The
Writer
I thought literary agents were supposed to be constructive,
Zachariah muttered as he snapped off the computer. He went for a brisk walk..
Zachariah Conran had written three novels and a score of short stories, all
of which had afforded him immense pleasure but none of which had been deemed
worthy of publication. They were in three black lever-arch files on a shelf
in his study, awaiting what one publisher had called a 'serious re-working'.
After his walk, he re-read the e-mail, scarcely able to believe that a literary
agent would send such a damning condemnation
..
by Robert Orton
He was born in Staffordshire and has lived and worked in France, Indonesia,
Senegal and Brunei. He is now the Head of an EFL department in an Independent
School in the South-West. He became interested in writing after adapting texts
from various sources for English teaching. He also invented adventure stories
for his sons, and greatly regrets not writing them down at the time. He has
recently completed a Creative Writing course with Maria (As Meat Loves Salt)
McCann.
