Page 12 of A Bookish Story

“You sent it to her as a joke?”

He nods, lowering his head. “Yes, and then she…liked it. She talked me into revising and submitting it to publishers and told me that we could always use another pen name.”

“You must have been so pissed! Was all the rejection soul crushing?” I hope for that though he probably didn’t care if this had all been a massive joke to him.

“I got some rejections, yes.” Ryan won’t look at me and shifts from one foot to another.

What does he mean by “some” rejections?

“Sit down, would you?” I point to the faux love seat which, let’s just face it, is a chair. “Is this a long story?”

“I’ll try to make it brief.”

He finally sits and tells me everything.

.

CHAPTER 4

“Your book sold at auction?”

“Yeah,” Ryan says, hanging his head. “For a good deal.”

He’s actually quoting from Publishers Marketplace, my bible for years. A “good deal” means a six-figure deal. Something much like bile rises in my throat, followed by an out of body sensation, as if I’m floating on a cloud of garbage, watching the landfill below. I fight to keep my composure.

I’ve forgotten my resignation letter because now there’s been an unexpected real life plot twist. I still don’t know why Ryan is here or how I can help him. It does not explain why he’d been headed over here to tell me this before he knew I’d even found the video.

He’s written one romance book. I tell myself his success is probably because he already has a solid reputation in the industry of someone who can deliver a book. But his first romance book selling at auction? This is rare.

“I didn’t want any of this to happen, remember, or all of this attention.” He says the word as though he smells garbage. “But then my agent got the deal and…and all that…you know, money.”

“But…I looked up your catalog and didn’t see any romance.”

“No, you wouldn’t have seen it.”

“Why not? When did it come out?”

“Two months ago.” His voice lowers to just above audible range. “It made the New York Times list.”

All the air goes out of me. “Seriously?”

He nods, but sadly, as if to apologize.

“What’s the name of the book?”

“They called it Soulmates.”

Soulmates. I’d heard about it but it mostly hadn’t been on my radar since my TBR pile is about two feet tall. But I seem to recall the author was a woman. I must have that wrong. It could be initials and I simply assumed.

“Well, gosh. I guess…congratulations. That’s just amazing. From someone who derided romance to someone who wrote one. I’d say that’s truly an epic hero’s journey.”

“Believe me, I honestly didn’t think I could write romance and certainly not that it would sell.”

This isn’t helping. I still wonder why he’s rushed over to tell me all this like a show-off. What he probably will need, and soon, is crisis management. Because the minute the book comes out, the video will resurface if it hasn’t already, go viral, and he’ll be called out on it. There will be a few potshots, especially from his existing community of literary snobs who will make fun of him. Romance writers everywhere will skewer him. A good publicist could smooth the road ahead, and spin this somehow, but I hardly have the skills.

“I’m not sure how I can help you with all this. All you have to do is apologize when the video resurfaces. Admit you were wrong because, you know, you were.”

“Yeah, well, that’s where this gets complicated.”