Manifestations that nearly happen - then don't !?

[Tanemon]

This sort of thing has happened to me a few times in my life. I'll give one example:

At the time, I had about five years of experience with freelance newspaper & magazine writing. I also had a book manuscript that I'd done a lot of good research toward, had an outline for, and had written a decent a first draft of.

I was thinking very positively about the prospect of the book getting published, because the publisher I was in touch with had several meetings with me, praised myprofessionalism, and we were keeping in touch about the development of a second draft, by correspondence.

I could clearly imagine - see, feel, hear, almost taste - the success of the project: the manuscript going through acceptance, editing, book design, printing, release to the public, promotion. I could feel myself as the young successful author.

Then the publisher decided, very late in the game, that he wanted me to take a whole different slant on the material - making it less about the subject and more about why I was personally interested in the subject. Nearly all my research would have been ignored and useless, the drafts of the manuscript would have been wasted time, and the book I had conceived, pitched to the editor, and that had been accepted by the editor would not go into print.

It would have been sort of like%2