""The fantasy breakup in my head played out in pantomime; no explanations, only rueful smiles, a kiss good-bye on the cheek, a farewell wave thrown over a shoulder. The sting of nostalgia and the high of release, a combustible package, maybe, but one we would both understand and appreciate.""

I sense a Pulitzer on the horizon....

MONICA LEWINSKY

IMPEACHMENT

WELFARE "REFORM"

DON'T ASK DON'T TELL

WHITEWATER

NANNYGATE

WACO SLAUGHTER

TRAVELGATE

PAULA JONES

VINCE FOSTER

REPUBLICAN REVOLUTION

GEORGE W. BUSH

IRAQ WAR

"Alumn"? News flash, Sharon: "alum" isn't spelled like "column." Idiot.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why is it likely that her advance was in excess of 500k? You should at least write something like "per standard book publishing policy, her advance was likely in excess..." Otherwise, I don't see why it's likely.

*looking around for the actual story*

"Hello? Can anyone tell me where I can find an actual interesting post on this site? Don't lawyers right books all the time?"

*silence*

"Hello?!"

@ 11:16:

"write"

11:16 says, "Don't lawyers right books all the time?"

They also wrong them frequently.

Lat, please come back! SEN is crap.

http://www.laurenwillig.com/books/index.html

HTH

1Ls should just stop communicating with the rest of the world. They should only study and talk to other 1Ls. It only makes the rest of the world dumber.

SEN,
Why are you using Lat's royal we? Do you think you have earned the right to do so?

Do me a favor and go do some investigative reporting on how many girl in your 1L class would suck dick for blow.

SEN,
Why are you using Lat's royal we? Do you think you have earned the right to do so?

Do me a favor and go do some investigative reporting on how many girsl in your 1L class would suck dick for blow.

This is stupid. Let's get back into the penn vs. penn state debate.

Dear Lat: Please come back, and don't let her post anymore.

Guys from my high school got book deals all the time. It's not a big deal.

Hey Sharon-

Maybe you should visit Grammar Lovers United. Hey, didn't you start that group?

http://media.www.cw.ua.edu/media/storage/paper959/news/2007/11/14/Entertainment/Grammar.Lovers.United.By.Facebook-3098664.shtml

Alum or alumna. There is no in-between.

"As we've written about before"

Was the other possibility "As we've written about after"?

Does the Law School at Alabama have a writing center? If not, you might check out the English Department.

Why is it that lawyers come down so hard on people for making simple mistakes like spelling "alum" with an "n" on the end or mixing up "right" and "write"?

This is a BLOG, not a Supreme Court opinion.

11:55, you're an idiot. There can be an alumnus or an alumna, and it may be that there are alumni or alumnae; alum is just plain wrong.

Recycled post from 2 years ago. Nice.

Stupid post.

11:19 -- they left books too.

12:00, in case you missed it: The author(ess), a worldly 1L in Alabama, also has a group of some sort (on Facebook maybe? ha!) called someting like "I judge you for your grammar." It's the old "glass house/throwing stones" situation.

12:03: Am I an idiot? There's only one person we're talking about here, and it's a female graduate. So, it's alumna. But if you're going to be casual about it, the generally accepted spelling is "alum". Have you EVER seen it spelled "alumn" before? I bet not.

Of course there are other spellings (alumnus, alumni, alumnae) if we're talking about a dude or multiple people. But we're not. So there are two possibilities and "alumn" is not one of them.

pretty know it all 1L getting put in her place...

Schadenfreude, baby, Schadenfreude

How about Carrie Bradshaw's uglier sister? Buxbaum looks like a moose.

has Lat fired Billy Merck?

Actually, 11:55, alum is a chemical compound. Alumn is the singular of a slang term for alumnus/alumna. Feel free to check a dictionary or simply run a google search and see what you get.

I'm afraid 12:03 was correct: you're an idiot.

It's interesting that so many lawyers-turned-writers lack imagination and merely write autobiographies masquerading as chick lit (Buxbaum) or satire (Jeremy Blachman's "Anonymous Lawyer" and Saira Rao's "Chambermaid"). The only recent novel by a former lawyer that doesn't fit this mold and is actually stylistically interesting is "Meynard and Jennica." The rest of this sorry lot of lawyers-by-day but "writers at heart" should stick with their day jobs or find new callings. Lawyers are notoriously bad writers, and lawyers-turned-writers are worse still.

12:59: I'm sorry, you are incorrect. Try googling "alum" and "graduate" at the same time. Compare that with how many results you get for "alumn". Then check a few of the results you get for "alumn".

The facts are against you.

Also, 12:59, try "alumn" at dictionary.com or m-w.com. You will not find it.

Where did she work?

1:09: Very, very true. It makes me sad to see these people get advances while legitimately talented fiction writers peddle their wares to literary journals and can scarcely get a break. Don't forget "The Emperor of Ocean Park" - it was interesting, if a bit too long, but clearly autobiographical (Even though the author vehemently denies this - "Elm City"? Please).

she looks pretty hot.

3:28--are you on crack? She might be a butherface, but we can't see the body.

So.. basically this book is "Sex and the City" from Miranda's perspective? Why would I buy this?

3:28 - I thinks its the hair and make-up help she got for the photo. I went to college with her....I wouldn't classify her as hot unless it was last call at Smoke's after sink or swim.

11:55 - you fail. "Alum" and "alumn" are both colloquialisms. Each being no more correct or incorrect than the other. Try again.

I'm not buying it unless it includes nudie pics of her.

Based on Julie's headshot, I think WGWAG would hit it.