Last night I had dinner with a Dutch publisher.
He asked me: “What Dutch authors of your own generation do you like?”
I thought a few seconds but then I said: “I don’t know, I cannot name one.”
A few minutes later I asked him the same question.
“I don’t know,” he said. “To be honest I don’t know. Well, I’m reading a novel by Minke Douwesz. That’s a pretty good book. But she is older than you.”
Before I said good-bye I told him: “If you want to work with me you should give me a good reason to work with you. Money is not enough. Money is just a tool.”