A co-worker on the other side of the cubicle wall from me always jokes when she hears me typing at top speed: "You writing a novel over there, Rob?" So I admitted that, although I would never use company time for personal endeavors!, I am in fact a struggling wannabe novelist with a couple novellas under my belt. I gave her a synopsis of Grand Theft Boblo and Lollipop Mutiny and she said she'd love to read them.

The reason I hesitated a few days was that she later asked me, "Erma Bombeck?"

Well, they're comedies, but probably weirder than Erma Bombeck. Which made me think that a fan of Erma Bombeck might not be a fan of [Subcomandante Guglielmo Deidzoeb].

I decided to give her a copy anyway, even though she might have an allergic reaction to the language and worldview contained in it. If you get something published and it's bold and candid and intimate, or just disgusting, then you're going to have co-workers or friends or family members try to read it, even though you wouldn't expect them to like it. So I might as well see what that's like, try to get used to it in case it suddenly happens in bucketloads.

I warned her that it's full of swearing and probably Rated R (yeah, I lowballed a little), and that I wouldn't be offended if she found that she didn't want to read it. When I handed her the copy today, she said, "I'm excited!"