on the three Hetairai at the Publishing House in the West Country we are with. Hetairai is one of the names we give to three of the women who are senior fiction editors there. The possibility of publishing mmj’s writing was being discussed, and the topic of this weblog was raised – "Is this a book?" they asked.
Hetairai is a word you may be unfamiliar with. I will explain it. It is the ancient Greek word for ‘female friend’. Hetairai is a close female companion, a trusted intimate, in some sense (according to Sappho) a beloved. The relationship may also be sexual, but Cassandra assures me that in her case it is not. When money comes into it, the Greek word the ancients used for women was porne (the e at the end is ‘long’, probably pronounced – "ay"; as in hay). Our relationship with the Hetairai is not of that kind. Neither is it commoditised.
Money does not change hands between us. So a visit was not ‘paid’ on them by Cassandra and I (as I put it at the outset), it was made. Money does not change hands. Gifts change hands. It is an important distinction. No payment, no price on the relationship. Only gifts.
Hetairai is one of the secret nicknames we give to the three women fiction editors. The other secret name Cassandra and I give them is ‘The Grand Inquisition’, and that felt the better given name for them ten days ago when they were giving us quite a hard time of it asking – "Is this a book?".
The Grand Inquisition felt the better name because material value had come into it. Price. It is hard not to do this in publishing, that is after all a business. If there is a book in it, there is likely value in it. If there isn’t a book in it, there likely isn’t value. Cassandra and I were being weighed up and measured by the three women fiction editors. And the weblog, they needed to know, is it gold, or is it mock-gold. – "Is this a book?" they asked.
Yes, I thought when I first started writing this weblog six months ago, this is a book. In fact, THISISABOOK was one of the ways I had of describing the walkingtalkingwriting weblog to other people early on. But now I am not so sure. Weblog writing is so porous, so full of forgettings. Who remembers last week’s Post? Not even I most of the time, so what hope for lurkers on the weblog trying to connect one Post with another, as if they were readers of a book. The Posts appear haphazardly, episodic and disjointed, without a narrative. Add to that two authors on the same weblog, ak and mmj, occassionally in step but mostly at odds with each other. Viewed that way, it seems improbable that this is a book, more like mock-gold than the real stuff.
Not that I told The Grand Inquisition that. – "Oh yes", I said, "there is a book in the weblog. Just you wait and see". Cassandra and I kept smiling the rest of the meeting, and somehow we made it to the end without the three women fiction editors being able to pin us down further.
But, Cassandra reminded me later, for the Hetairai at the Publishing House, we still have the intention. The idea that this is a book is still there.
mmj