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Interview #976: Talking With Tom: A Conversation Between Tom Doherty and Harriet McDougal, Entry #5

Harriet McDougal

Tom and I were just discussing yesterday that we were doing “telecommuting” before it was even a term.

Tom Doherty

She was the first one.

Harriet McDougal

I had already moved back to Charleston when he was starting Tor. He asked me if I would be the editorial director. He said: “I’m not asking you to move back, I’m just asking you to edit.” And I said okay.

Tom Doherty

She’s the best editor I’ve ever worked with.

Harriet McDougal

Oh, thank you.

Tom Doherty

You know, I’ve worked with a lot of them, as Publisher, as Vice President of Sales at Simon and Schuster, at Grosset and Dunlap. Harriet’s the best. I just couldn’t do without her and, you know, just because she was in Charleston wasn’t going to stop us from working together.

Harriet McDougal

Well, thank you, Tom. A week ago in Provo [at the first A Memory of Light signing event on January 8th, 2013] I walked into the high school auditorium where everybody was gathered for a pre‑event, before the book went on sale at Midnight. [Dragonmount.com Founder] Jason Denzel introduced me in lavish terms, using words like “wonderful”. The crowd, which was wall‑to‑wall, gave me a standing ovation and moved me almost to the point of tears. They just weren’t stopping. I began speaking over them and said: “Thank you very much. Thank you for the lovely introduction, Jason, but I don’t think all those words are true. I’m here to tell you I put on my shoes one foot at a time, just the way you do.” I actually got them to sit down.

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