Re: The Only Girl

Well holy fucking sh*t!  Hi, it’s Robin. A couple business associates sent me what you wrote and you can’t imagine – or maybe you can – what it means to me.

The book was such a commercial flop (though it did better in Great Britain) that it wrecked me in a way. I never found out – or asked – what happened. The publisher seemed hot on it then all of a sudden a small run, no book tour, little publicity. Ghosted. My editor went on vacation (later someone told me they heard she had breast cancer) and my publicist moved to another house.

So maybe just bad luck. But I really think the answer lies somewhere in your having written “you may not like Robin Green…”. They must have done a focus group and no one did. I know when the proposal went out one New York male editor who didn’t like it gave it to his female editors to check his instinct and all their comments registered a definite distaste for me. They thought I was bragging on myself. One guy on Amazon complained I hadn’t been a drug addict or been sexually molested so what’s the point of a memoir? F*ck them all.

But own husband didn’t like it. It put us in couples therapy. I haven’t written a word since.

And then your letter. It is some kind of miracle to have found such a reader. I loved the book now here was someone, widely read and respected I’m told, who loved it too. I can’t thank you enough. Maybe I shouldn’t even be trying, but as you may surmise, even with the wisdom of age, restraint is not my strong suit.

Okay, I’ll stop. But just one more thing, okay? What you wrote made we want to think about writing again, and I thank you very much for that.