Letter Three

February 3, 2008

Dear Editor,
I'm writing in response to your note dated February 1st, in which you mention that you spoke to my agent regarding the proposal for my short novel, The Birth of Mendocino; A Gay Mexican Vintner's Tale, which you'd like to see as soon as possible. While I am happy to make the adjustments to the proposed outline, I thought I should mention that my agent's name is Dorothy Little, not Gertrude Stein, who died in 1946. Please accept my deepest apologies if I contributed in any way to the mixup.

I'd also like to speak to your concerns about main character Javier's thin motives for killing wife Lucita by drowning her in this year's vat of Pinot Grigio and installing his life-long lover Ernesto in the main house. Perhaps I more strongly should have noted Lucita's bizarre delusion that she is a gangster 'moll' living in 1920's Chicago, her sexual affairs with syphilitic grape pickers, and the fact that she torched the grape fields two years ago, destroying Javier's livelihood and killing his father, two uncles, and the family Pekingnese. If you still feel Javier's motives for killing Lucita lack strength, please let me know what changes you suggest.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely yours,

U.S. Writer