Could it be Puffin? James Griffin Still Another Vlad faN >From: "Bryan Newell" <bryann at bryann.net> >To: "Dragaera Mailing List" <dragaera at dragaera.info> >Subject: Was Sticks a writer's agent in a former life? >Date: Wed, 4 May 2005 22:57:11 -0500 > >In Lesson 7 of Phoenix, "Matters of State I", Vlad calls Sticks into >his office and says, "You told me once that you used to work >connecting musicians with inns that wanted music." > >Sticks goes on to list five such people. Three of the five appear to >be sci-fi/fantasy book publishers, but I can't figure out the other >two. > > >1. Ace > >"There's a woman named Aisse. I wouldn't work with her, though [...] >She never seems to know quite what she's doing. And when she does, >she never lets the musicians know. Word is she lies a lot, especially >when she screws up." > >Ace published all the Vlad novels through Orca, I believe, and then >Steve switched to Tor for Dragon and Issola. > > >2. ? > >"There's a fellow named Phent who doesn't lie quite as much, but he's >about as incompetent and he charges twice what everyone else does. >He's got a lock on the low-life places. They suit him. [He's located >at] Number fourteen Fishmonger Street." > >Phent kind of looks like a contracted version of pheasant. >www.m-w.com defines "bantam" as "any of numerous small domestic fowls >that are often miniatures of members of the standard breeds". Phent = >miniature pheasant = Bantam? > >Phent appears structurally similar to Knopf. > >Sticks' description appears to contain all kinds of clues; I feel like >this one should be obvious, and I'm just missing it. > > >3. ? > >"There's Greenbough. He's not too bad when he isn't drunk." > >Greenbough sounds like Green Bow, so perhaps Arrow Books? > >Or maybe Laurel-Leaf? They had a fantasy imprint that was active at >the time Phoenix was published (1990). > >Baen's current logo looks kind of like a yellow arrow, but I think >they were using a different one back then. It's founded by Jim Baen, >which sounds a bit like "Jim Beam" (as in the whiskey), and he >apparently socializes/opines with his fans on his forum, which is >called Baen's Bar. > >A green capital D looks like a "green bow", but I can't find a >sci-fi/fantasy publisher with such a logo. > > >4. Del Ray > >"D'Rai will keep you working, but she'll also get a hold on you and >try to keep everything you play sounding the same. Most of the >musicians I know don't like that." > > >5. Tor > >"The best of the lot is an outfit run by three Easterners named Tomas, >Oscar, and Ramon." > >I particularly like this one. A common mistake (per Tor's website) is >to spell Tor in all caps, as if it were an acronym of some sort. > > >Here are some of the other people publishing sci-fi/fantasy novels >circa 1990. Perhaps Phent and Greenbough can be linked to one of >these? > >Arrow >Avon >Baen >Ballantine >Bantam >DAW >Dell >DK Publishing >Doubleday >Harper Collins >Knopf >Laurel-Leaf >Morrow >Penguin Putnam >Pocket >Questar >St. Martins >Warner > >Anyone have any ideas on Phent or Greenbough? > >Bryan > >