Hodderscape Open Submission Window

[thaddeus6th]

Ha.

Jo's the girl who has to turn down Pitt because she's already arranged dinner with Clooney.

 

[chopper]

Pitt the Elder, or the Younger?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Oh, that is nice feedback to hear (though frustrating it got so close and no further). Commiserations.

(Are you sure you included enough ROOOOOOAAAADD TRIIIIIIIPPPP?)

I am. I'm not sure I had enough fantasy. But I have a cunning plan.

It is frustrating, by the way. Near passes from 3 of the top sff publishers, for each of my first three books. hanging in there vibes would be good. And cake. Cos I like cake...

is it wrong to say "nice work"?

nice work!

Heh! Thank you.

 

[crystal haven]

Great big gooey gateau coming up. And lots of hugs. Hang in there, and congratulations for getting so far.

 

[Hex]

Yes, cake. And congratulations for the personalised pass -- they can't be writing many of them since they're sooooo busy!

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Hang in there! One day very soon, someone will definitely see your genius the way we do and snatch you up with a 6 figure advance.

And cake. Lots of cake.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Hang in there! One day very soon, someone will definitely see your genius the way we do and snatch you up with a 6 figure advance.

I absolutely agree. And we'll all be scrambling around to prove to other people that we actually do know her.

Meanwhile, sending you cake, too, Jo. I hope you don't mind that it is Vegan, gluten-free. That's what the family cake-baker makes these days. It's surprisingly good, and the virtual version may be even better, since I'll leave you to imagine your own flavor. (At Gwyneth's wedding on Friday we had maple frosting ... just an idea.)

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Ach, you're all lovely, thankyou. All cake duly scoffed and now I can't move.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Jo will definitely take cake with maple mead frosting. As long as it doesn't contain bug butter.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

Maple frosting, huh? Sounds amazing. Stumps off to kitchen on a maple syrup hunt, knowing the boys have probably already finished it all up.....

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Jo will definitely take cake with maple mead frosting. As long as it doesn't contain bug butter.

Honey is apparently not Vegan (gluten-free, however) so no mead in the maple frosting. I could send some mead courtesy of my son, though. A bottle or two would dull the pain of rejection.

 

[Kerrybuchanan]

I could send some mead courtesy of my son, though. A bottle or two would dull the pain of rejection.

My husband used to make mead. A bottle or two of his stuff would have dulled pretty much anything, including the shine on the silverware.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Jo will definitely take cake with maple mead frosting. As long as it doesn't contain bug butter.

Ha! Now I'll have to go read the darned book!

 

[TheDustyZebra]

It's like "the game". Have you thought about the game today?

 

[Susan Boulton]

Well, I had to nudge on mine because I got an offer on the mss which I'm musing over, and I got my kick-out just now. But it was very nice:

"I want you to know that passing on it was not an easy decision. Our readers were very impressed with your work."

So that was nice, and now I have to off and think about what's on the table to me from various directions.

Being nosy, did the nudge trigger the kick-out? (though that kick out was superb!) And you have an offer .... So the cake has to be half celebration, half commiseration, like chocolate and vanilla?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Being nosy, did the nudge trigger the kick-out? (though that kick out was superb!) And you have an offer .... So the cake has to be half celebration, half commiseration, like chocolate and vanilla?

Yes, the response was triggered by my nudge on the back of the offer (which I don't know if I'll take, btw, but am musing on) but there are other irons in various pans. And better to know, always, and move on.

Chocolate and vanilla sounds good!

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Honey is apparently not Vegan

Being essentially Bee Vomit.
Vegans also worry about how Bees are kept, some feel it's like battery hens.
(Sorry hunny lovers)

Date palm (and some other palm tree) Honey is Vegan and quite like Bee Honey.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Being essentially Bee Vomit.
Vegans also worry about how Bees are kept, some feel it's like battery hens.

For my daughter, it's not that honey is bee vomit. It's because she says that the beekeepers regularly kill off a lot of the bees for ... I forget which reason.

 

[Montero]

Erm. Speaking as someone who has kept bees for years, I have never killed off bees. Maybe it is some weird commercial practice. In the height of the season, worker bees die in a couple of months basically from exhaustion. The autumn hatch live all through the winter. You want lots of bees because more bees is more honey in summer, and in winter they keep the hive warm and ventilated.
Ah. One thought on killing off bees. Maybe she is talking about queen cells. Depending on circumstances you might bump off queen cells (long before the queen hatches).
Medieval beekeepers using bee skeps killed off the bees in Autumn as it was the only way to get the honey. Modern beekeepers using box based hives with lift out combs don't.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

For my daughter, it's not that honey is bee vomit.

If she doesn't know that, don't enlighten her.
No, bees are dying and no-one is quite sure why. Beekeepers don't kill off bees as @Montero explained. Killing a queen cell isn't something I'd heard of. Vegans object to any creature being "kept" for food. Many see bee keeping as no different to other farm animals, though really they are not, as the bees can fly anywhere. Sugar fed bee honey is very much less value than bees flying to blossoms.