Neck-deep in revisions on my latest contracted Blaze, I was inspired to pen a loving musical tribute to my intrepid editor, Laura Barth, to the tune of Barry Manilow’s Mandy.

I remember my first book
So many, many weeks it took
I sent it off to Blaze
Never dreaming it would sell
Then twelve months later
A call on my cell

And then I sold my second Blaze
I drank champagne and glowed for days
I e-mailed you the doc
Hoping you’d love it
Though if you thought it sucked
I’d fix the heck out of it

Oh Laura
Well you called me from up in Toronto
With some notes for my Blaze
Oh Laura
I told you I’d get to them pronto
Yet I ignored them for days
Oh Laura

My hero is a seaplane pilot
On a tiny Bajan resort islet
I need to cut his hair
And give him some morals
Now it all seems so clear
So I shan’t bother to quarrel

Oh Laura
You came and you found all my plot holes
And my repetitive verbs
Oh Laura
You need more of my characters’ life goals
Plus cut five thousand words
Oh Laura

Another thing to fix
There’s too many phone calls
At least three I need to nix
Because the pacing it stalls

Oh Laura
Well you asked me to make it more steamy
And promised I would
Oh Laura
Then you told me some parts were unseemly
And so change them I should

Oh Laura
Well it’s making my book so much stronger
And less boring as well
Oh Laura
All my clichés you help me to conquer
And so thank you I will
Oh Laura

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 17th, 2012 at 9:53 am and is filed under Meg Maguire. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.