[Gary Wassner]

...solitude that flays the skin from my shoulders
o anguish at evening when the light
scars a landscape of shadows

in this living night
you are alone: I hear your cries
dismembering my soul with memory: the night
severs us, who always were alone: the flowers burn
down the length of my arms: and my hands are empty.

How absolutely beautiful. Thank you Alison, for this and so many others. I just finished reading The Common Flesh.

[alison]

Gosh, Gary, thanks. I really appreciate that.

I feel all awkward now, so I'd better go and have a shower... :o you guys are going to make me vain...and I don't want to let that monster out of the closet!!! :eek:

[Gary Wassner]

Let it out! Vanity in a closet? I would hate to open up that door unsuspecting after too many years.

[Hereford Eye]

Got it. Thank you, ma'am.
Also bought the Gift. Had already ordered Attempt at Being.
Will let you know.

[alison]

No, Gary, I have to keep my vanity in chains, like Camus, or else. I throw it the odd gobbet of flesh now and again, sometimes I let it out for a run in the inner courtyard, but heaven forbid it ever escape... :eek:

And thanks for buying the books, HE, I'm surprised and delighted! I hope you enjoy them - of course I think the poetry and the fantasy are all linked, in certain subterranean ways, but I sort of don't expect people to necessarily like the poetry if they like the fantasy, or vice versa.

[Radthorne]

Alright, Hereford's let the cat out of the bag. Gary and I were all set to put into motion Tari's plan and kidnap Alison, but not of course to allow her books to escape. No, it was all about reducing the competition! She's far too good a writer to allow loose out there where she might steal away readers. No, best if we just find a quiet, happy little place for her where she won't even notice that her very tall children are no longer looking over her shoulder, wondering when she's going to stop typing all those silly words and make them lunch...

And Alison, we have nice warm showers! So if you'll just step this way, we'll show you to your room... ;)

[alison]

:eek:

...and there I was, thinking what a nice bunch of guys you were, and suddenly there's all this "welcome to my underground lair"...

Though you know, if you could upgrade the kidnapping.... I've been doing some high grade fantasy thinking lately about a holiday. (Not a hope at present, of course...) And I know exactly what kind of holiday. I have it all planned. There's this little hotel in the Marais in Paris, very pleasant indeed, just up from the Place des Voges... I need a suite there, with laid on massage, sweet pastries and visits to art galleries and cafes and shops, when I'm sick of lying around being fed and spoilt and doing nothing. Oh boy, would that be nice for a couple of weeks... If you guys could manage that, I'll come as quietly as you like. :D

[Radthorne]

No problem, mon cheri! Simply slip on these little virtual reality goggles, and I shall whisk you away in no time... :D

[alison]

Um ... now what was it? The red pill or the blue pill?

(That radsmile just a teensy bit sinister...hmmmm)

[Radthorne]

That's why I'm a fantasy writer, luv. ;)