Page 60 of A Bookish Story

His “great” didn’t sound all that enthusiastic if I’m honest. Either way, I don’t take it personally. Instead, I dive into Ryan’s new story. I’m immediately drawn to the main character, who’s working in the shipyards of Richmond during war time. Ryan is particularly skilled at bringing a setting to life, a weakness of mine.

But it isn’t until chapter two that he introduces another main character who clearly has possibilities of being the love interest. As I read on, it becomes unclear whether or not these two will actually be involved. I furiously write notes in the margins of how Ryan might improve the connection.

“Remember the lean,” I write in the column and add a wink emoji. He will know what I mean. He’s got to add in movements and gestures that will indicate the first level of interest from the hero. It can be hand holding, hugging, any kind of touching before the kiss that changes things.

My phone pings while I’m editing, a text from Pepper.

Please don’t worry about the latest trade review and if you can possibly hide it from Ryan, do. I know the critic, and he doesn’t like anything. No big surprise or loss here. Sales are still stellar.

Okay, what? I drop what I’m doing and follow the link she provided to read the review:

The latest splash in the romance world fails in many ways.

I don’t know where to begin. Yes, it’s a different concept. Tell the story from the lovesick hero’s point of view. But honestly, this mess is like reading someone’s diary, first person point of view included. There’s little plot, and what there is of it is a tough slog. I’m not surprised it hits all the feels for those interested in angsty and emotional journeys but it would help if it were well written, at least. Even the title makes me cringe. Soulmates? There is no such thing, as our poor and utterly ineffective hero soon discovers. The woman he loves is a shrew even if he can’t see it. Finally, we have a woman writing a man’s point of view but as with almost all romance, it does not at all realistically portray the man. I have to give this my lowest grade. D-

D minus? What? What! Ridiculous! The reporter writes like a pompous ass, which I have no doubt he is. There are some critics that enjoy ripping apart something that’s popular with readers. Sometimes there’s a great deal of professional jealousy involved, but I’ve definitely got to hide the review. It’s more than ironic since the book was written by a man, only by a man who isn’t a neanderthal like this lovely critic appears to be. But that’s not the point. Bad writing? He’s absolutely dead wrong. Even when I hated the book, I loved the prose.

But he does make a point that hadn’t occurred to me until now. Why did Ryan choose a woman’s pen name when the book was written in a male point of view? I hadn’t known this when I agreed to be Elizabeth and I never did get a straight answer out of him. He and his publisher could have chosen another male pen name and simply hired an actor. I have questions. So many questions.

I fire off a text to Pepper:

Why did Ryan choose a woman’s pen name?

Pepper replies:

I think you should ask him that question. It’s complicated.

Complicated? Now she’s piqued my curiosity.

Why? Someone he knows?

Pepper ignores the question.

There’s also an email from Pepper, sent yesterday:

I’m just putting on the finishing touches for a book signing at the local indie bookstore in Seven Trees. They’ve been very supportive, even if they usually don’t host romance books. But with the success of Soulmates, they couldn’t resist. Working on a date but will be in touch via email. I’m already posting teasers on your website.

A book signing. They’d warned me this could happen. It’s one thing to have performed in front of the monitor with only Ryan for company, knowing any mistakes would be edited out. It will be quite another to be live and in person with actual people. I wonder if they will ask me to speak. I’m one of those people that would rather die than speak in public.

For the next hour, Ryan gone, I put everything else out of my mind and flesh out some ideas for a sequel. It has to be said that I also fight my desire to snoop in his bedroom. But I can’t bring myself to breach that line, even if I imagine something significant to Ryan is in the room where he sleeps. Looking around, I see he’s added nothing to Professor Henry’s décor other than paper and research books, of which there are already plenty.

It all says that Ryan is a short-timer here, which I already understood.

When it’s time for me to go, Ryan hasn’t returned, so I leave him my notes on his proposal and lock up.

Sofia has managed to talk me into going out tonight and so I drag myself to Sliderbar expecting I’ll have to watch her flirt with someone. Flirting is her art and she loves showing off. But if she reads my books, I’ll go ahead and watch her flirt. It’s only fair to support her art.

When I arrive, she waves me over to a booth.

I sit on the opposite side. “I’m not staying long.”

“Why not?” The sound of her voice comes out like a whine.

“Because I’m not interested in flirting with anyone tonight or finding someone new.”

She pouts. “When are you going to be interested?”

“Does it matter?”