Prologue

Sticky note by Stephen Lamar, left on the desk of Sybil Branson, beside an unbounded manuscript, July 16th, 1985

Sybbie, we have to talk about this!

Stephen


From: stephen
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 9:45 AM
To: anastasiacrawley
Subject: One last desperate plea

I give up,

well I have and I haven't. I don't have anymore tricks up my sleeve. I don't have anymore slick marketing pitches, no more numbers and charts. I'm not even here to fight. I'm just begging now. And it's not even about the money, truly, it's not. Even if the illustrated hardcover special edition of The Collected Letters sold like a bazillion copies.

So please, I am begging you, both of you, I swear I'm typing this on my knees, to reconsider. It won't be much work. We don't need the extensive first hand interviews and the fictionalization like last time. We don't need to vet the diary, we don't need to do any of the labourious research of the last book. We just need permission.

So please, I'm begging you,

Stephen
Senior Editor
Yule Tree Publishing House


From: anastasiacrawley
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:12 AM
To: stephen
Subject: RE: One last desperate plea

How many times do I have to say no?

Anastasia Crawley


From: stephen
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:13 AM
To: anastasiacrawley
Subject: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

Did you even ask her?

Stephen
Senior Editor
Yule Tree Publishing House


From: anastasiacrawley
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:15 AM
To: stephen
Subject: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

Do you know what Einstein said about insanity?

Anastasia Crawley


From: stephen
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:16 AM
To: anastasiacrawley
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

For the record, she never said no. She just said that it was never the right time.

Stephen
Senior Editor
Yule Tree Publishing House


From: anastasiacrawley
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:17 AM
To: stephen
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

And you think this is the right time?

Anastasia Crawley


From: stephen
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:16 AM
To: anastasiacrawley
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

I'm coming up to visit in a couple of days. I'm going to ask her if you don't.

Stephen
Senior Editor
Yule Tree Publishing House


From: anastasiacrawley
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:17 AM
To: stephen
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

Just so we're absolutely clear. You're asking me to ask my aunt, to let you publish my grandmother's private sex diary?

Anastasia Crawley


From: stephen
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:20 AM
To: anastasiacrawley
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

Yes.

Stephen
Senior Editor
Yule Tree Publishing House


From: anastasiacrawley
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:21 AM
To: stephen
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

Have you no shame?

Anastasia Crawley


From: stephen
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:25 AM
To: anastasiacrawley
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

Well… would you even believe me?

Stephen
Senior Editor
Yule Tree Publishing House


From: anastasiacrawley
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:30 AM
To: stephen
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

No, no, I wouldn't. But I will ask her, just so you don't come up here and disturb her in her last days with such a vulgar request in your even more vulgar manner. You know, you KNOW, this isn't what she envisioned when she started compiling The Collected Letters right?

Anastasia Crawley


From: stephen
Sent: Tuesday, January 6th, 1998 11:37 AM
To: anastasiacrawley
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

To be honest,

we didn't expect the public response to be so… rapturous. We didn't think that it would go through multiple editions, we didn't think that we could get away with a 100 dollar, illustrated, hardcover edition, or to sell the movie rights… but we did.

Stephen
Senior Editor
Yule Tree Publishing House


From: anastasiacrawley
Sent: Tuesday, January 7th, 1998 10:30 AM
To: stephen
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

I can't believe I'm writing this… she said yes. She had totally forgotten about all of this until now and she said that it was now or never. I think she's completely lost it. She told me, my grandmother was "a lady in the streets, but a freak in the sheets". That's what she wants to title to be, by the way...

Anastasia Crawley


From: stephen
Sent: Tuesday, January 7th, 1998 11:05 AM
To: anastasiacrawley
Subject: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: One last desperate plea

:)

Hallelujah

Stephen
Senior Editor
Yule Tree Publishing House

A/N: This is a delicate thing I'm trying out. Hope you like the prologue lol. Not quite what you expected? I'll try to do it right, I want to be sexy and racy and even boundary pushing while still tasteful, intimate, and emotionally complex. Do you guys trust me?