E. Lynn Harris Black, Male, Out And On Top

[John Hawkins] took his assistant's advice, then set up a meeting with [E. Lynn Harris]. Soon the two were at Doubleday, trying to convince [Martha Levin] to reissue the novel. Harris walked out of the meeting with a three-book deal and the seeds planted for a close professional friendship with Levin that continues to this day, weathering her departure from Doubleday in 1998."It was devastating to me," Harris says. "And I didn't even have the option of going with her had I wanted to."