Our writing group was fortunate
to host an acquisitions editor for a major publisher.
We had two short hours with this editor
and she had focused her talk
around a story characteristic
she felt passionate about.
Fifteen minutes in,
a hand shot up.
An author disagreed with the editor’s preference
and proceeded to share her opinion
for half an hour.
The editor sat down
and waited for her to finish.
She didn’t care whether she talked or not.
The audience members did care, however.
We didn’t attend
to hear this author talk.
I wasn’t angry with the author
or with the editor.
I was upset with the host
for not tabling the author’s concern.
When an event with an expert is held,
there will ALWAYS be a competing expert
in the audience.
A good host decides in advance
how to deal with this competing expert.