(no subject)

[erastes]

Whee! I was contacted yesterday by someone who wants to interview me! This is a first and I wub firsts. Details still a little sketchy but will let you know when I know stuff.

Finished the punk piece, needs a bit of tweaking and I'll send off today. It may be a little too English for the anthology, but it's (i think, and a friend who was there at the time) of the era. I'm very pleased with it, actually, and is the piece most like what I want to write in reality.

Got a rejection from another agent. Think I need a stronger query piece than Transgressions perhaps. And the sales figures from Standish might help too, when I know them.

MYSID - I'm re-reading Charioteer - chapter 2 - is there a kiss in Ralph's study, at the end of that chapter, or am I imagining it? If so. SQUEEE!

Comments

[wildestranger.livejournal.com]

One may imagine a kiss at that point - certainly something is happening, but Renault coyly refuses to let us know what precisely it is. :)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Now I've re-read it a few times, and flicking forward to Ralph's letter when he says something like "I should have done the whole thing and put you off for life, or shut up and not said anything at all"

I think perhaps he kissed him, and groped him, and Laurie probably reacted by stepping backwards, causing Ralph to say "You see? It wouldn't have done."

Wonderful writing.

[rwday.livejournal.com]

Well done on the interview! And sorry about the agent, but hopefully Trans will sell to the publisher that's reviewing it and you can try the agents again with Jx.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I guess I get one eventually, but you know me. Impatient Erastes!

[annowre.livejournal.com]

Congrats darling. You're worth it. Feel free to act like a primadonna. ;)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I SHALL! *stands dramatically*

I is an Artiste! Hi-YaH!

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Over at maryrenaultfics, we have had an extensive discussion over that possible kiss.

It took me a few readings to read between the lines there, but my current thinking--yes, oh yes. I sometimes wonder if there was a kiss, or if Ralph tried to kiss Laurie and Laurie wasn't quick enough on the uptake to react properly. That would explaing Ralph's comment, "Now you see what I mean, Spud. It would never have done, would it?" At sixteen, Laurie is just too much of an innocent.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Yes, as I said above, taking the letter into consideration I wonder if he kissed and groped him a little and Laurie was startled, but Ralph didn't give him a chance to mull it over.

[mysid.livejournal.com]

By the way--since you are rereading it: Keep an eye out for any foreshadowing/hints of Ralph's fragile emotional state. The first time I read TC, I (like Laurie) saw Ralph as so strong that the ending shocked me. When I reread the book, I realized that the hints had been there all along. (i.e. Why do you think Ralph grew the beard when he did?)

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

Congrats and condolences on the appropriate bits. Any chance of sharing your punk piece or providing us with a link when it is available? I am always curious about punk.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

i tried to mail you, but tammylee didn't work, and I couldn't find an email addy on your sites...

[tammylee.livejournal.com]

I am a small scrabbly hermit crab. Elusive and hiding beneath a rock. tammalee at laleeloo dot com. ^_^

[fiona-glass.livejournal.com]

Yes, I always assumed that they'd kissed. That 'oh, come here' had to have been for some reason. There's a couple of other nice coded bits in the chapter, too. Ralph saying 'Get out of the light: d'you mind?' - I took that to mean that Laurie's got too close to him for his own peace of mind. :)

It's frustrating having to read so much between the lines but I suppose when the book was first published, she couldn't put anything stronger in?

[mysid.livejournal.com]

There are more explicit bits in novels contemporary with The Charioteer, so I think it was more a matter of Renault's preference. As she explained in an interview with David Sweetwater (who wrote her biography), she didn't think it was necessary to write explicit sex scenes. How the couple felt about each other was more important than how they ****ed each other.

Of course it's frustrating for us that she got so vague about it that we aren't always sure if there is sex or not. "Wait a minute; did they just--? I'm not sure."

[erastes.livejournal.com]

For my money, there's two sex scenes - in Lauries house after the funeral, and when he "breaks up" with Ralph "come here and say goodbye"

Why did he owe Alec an apology in the final letter?

[mysid.livejournal.com]

Twice at Laurie's house (all night long and then again in the morning after Ralph asks, "How long do we have until the cleaning woman arrives?"). Then again after "Come here and say goodbye--and again and again over the next few days. What did you think they were doing after they fixed the blackout curtains and were alone?

Ralph owed Alec an apology for blaming him for gossiping about Laurie to Bim. When he found out that Bunny had been reading his journals, he realized that Bunny was the actual source.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I think it was on the first discussion thread on this, someone said she was interviewd and said "It was as explicit as I wanted it to be"

So cool. And of course, makes it far more fun for us!