BEWARE THE ROBOT AUTHOR
Some girl sends over an link to the story of the LongPen, a robot substitute for authors who don’t want to do book signings.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060306/ap_on_hi_te/books_novel_invention
I really hate this device. And authors who think book tours are just too, too tedious and they'd like to send a robot instead. Signings, unless you’re a superselling Clinton or Stern, are a chance to meet and talk to the people who actually read your damn books. They're the ones who really count, and I also believe there's an atavistic something in that the book has actually been touched by whoever wrote it. A pox on Atwood and her infernal machine.

The secret word is Spoiled