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Nick and Jake

TheOldMole Mar 01 2006 02:45 PM

My novel-in-progress.... NO LONGER IN PROGRESS!!!!!!

seawolf17 Mar 01 2006 02:47 PM

Yay Mole! Let's read it!

ScarletKnight41 Mar 01 2006 02:55 PM

Mazel Tov Mole - what a feeling of accomplishment that must be!

TheOldMole Mar 01 2006 03:06 PM

I can't believe it's done.

cooby Mar 01 2006 09:00 PM

When can we buy it?

TheOldMole Mar 01 2006 09:30 PM

Gotta find a publisher first.

TheOldMole Apr 02 2006 01:51 PM

Next step along...we have an agent...a really good one...who's interested in representing us.

Edgy DC Apr 02 2006 02:36 PM

Chapter one: Nick woke up one Tuesday in September and reached for his clothes. "Not that shirt," said Jake coming in from the veranda, "the green one. Now get moving, we've got a lot to do. Post the real chapter one NOW!!!!

MFS62 Apr 02 2006 02:58 PM

Memo to Edgy: Are you sure that green shirt goes with red pants? Later

Rockin' Doc Apr 02 2006 08:51 PM

Congratulations, mole. Best of luck with the publishing of your work.

ScarletKnight41 Apr 02 2006 09:03 PM

I'm sure Nick and Jake will be a big hit :)

TheOldMole Apr 03 2006 07:12 AM

The real chapter one -- or Letter One, "Nick and Jake" being an epistolary novel: ]Nicholas Carraway Assistant Undersecretary of State for European Affairs Department of State Washington, DC. Mr. Jacob Barnes Paris Herald Tribune 38, rue de Berri Paris 16e, France January 26th, 1953 Dear Mr. Barnes, We have not met, but I’m a great admirer of yours. I am an avid reader of your byline in the Trib, and one of the treasured books in my library is your memoir of Paris in the Twenties, A Lost Generation. It’s clear to me that you have a greater understanding than most Americans of Europe, and of France in particular. From your vantage point you will see the urgent need, in a world still recovering from the wounds of war, of spreading abroad the good news of American ideals, American values, and American progress. We showed the world our might in the armed conflict; now, with the architect of that victory leading from the White House, we must seize the opportunity to show the world our compassion, our moral compass, our democratic ideals, and the beacon of hope that shines from Lady Liberty’s torch. I am hoping that you can assist me in gathering some information that may prove helpful to your country. There is, as you know, a bit of hysteria in Washington these days over the influence of International Communism in U.S. libraries abroad. You and I are men of the world. We know how damaging this sort of heavy-handed Puritan zeal can be to American prestige abroad when it gets out of hand. I wonder if you can help me by compiling an informal list of books in embassy libraries that might be considered objectionable, so we can make a few timely removals and defuse the situation before it gets embarrassing. I realize this is an imposition, but I hope you will see the merit in this kind of preemptive strike. Very Truly Yours, Nicholas Carraway Assistant Undersecretary of State for European Affairs

Rockin' Doc Apr 03 2006 08:53 PM

Thanks for the sneak peek at your work mole. I look forward to your books publication so I can read it in it's entirety.

Edgy DC Apr 03 2006 09:08 PM

Wonderful. This isn't Gatsby's Nick Carraway, is it?

TheOldMole Apr 04 2006 07:05 AM

And Hemingway's Jake Barnes. There are almost no characters in the novel who weren't stolen from somewhere else.

Edgy DC Apr 04 2006 07:08 AM

Of course. Crazy. And, I imagine your eventual publishers might fear, legally dicey?

TheOldMole Apr 04 2006 01:44 PM

I don't think so. My brother and I have talked about doing this novel for years, and were always a little worried about exactly that. Then a few years ago, the issue was kinda settled by The Wind Done Gone. The Margaret Mitchell estate sued on that, and they lost. The ruling was that iconic fictional characters can be used for parodic purposes. Our agent is a very experienced figure in publishing -- used to be president of one of the major houses -- and he's not at all concerned about the issue.

ScarletKnight41 Apr 04 2006 02:29 PM

So long as the mole is clear that his book is a parody, he's safe.

Zvon Apr 04 2006 05:13 PM

ScarletKnight41 wrote: So long as the mole is clear that his book is a parody, he's safe. Is it a parody? Or more so an homage? This looks interesting and I hope you get it out there OM.

soupcan Apr 05 2006 12:26 PM

Methinks NIcholas Carraway's up to no good...

TheOldMole Apr 05 2006 01:37 PM

There's an awfully thin line between parody and homage.

ScarletKnight41 Apr 05 2006 02:01 PM

Legally, it's parody. Emotionally, it's homage.

HahnSolo Apr 06 2006 01:13 PM

Good job, Mole! As someone who has written a book (even tho mine is nonfiction), I know how big of an accomplishment it is. Sounds a little like the Jasper Fforde novels, with the use of literary characters. Possibly the best news is that you have an agent. Former president of a major publisher, hmm. The agent's initials wouldn't be LK, would they?

TheOldMole Apr 06 2006 07:46 PM

Nope. And since this is not a sure thing yet, I'll say no more.

TheOldMole May 19 2006 04:07 PM

Nick and Jake now has an agent. The Christy Fletcher agency. It is slowly inching its way out into the world.

ScarletKnight41 May 19 2006 04:35 PM

Excellent mole! I'm sure that it will be very successful :)

Johnny Dickshot May 19 2006 09:52 PM

Great news.

sharpie May 22 2006 11:46 AM

I know Christy Fletcher. She's a good agent.

TheOldMole May 22 2006 11:53 AM

That's good to hear. I've been reading over her client list, and it sounds as though she'll have a good feeling for our kind of writing.

Edgy DC May 22 2006 01:53 PM

Some things going well simultaneiously for the Mole these days. Glad to hear it.