Date:         Sun, 22 Mar 1998 12:04:15 EST
From: "up from ashes..." <mbarker@MIT.EDU>
Subject:      [WRITERS] FILLER: Quote From An Amazon Review...

"A few years ago, when I was living in Israel, a colleague of mine who
happens to be one of the finest writers I know sent an e-mail with a
handful of articles he'd written; he was eager to know my opinion of
them. They were not his best work, and I took great care, or so I
believed, in explaining why. No sooner had I sent my reply than his
came back. 'I did not send my tender words halfway around the world,'
he thundered, 'to have them torn to shreds by the likes of you.'"

"We writers are fragile creatures. Rare is the wordsmith, no matter
how experienced or professional, who doesn't anxiously await ...
response upon turning in a piece of work. Unusual is the writer who
does not take workshop criticisms or rejection letters personally."

--Jane Steinberg was a longtime editor at Seattle Weekly and a
stringer for Glamour magazine. She now writes from her home in New
Jersey.