Dear Mr. Brown,

I thought I’d drop you a quick little note — just a helpful little clarification that I thought you might like to receive, from one writer to another. Here it is:

Precarious: pre⋅car⋅i⋅ous [pri-kair-ee-uhs] — prɪˈkɛəriəs

–adjective
1. dependent on circumstances beyond one’s control; uncertain; unstable; insecure: a precarious livelihood.
2. dependent on the will or pleasure of another; liable to be withdrawn or lost at the will of another: He held a precarious tenure under an arbitrary administration.
3. exposed to or involving danger; dangerous; perilous; risky: the precarious life of an underseas diver.
4. having insufficient, little, or no foundation: a precarious assumption.

Related forms:
pre⋅car⋅i⋅ous⋅ly, adverb
pre⋅car⋅i⋅ous⋅ness, noun
Synonyms:
1. unsure, unsteady. (See uncertain.) 2. doubtful, dubious, unreliable, undependable. 3. hazardous. 4. groundless, baseless, unfounded.
Antonyms:
1. secure. 2. reliable. 3. safe. 4. well-founded.

Just thought you should know. You’ll find this definition and more at Dictionary.com, in case you’re wondering. It’s really handy if you don’t have any standard reference tools nearby from publishers such as Merriam-Webster, Oxford, or Roget.

Oh, one other thing… I haven’t bought or read your new book The Lost Symbol yet, but before I do, I wanted to ask one question. Are you still working with the same editor, or did you get a new one for this project?

Go ahead and laugh. I’m the snarky one and you’re the one going from book deal to movie deal. Congratulations, I guess.

Sincerely, etcetera.

Set in a tight-knit fishing community on the western shore of Cape Breton Island, The Bishop’s Man is told from the perspective of a conflicted priest whose role in the church is to cover up instances of sexual abuse. The book draws on the same milieu and many of the same characters that populated MacIntyre’s previous novel, The Long Stretch, published in 1999. (via Quill & Quire)

The 2007 award went to CBC host Elizabeth Hay, who beat out Michael Ondaatje and M.G. Vassanji that year. I guess hanging around the CBC is good for your future Giller prospects. I’ve been making a habit the past few of years of making a point of reading the winner or at least something from the shortlist each year, so now I’ll have another title to add to my to-read list.