TEN WAYS OF DEALING WITH THINGS, INCLUDING AVOIDANCE AS A MEANS TO AN END.

OK, a comment. I've had a bit of time to digest and here's what I think so affected me. Obviously the writing is wonderful, characterisation has definition and depth and so on. But you go beyond this. Amidst the very fine writing, there is occasionally a spectacular line, and you demonstrate an awareness of psychology and the nature of things that I will confidently assert comes from a strong sense of authorial self-awareness and intelligence.

In some writing, you get a strong sense of the writer - - not in an invasive or distracting sense - but in the sense of perceiving an entire complex consciousness at work within and beneath the work. Your writing is utterly alive for me and positively bursting with points of interest.

There's a sense of fullness that comes from a broad thematic engagement, a philosophical engagement, an attempt to make something of life and people via writing. I don't get the sense that you're merely telling a story here, nor are you merely 'making a statement' or series of statements. There's real richness here, is my point, and it's something to do with the juxtaposition of the universal and the personal/particular, and something to do with the scope for thematic engagement. I'm caught by the implications for the creative spirit loosed from society's moorings, all sound and fury - signifying nothing? - and leaving only scraps behind...

This is a treasure-trove, truly.

Best, Bek

M- Reading chp 2- So, I'm loving JW's veiw (yes, that's spelt right) of the world in these first paras- particularily as American Capitalism comes crashing down around our ears and the only word that sustains an echo is greed: Greed! Greed! Greed!

"It seems a far cry now..." What a brilliant line! I have to chuckle, I mean REALLY chuckle, because when you read the Book of Revelations, its the merchants of the earth that stand crying while the great cities burn(tears for buildings, not people)--And I just don't see JW shedding a tear! "Scratch at the gloss!" --I love it!

IT IS THE SICKNESS OF THE WORLD THAT YOU ARE NOT ALREADY PUBLISHED!!!! Or that most Americans won't understand you. Not because of the truths, mind you, but because there's a certain 'blocking out' of reality that goes on here, across the shore.

Look closer at the apricot, pick it with your bare hands, squish it apart and take a gander-some see a pit- JW smiles down at us all, grinning: he sees the seed.

Note to self: I've left off at "His gigantic hands..." , go to work now and make my eager wages of sin. Soon as I have a spare moment, get back to reading this masterpiece!

You have written a very interesting, darkly funny and unique storyline, which I do like, and created a most memorable main character in Matty. Ialso like how you employ the first person narrative voice to tell the story. The dialogue is realistic and well written and the pace of your story flows well. All of this along with your descriptive writing makes your work a pleasure to read. Backed.

Andrew Burans
The Reluctant Warrior: The Beginning

Hi Martyn, I can't add much if anything constructively but I made a few brief notes:-
I read chapter one and was more than impressed. Your style is unique and I really liked the way you build your characters.
Matt Whistler is a complex man -- he rode the storm for forty years, after all.
I like the reference to baby turtles and 'Legions with Lesions' was great (not sure why Lesion has a capital letter).
'Karma always gets you in the end' is another significant line. Excellent writing.
Backed.
Best wishes,
Barry
LITTLE KRISNA AND THE BIHAR BOYS

ARISE, AUTHONOMY GHOST!

Ease those weary, withered limbs from your coffin. Push away the stone from the mouth of the tomb.

You have one last task to perform. One last, sacred shelf to confer.

Whether you were plugger, spammer, gusher or troll, whether you flirted or fought in the forum or beavered away in the shadows, now is the time for your resurrection.

One last time. Marshall your strength, muster the last vestiges of your power and carry out your final Authonomy act:

Back my book, MIRROR IN THE SKY.

Then, only then, you may rest easy in your Authonomy grave.

Nick Poole2 (formerly known as NickP)

This is not a surface story. It is below the bone, burrowing under the skin like a tick.
There is a lot going on. The first chapter is mesmerizing and beautiful. I only had time to read two. The first was quite long, but the length didn't draw away from Matty Whistler. You have a captivating character. A something is wrong with him, nothing is wrong with him, character.
People strive to write a character like this, a character that will be remembered. A character that very well could go down in history, had he been real.
The thing about this, is that the ideas written are so real. Though we may not be able to agree, or sympathize with everything Matty thinks/feels we are able to identify with a lot of them. As I read the first chapter Ray Lamontagne's Empty was playing in the background. It sort of seemed fitting.
This distand, sad beauty.
This is not just a story. This is alive. The beast has breath within its lungs.
Backed
T.L Tyson-Seeking Eleanor

Hi Martyn,

This story is so alive. The characters felt real, the dialogue felt natural and the writing is splendid. Your sentences flow with ease and I found no awkward phrases.

“Spirit is the essence though… break me(.)” (H)e pointed…

I was pulled in right away. Loved the vivid descriptions. Nice authentic narrative voice. Great characterisation and dialogue.

This is a compelling work that should go far. I really enjoyed the first few chapters I’ve read. Very well written.

Shelved!

Shinzy :)

Dear Martyn,



Hi there. I wondered about your title for ages before coming to have a look. I read your profile. Then I read your tags and started chuckling. Then your pitch. Getting better and better.

OK, your synopsis now and I want to meet Matty Whistler because I reckon he’s the only guy among us with any sense.

Just seen the 123,000 words. That’s substantial. I hope they don’t do to you what thy did to me with my first novel. Made me dump 40,000 words to bring it down to 80,000 before they would accept it. I was shocked but obliged them. They immediately accepted it and I got published in UK and Commonwealth.

If ever you are in the same situation, remember the golden rule. The man with the gold makes the rule. Tee-hee.

Ten Ways of Dealing With Things is on my bookshelf. I may have a few comments for you.

Wow, this could be controversial. Not a bad thing if people argue over our work. On the one hand I want to critique. On the other I’m saying no. no, no. This is in a niche of its own. Reminds me of Doctorow in a way.

You are telling me a lot about him. Now I want to see him in action. I want to hear him speak and watch what he does.

Accomplished writing, by the way. You are dumping a lot of info on me but the writing is tight and clear so I keep reading. A most unusual novel. But we need that. Publishers bitch that every manuscript they see, they have already seen a thousand times.

I strongly approve the short, sharp sentences. They can be stunning. I edit the hell out of my stuff and will use a two word sentence if I can get away with it.

My main suggestion? Submit this to ten literary agents simultaneously. I don’t think the amateurish comments on Authonomy do any of us any good. I deleted my ‘cherries’ months ago.

Go well with your writing.


Kind regards,



Pierre.

The Little Girl in the Fig Tree

Martyn,

Sorry don't have time to give detailed comments. It wouldn't be my normal kind of thing this, but I really liked it. The writing is seductive and draws you in - it's like a well-crafted poem, only it's prose. I'm hugely impressed. You can write and I'm jealous! I have no idea whether this is commercial or not - but it deserves to be.

Simon

Hi Martyn,

I think this book suffers a little from the conventions of the site - it would be much better to read this as a 400-page paperback to luxuriate in, rather than a series of massive scroll-downs to accommodate your long chapters.

Still, have been enjoying it very much - something unashamedly literary in amongst all the genre fiction! As a character study this is hugely accomplished and compelling, Matty strikes me as a cross between the eponymous hero of 'Stuart - A Life Backwards' and that guy who protested outside parliament against the IRAQ war for years and years.

For me the length and lack of an obvious narrative thrust near the start aren't really problems - I'm just getting into chapter two and think the depiction of that almost-lost world; pit life and the working class family, is shaping up to be quite an achievement. Deserves to be on my shelf, where it now is.

Al

STARTING IN ON THIS i had a horrible fear that i was being cornered by a drunk on a late night bus and that i was going to have to listen to him all the way to ELEPHANT AND CASTLE, pretending to understand his highrow references and laugh at his jokes and afraid of physical violence. not, as they say, in a good way.

i'm going back up there to the top of the page to see if it's really that oppressive. back in a mo.

back again. i am trying to find among these well written and often clever observations sufficient something or other (i cannot exactly say what is missing) to make me care about these people. i guess, for me, the voices are interesting as i have said but as the opening to a book i have not engaged sufficiently to read on and on. liverpool softened my heart for a while there but then i was off again, smiling in the right places because i didn't want to be the target of the next joke.

because i can see it is intelligently written i am left feeling the fault if mine but i wonder if that is so? i think i feel i am being done good and that is never seductive as far as i am concerned.

sorry because despite some effort i have not really engaged with you here and not offered useful feedback. in a way i feel as though i have overheard your writing and that it was not speaking to me.

so sorry again.

you are not going to like blogspot, as if you didn't know. but if you haven't looked yet and you want to reciprocate i will brace myself.

with all good wishes
maitreyi
BLOGSPOT

Hi Martyn,
a very intriguing opening. Drew me right in...I sense a lot to come already! The descriptions of Matthew are incredibly revealing and to the point. The narrator seems thick with disgust and bitterness!
One small thing- in para 6, line 1- 'unfair' is written twice. Perhaps change one of them?
Nit-picking really but thought I'd mention that one. Love lines such as 'We start at the blunt end'. Lots going on here. Almost wondered if the first chapter could be cut in half as there was so much to take in!

I want to read more of this. I'll keep in touch. Cheers, Nikki

martyn. gorgeous, scrumptious, lyrical.

comparisons with other writers (of political philosophy) have already been made. i was certainly reminded of sartre's 'nausea' . the weaving in-and-out of the inner reflective (in comforting 1st person) and the external objective reality.

within less than a para, i'd learned that the trick for me was to slow my reading right down to the pace required for full comprehension. once i'd done that i found myself enjoying it non-stop. and realising i was tripping through a potential modern classic (bit of tidying up required of course, lol !).

i want to come back and read more. i will. meantime, a well-deserved leg-up on to my shelf (but i do think you have to change the title, if only to halve the number of words).

pete

Hello

I have read the first chapter. Will read more and leave a decent comment later.

TEN WAYS OF DEALING WITH ADVERSITY (Martyn Wild)
There is authentically original story line and a concept that is so topcal -- laughing in adversity.
There is great sense of characterisation and skilfull writing.
There are lines with meaning: those fractured places where so many have so little to lose.
Shelved without hesitiation.
Now all it has to do to get to ED is compete with YA and chicklit
mch

This is really great stuff. The writing is just great. I'm putting it on my watchlist.

Intriguing blurb. Going to put it on the shelf and read it at my leisure.

Intriguing blurb. Going to put it on the shelf and read it at my leisure.

Why have I been to this so many times and not commented? Maybe I agree with Paul Western below...
maybe it's because back in 1970 a similar smackhead once handed me a copy of 'Steppenwolf'. Waving aside a puff of dope-smoke he said: 'You gotta read this, man.' - 'Woodstock's gonna change the world, man.'
I still cannot get my head round a sub-culture that took its inspiration from Hesse who wrote between the wars.
He 'yearned' to read Hesse? - had he spent any available funds on fags and dope? Hesse is not so inaccessible, surely? By now I've decided already that your protaginist is probably full of shit...
Maybe it would be better to cut to the chase - weave the information from the lengthy intro into the story as you progress? This only represents my opinion of course - and maybe I'm full of it too!
Shame I couldn't get into this as I became a Hesse fan myself - having made the effort to read more of his work.
cheers and good luck with this

this is like having a pint with one of the most objective minded people i've ever met, told through a fictional character. i share your views on homeless people and the stigmas the world attaches to them, without knowing a single one of the individual circumstances that has led them to their fate. you had me there.

those who accept prejudices that others have instilled will hate this book, while those who wish to find enlightenment should read with interest.

i shall come back to this when my mind is most spongelike.

Insightful-shelved-TJ

Martyn,

One of my writing instructors once addressed a certain newcomer’s work by saying, “You’re either very bad, or very good. I can’t decide which.”

The writer on the end of that critique is no longer with us, but before he left he had most of us believing that he belonged on the latter end of that statement.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m left undecided. But, Ten Ways of Dealing with Things, held my attention – I kept reading it. I’m going to back you. The book is on my shelf.

Only read the first section and its on my bookshelf, no time to read more now but will get back to it, very intriguing :-)

Martyn,
After a few false starts (dedication, prologue etc like going from one room to another before the last room to see the doctor) - and after a few opening paragraphs that did not grab me straight away - I soon realised that I was really enjoying what I was reading - your prose was generating goose-bumps on me - like good music does. I've shelved this - and I will continue to read more of it at work tomorrow, during my breaks. Great stuff!

Exceptional! Shelved!
This reminded me of one of my all time favourite books 'I Know this much is True' by Wally Lamb.
I am gobsmacked. Occasionally that happens. I just can't find anything else to say.
Well done. This needs plugging.
Sue

I bypassed this quite a few times, becuse the title put me off. I was wrong. Sorry.

Was shocked to read that it is a crime to give food to the homless!

The writing flows beautifully.

I'm putting this on my watch list.

Joanna

This looks ambitious and interesting, and you nearly got me. I think the reason you didn’t is the writing. I just got hung up on the sentences a few times. Here’s an example.

“Mathew Whistler was what your Grandfather would call a ne’er do well, and he often still does, even now.”

Let’s not call it grammer, lets call it sense. That “he” is Mathew Whistler.

“Mathew Whistler was what your Grandfather would call a ne’er do well, and Mathew Whistler often still does, even now.”

There is a difference between what you mean and what you are saying. And there are simple ways to say what you do mean.

“Mathew Whistler was what your Grandfather would call a ne’er do well. In fact Gramps often still does call him that, even now.”

But that leads us to “often still”. You only need one of those words. Two is really injurious to the rhythm. The end result is a bit like someone with a great, wonderful song, but a bad drummer or bass player. Which is a great pity. Because I’ve got an instinct that this is passionate work and potentially great.

I loooooooooooove the way you write. its so wonderful. This is trully a peice of art.
Shelved.
Kimmy

This is a glorious mess. You are very talented. I'd skip Jackie's intro. Let the reader take Matty's measure. Frankly she almost caused me to give this a pass. I have a low tolerance for 'genius' giving license to thoughtlessness. Love Matty's voice. Too much Ziba.

This is an intelligent literary work. It contains fresh language—my sort of language. I started to make notes but it became pointless. This is just too good.I should have got to it sooner. Shelved

Once I got used to the fractured writing style I found this an intriguing read and I am intensely curious about how Matty Wheeler became the person he is. You have a higghly individual voice. i am putting this on my watchlist and will be coming back to it.

i know i've already read this, but did it have a different title? Came over following your plug - i liked before, i still like it lots. Shelved.

Hi Martyn

I'm still reading this, and loving the voice and the style and.... just the fact that it's *different*. Non formula. And I will find something constructive to say when I feel I've read far enough, but for now, can I be superficial and say I like the new cover? ;-)

Hi Martyn,

Man, can you put those words down! Excellent, really. My only niggle (says this ignorant American) is the dialect which in some places, is hard for those of us unaccustomed to hearing it, to read. But I'm quite sure this is on the fastrack for the editor's desk and rightly so! I'm humbled to back it. ~Barb

Wonderfully written, smart, witty and most of all very moving. Matt is a fascinating character and your narrator does a beautiful job portraying him. Shelved.
Cheers, Edith

I really enjoyed this. The writing is excellent with prose that flows smoothly and makes you want to savor every word. I'll shelve this for a bit.
Stauna

Hi Martyn,
Hard to know what most to say here. I found I had to read this very carefully and slowly, and I have to confess that it wasn't until neaqr the end of ch1 that I worked out the relationships between these three - for some reason I spent 1/2 of ch1 thinking Jackie was male. - Probably just me. There is a quality about this writing, the way you move between widely disparate events without it jarring. Some phrases that I found v. effective - 'Got used to him and mistook that for understanding.' /'clutched to all these little known facts' / ' Looking back they were always there.'
There were a few bits that I thought could be sharper - suggest removing 'sort of' (x2) - imo its stronger without it.
And I do feel, though again this is just my opinion that you would have a more powerful opening if you started at 'Ignoring him doesn't mean he isn't there.'
But this is going on my shelf, there is real quality here and I want to tease out the rest of the story.
Margaret
I hope these comments are helpful / encouraging and I'd value your feedback on Munro's Choice, thanks ,M.

Read it quickly. Love 'prodigal mind' and such like. Kerouac meets Withnail. Hope you find that a compliment. Philmc

Martyn,
This is deep and poetic. I wanted to give some examples of the images I liked the best, but there are too many. Your writing is exquisite. I gave up looking for mistakes and lost myself in your story. Shelved and headed for the Ed desk!. Wow.

This is inspirational stuff and a real pleasure to read. I will be back for more, but for the moment, consider yourself shelved! Good luck. Straussy

Hi Martyn,

I've read three chapters, and I have to say they were excellent. You write well, and in fact your book is one of the best on the site. It's good to read something that hasn't been plugged to death. Keep up the good work and best wishes for getting published.

Hi Marytyn,

All comments are subjective, but I have to say that this is the best thing that I have read on this site - and I have read some very good works. This book reaches me on every level. It is a world I know and I can endorse your portrayal of it wholeheartedly. It makes no compromises. I love your use of vernacular which is true and never tips it's cap to parody. Whistler is my man; irreverent, blisteringly honest, massively flawed. I have met him.

Bravo, mate. A tour de force.

It is a pity we do not have two shelves, cos you would be on the top one.

Regards

Mike

BTW, I spotted one type before I began too immersed to even care, which was:

"At other time it I cry with pity"

Be as lucky as you deserve.

I had to come back for seconds. Glorious.

Martyn
You have an intriguing style. To be honest it doesn't quite work for me, but that is purely personal and is no reflect of the writing or whether this is commercial. There's a lot of good stuff, but there's no benefit in me just telling you that. What I believe is the most constructive comment I can make, is to encourage you to tighten it up. I took some notes, so hopefully all will become clear.

* Interesting opening para. However "before too soon" doesn't make sense. "before too long", yes. "too soon" is the opposite!

* The main body starts by questioning where you should start. The intial line is good, but it goes on and I began to get the unconscious message that the author didn't know what or how to tell me the story. Not a good message, so be very careful with this type of start.

* Later we get the line "Not everything about MW was a s logical..." This would make a GREAT first line, it's interesting and intriguing. Perhaps then backtrack with your questions on how best to explain it all - but if you do, make it shorter.

* You have a sentence with 2 "could've"s why not use could have? The contraction seems unnecessary.

* ", and he often still does, even now." - You said my grandfaher would say this. OK good. Why have this extra bit on the sentence? My grandfather is dead how's he going to say it now? This is a good example of the sort of tightening up you should consider - remmove pieces of sentences (or whole sentences) that don't move the story along. So important in the early chapters so you don't lose/distract your reader. I was clearly distracted by the "even now" piece.

* Another example: "he may or may not have been mad, whatever that means" - much shorter and precise please

* "...but if at 20 years old, he'd have walked..." he'd have? "he had" seems correct here.

* You tell us "the right doctor" if it's the right one you don't need "it's my guess".

* Same sentence: delete "or other"

* "...that one day that..." - Lots of advice on this site about avoiding "that" and you have it twice here.

* I love the phrase starting "lies, ceremonies and..." (can't read my writing, but I now I liked it)

* Are you British? If so, "winter" should be capitalised.

* "mirroring her unreal real life" - what? You can do better.

* "A bombardment of anger" - like it. Wish I'd thought of that.

So, Martyn, this is a curate's egg of a chapter. I'd like to read more because once into your rhythm I suspect your story begins to flow better. This one has got to be your best, to pull th ereader in and not let go.

Now having said this, my genre is clearly different and has a distinct set of rules. Your world, on the other hand, seems to be about breaking any rules.

I'm shelving this because there were some very clever phrases in this work that impressed be (though I wish I'd written them all down. e.g. the one with nihilism in it. Too damn clever for me.

Good luck. Murray

OK, a comment. I've had a bit of time to digest and here's what I think so affected me. Obviously the writing is wonderful, characterisation has definition and depth and so on. But you go beyond this. Amidst the very fine writing, there is occasionally a spectacular line, and you demonstrate an awareness of psychology and the nature of things that I will confidently assert comes from a strong sense of authorial self-awareness and intelligence.

In some writing, you get a strong sense of the writer - - not in an invasive or distracting sense - but in the sense of perceiving an entire complex consciousness at work within and beneath the work. Your writing is utterly alive for me and positively bursting with points of interest.

There's a sense of fullness that comes from a broad thematic engagement, a philosophical engagement, an attempt to make something of life and people via writing. I don't get the sense that you're merely telling a story here, nor are you merely 'making a statement' or series of statements. There's real richness here, is my point, and it's something to do with the juxtaposition of the universal and the personal/particular, and something to do with the scope for thematic engagement. I'm caught by the implications for the creative spirit loosed from society's moorings, all sound and fury - signifying nothing? - and leaving only scraps behind...

This is a treasure-trove, truly.

Best, Bek

I have no words. Seriously, I actually have no words. Maybe I'll come up with some and leave them for you later. For now, I'm shelving this. Wish I could shelve it five times over. Bek

Can I offer the sort of advise I never like to hear myself? Cut the first chapter. Cut it quite a bit. This will be hard, because it’s very well written. Bordering on beautiful. It will be hard to cut any of it, but it will serve the story so much better. The first line is *the* best opening line I have seen on Authonomy. The first four paragraphs have given me a hint of a fascinating character. After a dozen further one sentence paragraphs… I feel as though you are going to tell me more than I need to know about Matt. It’s overkill.

‘His is not a tale of illness or affliction’ – that paragraph? Perfect. Between that and the story of the-bar-fight-that-wasn’t, you’ve conveyed quite perfectly a character composed of equal parts idealism and self-destruction.

Mostly I’m just quietly blown away though. Just one small example? Hitler, the ‘self-conscious postcard painter’.

Shelved.

This is intriguing and involving from the start and is what I would call 'complex but not complicated' by which I mean it has many levels but isn't overwritten. It took me along at quite a lick then I realised I would really need to start again and read more slowly to appreciate it fully. So this is now on my list of books to follow-up with a closer read. A distinct assured voice and important subject matter. (Sandy Creswick - Kick-Start)

This really is something else. Funny, philosophical, taut, it hardly seems English. It puts me in mind of Murakami in that it is just on an almost spiritual level without being preachy or dull. Destined to be a cult classic and you're on my watchlist until I can get some space on that woefully small bookshelf of mine. I can't wait to get back into this world.

M- Just finished chp 5. Powerful drama, sat on the edge of my seat. - You've given us a very vivid picture of Chris, totally believable and engaging.

I love the first paras about Americans. It's the one eerie thing I notice a lot--getting fatter and fatter as a whole. I remember living on Skid Row (where the homeless live in Los Angeles), and feeding them donuts and coffee each morning. It was one of the best times of my life- and they had stories to tell! Now, as I look around, the only thin people are still the homeless.- I will continue to read tomorrow as I move to chp 6. -J

M- You are the first to use coloqualisms perfectly on this site. I read them slowly to get the meanings (I'm an American after all) and I'm astounded that I find it easy and can register their full impact. You've captured so much in this chapter that I will come back to it after reading to the end of the book. But, that, I suppose is how it should be with a great book- the desire to read and reread.

I love your references to the Book (scripture)--it's how it should be read by believer or not. I had to (forced sort of) memorize four verses from the King James Version everyday for three years while in the cult. Like heads banging on the Qur'an, but some of it stuck with me for my own good. The facinating thing was that as I memorized, it gave me an arsenal to dicern what was going on with the 'holy people' around me. Now, in my later years, I can use it and have fun and meaning. It, beyond anything else, is what saved me from the horror that the cult became at the hands of a sociopath that used it for his own ends.
So, now I'm off to chp 5 of Ten Ways.

PS- After the atomic blast of chp one of Ten Ways, I was curious if you could sustain the same impact throughout your work-and I'm ecstatic to find that you have. What a feat!

Hey Martyn. Good stuff. You pulled me in right away, e.g., with those 4 lines about the protagonist.

Don't know if the Matty W quote at the start can be tweaked. Is it your words?
If so, a small thought: "before too soon" - maybe just "before long"

3rd para has thee "'ve" in rapid succession - hard to digest. could you re-work that?

As you can see, I get into micro comments. If you're into in-depth edits that help hone a ms, let me know. I've done exchanges with other writers on the site. We can still submit macro comments to authonomy.
Re. an email exchange, we could send each other a 20-page chunk to start and return feedback in the text.. If the mirco spin works for both of us, we could try another chunk.
email: potter_andy@hotmail.com
In any case, nice one! You’re on my WL. andy

Love the first paras of chp 3- sums up the Revolution we thought we had and were a part of(before the money changers got into the temple). In this vain, you should be able to appreciate chp 3 of TAT.

Hallelujah! I found a typo! (But I'm not going to tell you where it is.)Yes, you are human- what a relief. For a moment there I thought I'd landed inside the damn computer-cuz nobody but nobody can (or should) write like this! It's just not fair. Ah, but maybe that's the point.

But I doubt this will get published in America, America where it needs to be read the most. People here don't like it when you point out the snot dripping down their noses. But if you lie, and say they must have caught a cold-something out of their control that caused the phlem, then that's Ok and you win the Pulitzer. You can point out that they're sick, but you better damn well back it up with the assertation that it's not their fault- that they caught it from someone else who coughed in their face. God, I love iconoclasim, sometimes it feeds my soul. But fool that I am, eternal optimist that I am, I'll keep foraging through to see what happens to Matty.-J