Doki

In the middle of 2020, I received an email from Gale Jones. By then I recognized not the name at first sight (as I had neglected to write detailed notes with any names, wanting to make sure no one in my family could recognize the subject), but I remembered the idea of mine that he said I mentioned at that table in the café: Your idea of writing a novel about writing a novel stood out to me. Would you like to write my story for me? I was surprised, but was glad for the sudden offer to collaborate; I was going through some personal and career difficulties, and was at last trying to get my projects off the ground. So when I was done reading his email, I typed my reply in one go and sent it without even editing; I remember being mortified by a few spelling errors, and writing follow-up emails to correct them (oh, to be young).