The San Francisco call., 1904-08-07

the Japs-or was, till the war BROKE
out. They are busy with their own
temporal power just now!
Here is a letter l got the other day
from a girl in Devonsnire-quite a
stranger"
Miss Corelli produced from her table
drawer a letter written by a simple
country girl living in the west of Eng
land. who thanked the authOress for
having written her book "Ardath," ;"
which. she stated. had helped her in
her outlook on life. Miss Corell re-
ceives many such letters and invari-
ably answers them with encouraging
words.
Say something about your early
Iife-first impressions-were you a girl
ish, or a boyish, girl?"
Thoroughly girlish," she answered
with animation. Il loved my dolls to
distraction, and used to create charac
ters for them and build up all sorts Of
romances around them. In fact they
were almost my only companions.
had no child playmates.
Knew Charles Dickens.
Il spent all my time with the only
father 1 ever knew--the song writer
and poet, Charles Mackay. who adopted
me in infancy. With the exception of
lessons in music from daily govern
ess he taught me everything. He used
to make me learn poetry by heart, and
when l was about seven he would
make me recite all sorts of famous
pieces, even to the soliloquy in Ham
let which l used to 'declaim,' so he
told me- very tragically, for the amuse-
ment of himself and his friends
He was intimate with Charles Dick
ems and Bulwer Lytton and used to tell
me many stories about them. He al
ways encouraged me in the study of
Shakespeare, and at twelve years old l
knew every character in every play,
and could give any quotation its place. y
When did you begin to write any
thing for publication ?"
Some little verses of mine were pub
lished when | was about fourteen. But
/ never thought of living by my pen. l
was intended for musical career, and
it was only when 1 returned from a
two years training in a French con-
vent that 1 learned it would be neces-
sary to do something to help my dear
adopted father, who was seriously i'll
and unable to work as strenuously as
he had done.
Not Too Much Money.
II then tried my hand at the 'Ro-
nance of Two Worlds 1t arose out of
a singular psychic experience, concern
ing which 1 shall have more to tell
soon.
pnr
cess?''
mot financially so. But I was very
young, and the forty pounds C$200) paid
down for it seemed to me fortune.
The publisher (Mr. Bently) left the
copyright in my hands, and, of course,
1T has been a source of income since.
Even 'Thelma,' my next venture.
brought me very little when first pub
lished. But though 1 needed money
at the time it was never my first
thought. / loved writing, and I shall
always love it,"
Miss Corelli was asked what method
she employed in producing her work.
well, make it a point to begin
work regularly every morning about
nine-thirty and 1 remain at 1t until
two in the afternoon, producing on an
average about two or three thousand
words 1 write everything out with
the pen, as 1 do not care to dictate
and cannot use the typewriter. / have
my manuscripts typed afterward."
She Writes Clear Copy.
Miss Corelli's copy" is very clear
and almost without correction. The
original MSS. of THE Romance of Two
Worlds" looks as If it were a clean
copy made by some one employed in
writing legal briefs. A specimen OF
Miss Corelli's penmanship was given
by her in the little poem, a photo
graph of which accompanies this ar
ticle. The poem is here reproduced
in MSS. for the first time.
After two o'clock" continued Miss
Corelli, II have luncheon and ther
usually go for drive behind my two