Time & Perspective Quote by Jackie Collins

Collins turns a piece of publishing-industry pragmatism into the kind of bedroom farce she built a career on: the “wild affair” line is bait, a wink that dares you to clutch pearls before she yanks the curtain back to business reality. That fake-out matters. It frames authorship not as sacred vocation but as a serial negotiation of desire, attention, and leverage - the same ingredients that animate her novels, repurposed as career strategy.

The marriage metaphor lands because it captures the emotional economy of publishing: loyalty is real, but it’s also contingent. A long-time publisher can start treating a writer like a dependable asset, not an event. Collins’ subtext is blunt: writers don’t just sell books; they sell momentum. When a house stops courting you, the relationship turns domestic - safe, under-promoted, taken for granted. A “new publisher” promises the intoxicating early-stage energy: a bigger advance, louder marketing, a fresh internal champion who needs your success to prove their own taste.

Her quick “No, not seriously” isn’t backpedaling so much as brand management. She can be scandalous without sounding reckless. It also shields her from the moralizing that often follows successful women who act like free agents. Read in context - Collins as a pop-literary mogul who understood the machinery of hype - the quote is a reminder that enthusiasm is a currency. Sometimes the most strategic move is simply going where people still sound excited to have you.