Then one day I got a call that changed my life. It wasn't an agent or editor offering a big contract. It was the opposite, a kind of siren call tempting me to give up my dream. On the phone was an old acquaintance from the Coast Guard, now stationed in San Francisco.He had once lent me a few bucks and liked to egg me about it. "When am I going to get the $15,Alex?"he teased.