what was her name?

I can’t remember the names of all of the editors I’ve had over the years. I know that seems awful, but you have to understand that some were only around for a few months. And back before email, it wasn’t unusual for a writer to have no contact with her editor other than a revision letter. When I was writing for HarperCollins, I had three editors for one book. The first editor accepted and approved my next contracted book idea, then left. When I was half finished with that book, the second editor called and asked if I would be interested in making my current book into a dark suspense. She told me to go out and get Lisa Gardner’s The Perfect Husband, which everybody was talking about. I’d been begging to write that kind of book for years, so I agreed to begin moving in that direction. I didn’t want to toss my current project to write a big suspense when I wasn’t under contract for a big suspense. It was also strange and unprofessional of her to have called with her plan without including my agent in the discussion and at least adding an addendum to my current contract. By the time I mailed in the manuscript, editor number three was on stage. She asked for a complete revision. She was about twenty-five and loved the television show Friends. Could I turn this dark suspense into the book equivalent of Friends? They would put a cartoon cover on it because those books were selling very well. Did I watch Friends? (It had been on about four years at that time.) There’s a sitcom called Friends. It’s really good. She wanted something like Friends.

I can’t remember that editor’s name.