Page 33 of Not Another Beach Read
"I don't know about famous," said Paige, "but it will feel amazing just to have this book finally published."
"Just wait," said Grace. "You're not going to be able to stop with this one. Once I published my first, the next three were published a year apart. I was getting up early every morning to write, and I was having such a great time with it."
"What was your favorite part of the process, Paige?" asked Cat. She looked a little more relaxed once the focus was off of me.
"I really liked the editing. Probably because I do so much of it for work, it comes second nature to me, but once Iunderstood how my brain operates and that I needed to plot out my books very thoroughly, the writing became a lot easier. So I think you are right about having the bug. I've been having a lot of ideas come to me at strange times."
"I keep a little notebook in my bag," said Grace. "That way I can write down the ideas as they come to me. And if I can't get to my notebook quickly, I just put them in the notes app on my phone and then transfer them later. I have a huge file of ideas on my computer. I could probably play a spin the arrow game to pick the storyline for my next book or close my eyes and point."
"That might be a neat idea," said Jenna.
"How are you doing with book eight?" I asked Grace.
"Oh, you know, one step forward and two steps back, two steps forward and one step back until I finally type 'the end.' And I'm working through an issue with one of my characters I had originally thought I would kill off."
The group gasped collectively. Grace did have a penchant for killing off people in her romance books. She said that it upped the tension because her regular readers knew that someone was going to die, but never knew who it would be. But she always used the trauma to push her love interests closer together. And it added a little bit of a mystery as to who was getting the axe.
"I thought it was going to be one person all along until another option presented itself. So I had to go back and rewrite parts of the story to make it work. But things are back on track."
"Well, that's a relief." I chuckled. "Except for the person who is now in your crosshairs."
"They'll never see it coming," she said. We all laughed.
"And Sarah, have the kids managed to stay healthy over the last couple of weeks? I know you were saying the flu was going around at their school."
"So far, so good. We've had one round and that's been it so far. Fingers crossed."
"Well, on that note, I need to get to work." I got up to head to the bookstore and saw Adam walk into the cafe. "Oooh lala," I said, winking at Jenna who turned a lovely shade of crimson.
"We are going for a walk on Honeymoon Beach. Nothing scandalous."
I bumped her shoulder. "Yet."
"You're incorrigible," she said. But I knew the sparkle I saw in her eye when she looked over at him. I felt that same sparkle when I looked at Drew, even after twelve years.
I needed to find a way to gethissparkle back.
ELYSE
I wasn't at the store five minutes before Grace texted to ask if I had a few minutes to talk. "My afternoon is wide open," I texted back. When she walked in, I was helping a customer. I held up one finger, signaling that I would be with her shortly. She waved me off and headed toward the romance section, probably looking to see how her own books were selling. She'd had a surge in sales since her seventh book was published a few months before.
Mrs. Benjamin, a regular, looked up from sorting her tall stack of books on the counter.
"It seems as if Jenna's bakery is doing well," she said, tucking a strand of straight brown hair behind her ear. She was about my age, but loved to gossip as if she were still in high school. She had good intentions, so I usually just humored her with a few mm-hmms and head nods.
"Yes, she's doing quite well," I said. "People are coming in here all day long with her bags. It makes me so happy to see her succeed at something she's wanted to do her whole life."
"Well, she's got a real knack for it," said Mrs. Smith. "And I'm in there at least twice a week picking up baked goods for thekids or for PTA or members of my club. I've been handing out her business cards like crazy. I'm hoping that they're working."
"Every little bit helps," I said. "No business succeeds in a vacuum. It takes all of our support to make sure that a new business succeeds. And I'm sure she appreciates everything that you're doing."
"She just seems so much happier since Craig went to jail. I just can't believe how that whole thing went down."
None of us could, but in the meantime, Jenna had been growing more confident by leaps and bounds. She had spent the last few months proving everybody right, which made us happy to no end. Starting over was the best thing that she had ever done. We had helped her get her bakery started, and she had received a scholarship grant from a local organization that helps women who are starting businesses, going back to school, or re-entering the workforce after taking care of their families.
"Yes, she's really coming into her own," I agreed. "We're finally seeing the Jenna she could have been all along. And who knew she had such a wild sense of humor?"
"I have a feeling that has something to do with the company she keeps these days," Mrs. Benjamin said with a laugh. "The six of you are quite the team. Wherever you are, there's laughter heard for miles."
