The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-03-23
can come outside an imaginative novel.

can come outside an Imaginative novel
Miss Mary Cholmondeley, whose rate OF
production as novelist is about one in
every three years, has now completed
Ler first novel since Prisoners" and
it is about to begin serial publication
here. The title she gave 1t was Never
theless. Just as the first installment of
the serial was going to press an English
publisher announced a novel under that
title by a new writer. Miss Cholmonde-
ley's business manager protested and the
English publisher was polite and regret
full but his novel was printed and the
announcements sent out. Consequently,
Miss Cholmondeley had to change her
title at the eleventh hour to "Notwith-
Standing
lish Journalist the other day to fur
nish her recipe for successful tale writ
ing, replied concisely as follows:
Never put in your story an atom
of irrelevant material. and nothing
that has not an intimate bearing on
the thread. Never be afraid of your
own convictions. and never write A
word YOU don't believe
Those were all the direct literary tips
that the seeker after such brought
away from his interview with Mrs.
Glyn though the authoress of Three
Weeks" THE Visits of Elizabeth" and
so forth is said to have observed that
any literary aspirants who desired a
practical object lesson of how a short
story should be written might achieve
the same by perusing one of her own
which she mentioned by name and
which,, it seems, is about to be pub
lished with others in a volume to be
entitled so and so. at all booksellers,
four and siXpence. ct cetera, ct cetera.
III. ;a Il - i
rarely gives up" without return OF
one sort or another.
incidentally she never fails to be
picturesque and 1T is no surprise to
read that warm and rich were the
tints of furniture in her Mayfair home
declaring a taste quite eastern in Its
delight in magnificent ranges of tone,
or that Mrs. Glyn sat on a Chester
field, heaped high with brilliant cush-
ons, a gray Russian kitten in her lap"
Her red hair, it appears, ''made mag
nificent note in the color scheme, COM
pleted by her fair complexion and her
changeful, sea green eyes, shrewd and
humorsome."
Mrs Glyn, in fact. seems to have
bowled over her latest interviewer
completely. I am wrong, by the bye,
in saying that the above mentioned
axioms for young writer's are the only
ones vouchsafed by the authoress;
there was one more. keep diaries 1t
seems that If Mrs. Glyn, a girl, had
not faithfully recorded her doings and
Impressions in diary form there would
have been no Visits of Elizabeth an
interesting statement which one does
not remember to have seen in print
before
Some II years ago it seems, Mrs.
Glyn had prolonged attack of rheu-
matism that cSippled her completely.
A Il CHI
Obliged to invent some kind of amuse-
ment for herself. Finally 1t occurred
to her to wonder how life would strike
a young girl on her first round OF
country house visits. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Journals she used to keep and send TO
her mother In her juvenile days-a
narrative of her own travels--she sent
for them. At first she only reread
them for her own amusement, but
while doing so her imagination began
to work and she followed its prompt
ings to while away her tedlum Ihus
began the narrative eventually called
"The Visits of Elizabeth She read
the story aloud to her relatives and
thev thought II would be fun to have
n published Eventually part of it ap
peared anonymously in a society week
ly and friends sent her copies OF the
periodical to cheer her up. Mrs. Giyn
saws that the distraction afforded by
this literary occupation together with
the great success of Elizabeth IN
book form helped her to get over her
rheuma tism.
Mrs. Glyn declares that II her books are
a wee bit naughty, 1t is not because
she wants them to be. but because she
can't help It. At least, that IS the con-
clusion to be drawn from her own words
when reminded that some folk had found
her writings bit -.
IT would not knowingly hurt anyone
in the world" the lady declared, and
to demonstrate her own conviction or the
harmlessness of all her writings she con-
fded to her interviewer that all her stories
| are related. before actually being written
down. TO her daughter, "a sweet and
| lovely girl" who apparently still is what
Is termed in this country Happer
What Miss Glyn thought of Three
Weeks and 'TIis Hour Is not stated
Their authoress, 1t seems, now does most
Of her writing at Versailles. She said
tbot of ali of her novels "Halcyone'' is
her favorite.
II ord Alfred Douglas, whose name al
WAYS will be associated with that OF
Oscar Wilde, and who is not without
literary gifts, is at present ngur1ng IN
the London bankruptcy court. HIS lord
shjps liabilities amount to $4,000, while
his assets are represented by q cipher
Lord Alfred says he went broke" chief
lv through running the Academy" the
London literary weekly which used to be
as readable a one as could be found,
but which has been under cloud in
recent years.
n will surprise nobody who knew the
"Acadeuv under Lord Alfred's editor
shin to hear that it failed to sell enough
copies to pay expenses. for 1t was most
" concerned with high church matters
the balance being devoted to sneers at
one thing and another which failed. to
meet with the approval of Lord Alfred
and his vitriolc sub. the amiable T.
w. II. Crosland. America ana all things
A,,,e erican appeared to constitute red rags
70 these gentlemen and they went for
~ hammer and tongs. There need be no
mourning on the other side Of the At
lantic over Lord Alfred's present sad