In article , wrote:

paghat wrote:

...

One of the books I was contracted for, which I turned in, was paid for it
& spent the money, but which has been pending now for YEARS, was a guide
to miniature vegetable gardening in finite innercity spaces -- it was such
a cute book with tiny pictures of tiny veggies growing in tiny gardens, I
just loved working on that project. It got to the point of galleys, &
proof flats for the cover illustration -- then illness struck the
publisher & they went from ten books a year to less than one a year. Every
time I think about that little book I wish I could get the rights back as
it would be so easy to sell again. But alas it was work for hire & I
cannot just withdraw it from that publisher, even if they never do finish
the project.

Must have been a huge disappointment for you. And it sounds like a great
book -- are you sure there's no way you can resurrect it? Since the
publisher, in effect, defaulted on your agreement, it would seem that
you'd have some options of getting it published. It's such a shame to
just let the project die.

Unfortunately by the terms of work for hire an author loses all rights.
Work for hire should never be done. Author should always retain copyright.
In this case the idea wasn't strictly mine & I'd had such great dealings
with the publisher on two other projects (and did retain copyright on
those books since they were my ideas from the start). The publishers
became dear friends, & when one of them got extremely ill, I could hardly
add insult to injury demanding rights I'd signed away. I mentioned the
orphaned book to an editor at Sasquatch Books not to re-sell it, just
talking about projects that went astray, & she immediately asked to see
the manuscript -- but it just wasn't possible to do that legally & with
decency. I may someday ressurect the project under a different title and
write a whole new text, as the original text was keyed to available seeds,
and many of the available varieties have changed since. But for so long as
the publisher is issuing even a book a year, I feel it would be wrong to
step on any toes.

...

A regular here, Valkyrie, went from big gardens to patio gardening, & her
experiences shared in this group have many times gotten me thinking about
whether I would get depressed about scaling down or just maximize the
experience of smaller space & get just as much pleasure. People do adjust
to much tougher things.

I sometimes miss having a big yard where I can plant huge perennial
gardens ... but frankly, I don't miss the work involved. (Does that make
me a gardening misfit?) But I do get so much enjoyment out of all the
flowers I'm raising in planters and pots. Hey, wanna peek? He

http://www.pjparks.com/citygarden.htm

PJ

Nice pot jungle in those photos. I see lots of room to stack & expand. I
notice no windowboxes for instance. If attaching them is banned by the
condo they could still be stacked/freestanding to look like window boxes.
I see you go for floweriness -- I'd add a few things woody that might be
only leaves most of the year, then flowers packed in under, partly so that
there's something left over in winter. You could also train shade-vines
through the living room or over the bedboard. Could have a small
worm-compost in the kitchen. Hey, maybe i COULD readjust if I had to.....

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/