My computer hears a lot too, Wendy. 😉

Oh Lori, if only you know how many times I tried to cut in and get back on topic or move on to the next question. She either didn't hear me or simply ignored me. She never stopped yapping and talked right over me. I did lose my patience, but didn't make it too obvious.

Luckily I stuck to my guns, because a day or two later, the editor e-mailed saying he'd just learned another new writer had let a source read his article before submitting it. The editor said he'd asked that writer, "So who are you working for? The magazine? Or your source?" (I hadn't even mentioned Ms. Pushypants to the editor, either.) He did say showing quotes were okay, if the source insisted.

But yeah, that woman is off my reliable source list.

My graphic-designer sister had a fiasco recently. A 20-year client had a rush job just before my sister was set to leave the country. They knew she wanted to finish their 36-page booklet before she left, since it had to be at the printer two days after her return. She only had 6-pages of info, and they actually told her she could work on the plane. So lugged her laptop on a getaway vacation…and you guessed it. They didn't even send her the information she needed! It was supposed to be at the printer last Thursday, but they didn't get her the rest of the information in time, so she had to work all weekend to get it done Monday. Yes, she charged a very stiff "nuisance fee."

I also agree with Lori on the quotes. When people ask to review quotes, I say that every publication I work for has a different policy, and I'll pass that request onto the editor. Honestly, I think some people think they can bully the reporter, but they'd never make the same request of the editor.

The tardiness is habitual with a few clients. I'm okay with that as long as they pay for my time. If they don't want to, they can show up when they first promised. They hold the key to solving that little dilemma.

Wendy, I hear you! Literally. Stop screaming at your monitor, woman. It's disturbing the peace. ;))

As to her asking to be your new editor, amen that you didn't let her. No one beyond your editor has the right to allow that. I always tell them to take it up with the editor, not me. Usually giving them quotes is enough, but when they insist, I bump it up to the boss immediately.

Obviously, this is a woman who doesn't value your time or respect boundaries. I'd never use her as a source again. Like that woman who called me Saturday afternoon during my daughter's graduation party, she doesn't get it. Life goes on beyond her own orbit.

A showbiz exec who was a key interview for an article for a new-to-me magazine arranged to call me at 6PM my time, well aware that I'm two hours ahead. She called a few minutes earlier to say she had some papers to send out, but she'd call right back. An hour later, she called. I'd already been on the clock 11 hours by then, and was beyond hungry. Instead of respecting my time, she went on for a good 15 minutes telling me how busy she was. She had no respect for my time.

I only had three or four questions, so I figured we'd be done in 15 or 20 minutes. But she talked so much – and so fast – that I was unable to get her back on topic. When I tried to get a word in, she talked right over me. So I started reminding myself that I could gloss over most of her ramblings when I transcribed. Then she asked to read the article before I sent it in! I said that was NOT allowed. She seemed shocked, and said she'd been badly misquoted by another publication (which I also write for, so I know how meticulous they are with quotes). When that didn't work on me, she started bashing the editor of the magazine I was writing the article for! I said I MIGHT be able to send her quotes for her approval. She reluctantly agreed. The whole time I was thinking, "If you thought before you spoke, maybe you wouldn't be 'misquoted' all the time!"

As soon as I finished transcribing, I e-mailed her the quotes and left a voicemail saying I'd sent them, and asking her to reply via e-mail (she'd said something about texting, which I am so not going to do with 500+ words worth of quotes and a cell phone with a numerical key pad). I said I would be unavailable by phone that evening.

My phone rang at 10:15 PM, well past even west coast office hours. I answered, assuming it was a friend calling me back. Nope. It was the interviewee. She hadn't even opened the e-mail! She was asking what my "real" deadline was. In the e-mail I'd told her it was end of my business day, Thursday. She said, "Oh, so that's really 4:00 Friday." I said, "No – I'll need all day Friday to write the article." She said, "You haven't written it? How am I supposed to read it if you haven't written it?" I reminded her I was not allowed to show her the article, just her quotes, and pointed out that it wouldn't be practical to write an article around those quotes if she decided to change or delete them. Then I asked about her title – which my editor apparently did have wrong in the past. I said I didn't want to trust the information the editor had, so I wanted her to tell me the exact title she wanted me to use. She said, "But I sent it to you three weeks ago!" Um, the first time I'd ever even heard of her was about about 10 days earlier, so how could she have sent me anything before then? To that, I simply replied, "You must have sent that to someone on staff. I'd prefer to get the information directly from you, since you said they got it wrong in the past."

The next morning I found her e-mail with only a few very minor changes. Thank goodness. Of course, the article hasn't run yet, so who knows how she'll react once its in print?