Zebra Press on HOLIDAY

Dear Mr. van der Leek

PUBLICATION OF NOVEL

Your proposal has been discussed with our publishing committee and it is with regret that I advise that the above title does not fit into the Zebra Press publishing programme.

We thank you for your interest in our company and wish you every success with this venture.

Yours sincerely,
KT

NVDL: Very quick turnaround. I emailed them late yesterday afternoon. Guess I'll have to bin my oscar speech. Meanwhile - quite humbling - this blog has avalanched to 205th spot on Amatomu's blog charts (at one point it was in the 60's). Worryingly, Peas On Toast is at 49th spot.

Here's a quote from Mushy peas on Toast (Ranked 49th SA Blog):

See, I bought a series of new underwear pieces last week. The favourite – an electric turquoise lace number – I put on that morning. And unwittingly walking around in them, jean pant chafing at my nethers – turned out to itch the fuck out of me in the gallery.

Not a little itch that could be ignored. No. It was like a ladle of itchy powder in my lingerie. New lace, not good.

I'm not sure being a success in the conventional sense of the word is anything to crow about. To be successful, in the Mushy, Donald Trump, Jenna Jameson, Mugabe-George Bush sense of the word seems to be manipulating, conniving, pornographising or otherwise bullshitting your way to the top. I respect the likes of Lance, Branson and Oprah - those who define themselves through a sense of identity, values, work ethic, discipline and commitment.