Anna and Edward, the Letters

Anna and Edward, The Letters


Some say the art of letter writing is gone with the invention of email. Especially gone is the love letter, an intimate expression of the purest kind. I for one can tell you that is the farthest from the truth. You have in your hands the letters between two people who found out how a letter can change your whole life. What started out as strictly a correspondence between a publisher and a writer tuned into something more. You will read how a relationship grows between a man and a woman, in very intimate detail. Letters are, a personal expression of emotion. Emotions that can be bottled up over a period of time and come flooding out all at once.
For Anna and Edward their letters are the story. Their intimate and sometimes tempestuous words give us an inner glimpse of their thoughts and feelings. Through the letters Anna and Edward become painfully aware of how much they need each other. Not just in the way a publisher needs an author and vice versa. The relationship needs more than the letters provide, it needs the intimacy that both are trying so hard to avoid. Will they act on the impulse and finally meet face to face? Or will the letters continue to be their only source of contact? Only Anna and Edward know where their letters will lead them.
When I started writing Anna and Edward’s story I didn’t intend for it to be told through letters. You the reader obviously need more than letters to stay interested in the story. I hope you will read each letter and find the story woven into each one. I felt that I could do Anna and Edward’s love story justice by sharing their small world through their own words. Nothing is more personal than one’s own words put on paper. So here is Anna and Edward’s story, in their own words.






Beginnings……..
Let us begin with how Anna and Edward’s correspondence came about. Anna works at Mason Bell Publishing House in Boston Massachusetts. She grew up around the book publishing business thanks to her father, William. Anna had already decided that she was going to work in editing and move on to publishing which was her father’s first love. Anna had visionary ideas for her publishing career at first. Unfortunately they didn’t go as planned for Anna. The first writer she signed on to publish became an alcoholic and ended up in treatment. He got better but decided to stop writing all together as it triggered his drinking in the first place. The second writer Anna “discovered” was a bit eccentric and just downright weird. Still Anna found his writing to be unique and signed on to work with him. Two months before his book went to print he sent Anna an email saying he was leaving the country and heading to Peru. He wanted to grow “medicinal plants” and heard that Peru will pay three thousand dollars a month to new farmers. Needless to say his book was not printed and Anna was back at square one.
Anna had almost decided to go back to just being a full time editor when she came across the manuscript. Like every other day Anna went into her office to begin yet another quest for a new writer. The first thing she sees is a rather large brown package addressed to her. There is no return address and it is very heavy. She carefully opens the package and finds a manuscript inside called “The Love Letter”, by E. Allan. She’s a little curious so she quickly goes through her email and messages and closes her office door. She starts to read the manuscript with some skepticism. The story is simple, the characters a bit old fashioned, but something about the message rings true to Anna. She likes how the story doesn’t exactly have a happy ending and decides to contact the author. She rummages through the packaging and finds a simple business card with a name and address on it. No email and no cell phone, Anna at this point realizes that she is going to have to write an actual letter.
So she does. She writes to Edward Allan and tells him that she would like to publish his simple yet eloquently written story. This is the first series of letters where Anna becomes acquainted with Edward and his “uniqueness”. As we quickly see the working relationship has its bumps in the beginning and there are some barbs traded back and forth. No one has infuriated Anna as much as Edward seems to. Edward of course sees nothing wrong with the way he has written his story . He is very meticulous about his writing and tries to get Anna to understand his point of view. How do they grow to accept each other? The letters will tell us!



September……..
Dear Mr. Allan, Sept. 13, 2011
You will have to forgive my sloppy handwriting. I have not written an actual letter in years. I could not find a phone number or email address on your business card. I would really like to speak with you in person about the manuscript you sent me. “The Love Letter” is an exceptional story and I would love to publish it. There are a few slight changes that need to be made. I will go more in depth about those later. If you could email me your phone number as soon as possible that would be great. My email is [e-mail]. I look forward to speaking with you.

Regards,
Anna Mason



Dear Ms. Mason, Sept. 15, 2011
Thank you for the kind praise of my story. I am very flattered that you have found it worth publishing. I see this as a mutually beneficial relationship for both of us.
Just a few deft remarks:
~I do not have a cell phone. I find them to be obtrusive.
~I do not have an email or internet. I do not like the impersonal nature they impose.
~For now let us communicate through written letters. Just until we are comfortable with each other.
I look forward to the pleasure of publishing my manuscript with you Ms. Mason.

Sincerely,
Edward Allan





Dear Mr. Allan, Sept. 18, 2011
Okay, so no cell phone or email. How do you conduct business with your agent? Or do you have every one write to you?
I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be harsh. I just find it, well, a little strange. If we are going to work together we need to be able to communicate effectively. Writing letters all the time isn’t the best way. It would make this process and my job a whole lot easier if you at least have a phone number where I would reach you. If you don’t want an email address that’s fine. Can we at least find a middle ground here? I really do want to publish your manuscript. Please let me know if we could work something out.

Regards,

Anna Mason

Dear Ms. Mason, Sept. 21, 2011
I do apologize for the inconvenience. I am, first and foremost, a writer. It is what I do; write. I can understand your need for wanting to bring your valuable point across. There was no offense taken in the slightest. I do agree, it is probably a little unusual to not have the modern luxuries of a cell phone or email. I am a creature of habit and find writing letters a very concise form of communication. One can convey their meaning through a written word on a page.
As an editor and publisher I am sure you can agree on that that point.
It if would put you at ease Ms. Mason, you can provide me with your phone number and I would be happy to call you at an appointed time.

Sincerely,
Edward Allan
P.S. I do not have an agent. I fired the last one because he refused to stop hounding me about acquiring a cell phone.


Dear Mr. Allan, Sept. 23, 2011
Well, that explains everything! I am glad we have established that you are, indeed, a writer. I was beginning to wonder if I was dealing with yet another lunatic who was going to leave me high and dry.
So let’s just take a step back here. You would prefer we communicate through writing letters. To you, this is the way you would rather work with me. Just so I am clear here, you have no agent at the moment. So, no agent, no cell phone, and no email address. Be honest with me here: are you serious about your writing career? Or are you yet another when-the-mood-strikes-me writer who likes to be difficult? The reason I am asking you this is because I would not even consider going any further with your manuscript unless I felt it was that good.
Yes, just to build your ego it is that good.
You have to give me your one-hundred percent word that you are willing to go the distance. I can work past the no agent and email, and, maybe, the cell phone.
But you are asking me to write letters. Do you have any idea how time consuming this is for me? Letter writing is not my idea of quick communication. But if it is what you insist on then so be it. I’ve enclosed my business card which has my phone number in case you need to reach me. I will be going over the first three chapters off the manuscript for revisions. I will send those in a separate envelope. Once you have gone over them send them back so I can start putting the revised novel together.

Regards,
Anna