Creative Dilemma

Previously, I've mentioned that I was asked to contribute a Metallica-fan story for a book. I was flattered by this and immediately agreed to contribute. I already knew which story I would share. I submitted the very Blog I posted here about a month ago, titled SOME KIND OF TRUE STORY.

The editor came back with some comments, some of which make me uncomfortable. If you remember (if not go re-read the story!) I gave James Hetfield a print-out of a post I had written on the fan club message board aka Poor Posting me. The editor wants me to call it a letter, not a post. He also wants me to elaborate by breaking the song down line by line. Originally I had just a few key lines from the song interpreted in the post that I put up on the message board and inevitably handed to Hetfield. (Sidenote: I gave James the message board version because I wanted him to read it exactly how it was posted: I wanted him to feel the sincerity of the very moment I decided to publicly share what his lyrics did for me. End Sidenote.)

I'm uncomfortable with the editor's suggestions because the reader is mislead in a few ways:
A.) if the reader is led to believe I handed James a letter, the reader will get a "To James, yada yada yada Love, Stephanie" feeling. I clearly state that I wrote something for the internet, for fellow Metallica fans, and that I never imagined James would actually read it. In fact, when I did hand the post to James, I never signed it. He simply saw it was written by StephBKNY (that is my message board name).

B.) I'd rather not share my interpretation of the entire song with the general public when I didn't share as much with the songwriter (again, that would be Hetfield!). It will give the reader the impression that James read a version of my story he didn't actually read.

C.) Interpreting the song line by line means I must revisit those emotions. Frankly, it is a trip I'd rather not take.

So now I sit here thinking, what do I do? I didn't sign a contract, so there are no legal obligations to submit my story. I'd like to e-mail the editor and request he pull my submission. Of course, I will give him an explanation, he certainly deserves that. I'm just not so sure if he will still respect me after I go back on my word.