Monday, October 13, 2008  Writing Monday: The Old Days, Part II
Last week, The Writer talked about how she missed the art of
letter writing. Today her rant will be about the loss of grace.
Grace is an undervalued trait. Most people don't miss it because
they don't know what it is. Grace in publishing (and other
businesses) means tending to the niceties. It's not just about
being courteous. It's how people present themselves in general.
I can see this is going to be tedious. What does this have to do
with writing?  Here's an example. In the old days if someone
wanted The Writer to come speak, she would call. The Writer
could either come or not. Either way it was a pleasant exchange
with The Writer saying she was flattered to be asked and the
other person saying maybe they could work out a visit at a later
date. Flash forward to 2008: The Writer gets an e-mail from
someone, asking if The Writer is available for a certain date.
The Writer writes a courteous response, expressing her regrets
if she isn't able to