In June 1999, a literary agent contacted me, looking for ideas that could be made into a Merchant-Ivory-type film. He wasn't interested in book publishing as such, but as a means to securing a film deal, which would be much more lucrative.

I offered him the first two chapters of a novel, which he didn't like, and suggested I produce a non-fiction work instead, which I did. He didn't like those four chapters either, so the project lapsed.