Rosemary Ahearn is very important to me.

She is my free-lance editor, she has worked with me on the past several books, and now on my next and possibly last book, “Gus And Bud: And The Seasons Of Bedlam Farm.”

Publishing has changed radically in the past few years, and Rosemary is my remaining link to the publishing world as I experienced it for three decades and 25 books.

My creative center is my blog, and publishing is a very different thing from the publishing that I knew. The recession wiped out royalties and advances, and profoundly altered the relationship between author and editors.

My blog has saved my writing life.

The editors at my publishing house rarely communicate with me (or anyone else) directly any longer, and almost never in person or even on the telephone.

It’s not their fault, it’s just the way the world has evolved. They are swamped and the business is now very corporate, bottom line stuff.

The editors that I worked with so happily and productively at Random House were all laid off, and for mid-list writers like me, that is never good news.

The very personal, even intimate connections I once knew are gone.

Writing was always a solitary and sometimes lonely business – I have been a book writer for most of my working life now, but have become a new kind of writer – an author, photographer, blogger.

Rosemary worked at several major publishing houses, and like me, left much of that changing world behind and chose to build a new life in the country. She has been very successful and happy in that life, and in her free-lance editing career.

The way publishing works now if we want regular editing – I do – we have to pay for it ourselves. I hired Rosemary to help me, it was a life saver.

She is the best, and my relationship her is powerful and very close, much like my relationships with editors used to be. It sustains and inspires me as a book writer.

Rosemary is a tough editor, my chapters usually come flying back with all sorts of requests and changes. The fact that we are friends doesn’t matter.  The work always ends up being better. And that is the thing about editors, they always made it better.

Rosemary loves  writers and books, and loves editing. It sometimes feels as if we are working together in the 19th century. She actually likes to talk with me and even meet with me. That makes a huge difference to any author. I need that kind of contact and value it.

She has almost single-handedly kept my love of book writing alive. I don’t care to write about this on my blog much, I have moved on, and no one in my publishing world has ever read my blog much that I know of. This is still another world to them.

Before the new publishing ethos, I used to meet with my editors face-to-face all the time, and now, I usually don’t even know what they look or even sound like. The younger editors and assistants live in a texting and e-mail world, I never actually speak with them either.

I am not big on nostalgia, and I have no complaints about my writing life, I loved every second of it, and still do.

But I love my blog just as much, I love the writer I am free to be now, I can write what I when I want and practice my photographic art as well. I love the complex and sometimes difficult but intense relationship I now have with many of my readers. This is new and challenging for me.

This morning, Maria and I drove a couple of hours downstate to meet with Rosemary, to have breakfast with her at  a place called the Blueberry Hill Cafe. It’s been a few months since have seen her.

We talked openly and warmly for a couple of hours, she handed me an edited version, we talked about our books and our lives. I have a lot of work to do on this book.

I do miss some things about the pre-recession writing world. I miss the two month book tours, heading out into the country to meet my readers and hang out in big and beautiful bookstores.

I miss the connections I had with my editors, who fought with me and for me, and I miss the excitement of publishing a book lots of people were waiting to read.

My blog fills many of these needs for me, and I have no wish to go back to the other world. I am much happier than I was then, and healthier. I miss the personal connections, they eased the inevitable loneliness of the writer’s life.

In this world,  I am learning to accept new connections in different ways. They matter too. Texting alone or e-mail and social media messaging  will never be enough for me.

It is so important for me to know Rosemary, to have her as a friend, and as an editor. I think it’s important to her also. We’ve been down some bumpy roads together, but here we are.

Sometimes she visits us at the farm, sometimes we drive down to see her. I feel reborn as a writer when I see her, and listen to her thoughtful comments on my work. It fills up the heart of the writer in me.

Next time, it’s her turn to come up here. She wants to meet Bud and talk to the donkeys.

Thanks, Rosemary, for existing.