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Chapter Twenty-One
“Now that you know what I’ve been going though Bibi, you have to agree this is one very weird situation on several levels.”
Bibi ordered another round of hot wings and cold beer. When Nate called earlier, he thought it was to celebrate his signing with an agent and finding a publisher. Bibi was totally unprepared to hear the entire story his friend had just told him.
“I’ve known you for a long time, Nate. You’ve always been a logical guy, but what happened to you at Hamadan, the success of the book and your feelings for Anna Steine, who you just met, is way beyond rational thought. I know how you like to analyze everything, but in this case my advice is to just go with the flow.”
Nate refilled his mug. “What is really
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Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Two
For the next several days, Anna didn’t have a spare second to think about her Vashti fantasy, as her concentration was totally immersed in the reality of preparing for the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Although the event was open to the public for only two days, for the publishers and authors, planning began weeks in advance. Even those years when Anna wasn’t scheduled as a guest speaker for a discussion panel, her and her staff was busy deciding which titles to spotlight at the event, scheduling her author’s personal appearances, book readings, signings submitting all the necessary information to the FOB by the deadline and praying there wouldn’t be any embarrassing last-minute changes to Steine & Steine’s line-up. When she had just started at Beacon Press, Anna painfully learned there was nothing more damaging to an author’s career than disappointed readers, when one of their star authors was a no-show, the backlash from
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Three
When the staff returned to the conference room, Anna felt an uncomfortable chill in the air, which was not caused by a faulty thermostat. She immediately knew by the tentative looks they were being thrown her way, the topic of the conversation discussed during the fifteen minute reprieve was all about Anna’s odd behavior concerning Vashti’s Daughter and its author. Anna was thankful none of her staff asked her the questions each of them no doubt had on their minds, because she honestly didn’t have any logical answers she would have been able to give them that would have not led to more questions. She hadn’t a clue why she was so adamant about publishing Nate’s book. At pitch meetings in the past, her gut feeling about whether to publish a new title and an unknown author was usually supported by most of her editors. More often than not, her instincts had been right on the mark, but
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Four
The time difference between her dream world and her real one always amazed Anna. Although her recent dream seemed like hours has passed, the clock on the wall in her office showed that it had only been less than one from the time she had closed her eyes until the alarm brought her back to the present. What also amazed Anna was, even though she had only taken a quick nap, she felt fully energized. If that’s what the scientists called a power nap, she thought, it certainly was working for her, dreams or no dreams. The thought of going home to an empty condo on a Friday night was depressing. Anna knew that most of her single friends already had plans with their perspective dates and not wanted really wanted a divorcee third-wheel to join them. As much as she didn’t want to continually rely on Elaine for company, her friend never turned her down, even when the invitation came at the last minute. Anna w
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Five
Saturday morning was unusually overcast when Anna took her coffee onto the balcony. Even though she knew from experience, the marine layer that obscured her view of the Pacific ocean would eventually burn off, she was still a bit irritated that for the exorbitant price she had paid for her home because of the view was not depreciated by nature’s cruel joke. It was on days like these that made Anna even more appreciate the clear, blue sunny skies she could enjoy nearly every day of the year. Anna checked her clock. It was nine am, plenty of time to get ready for her meeting with Nate later that morning, Anna thought. She was uncomfortably nervous, trying not to feel as if she were on a first date and not a business appointment. The sound of the phone ringing interrupted her thoughts on what she was going to wear, but the voice on th
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Six
By now, Anna was no longer referring to her past life travels as dreams. The more times Anna was transported into her Adara persona, the easier it was becoming for her to adapt to the environment, so when she found herself back in the garden holding the wedding invitation in her hand, she wasn’t that surprised it was the exact parchment that Nate had handed to her only what seemed like seconds ago. The biggest changes were that the faded print she had been looking at was now perfectly clear lettering and the hand holding the page was no longer Dr. Nathaniel Braverman’s. “I believe the scribe really outdid himself.” Darius retrieved the invitation from Anna’s hand. “These invitations will be hand-delivered immediately after you’ve accepted my marriage proposal following the banquet tonight.”
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I’m very flattered.” Anna closed the book and returned it to Esther’s hands. “But this story belongs to all the people. We should have copies made.”Anna was always thinking about publishing, even in a fantasy dated over 2,000 years before the printing press was invented. “As soon as I return to Shushan, I promise I will hire the finest scribes in the kingdom to do just that. It will be dispatched to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, using their native tongue, just as King Achashverosh had commanded in his failed attempt to subjugate women.” “Sounds like the perfect revenge,” Anna chimed in. “I’m going to get ready for tonight’s banquet. I’m really looking forward to Darius meeti
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Eight
Because they were going to meet Fred at the office in a few minutes, Anna decided to take the more direct route on the freeway instead of Sepulveda. One reason she had bought a condominium in Santa Monica after her divorce was that it was only a fifteen minute drive to her office on Wilshire Boulevard taking side streets.Two miles after turning onto the southbound exit, Anna saw flashing red lights in the distance. She cursed under her breath as the traffic in front of them was slowing to a crawl. The last thing Anna wanted at the moment was to be alone for a long period of time with the author of the book she was about to complete, or have to explain to him how she had come up with the ending without sounding like a complete lunatic.Anna realized it was too late to exit off the freeway to avoid the traffic jam and much too late to avoid answering the awkward questions she knew he was going to ask. Ho
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Nine
With the preparations for the festive taking Anna and her staff’s full focus the week before the event, she had little time for distractions. After Fred finished the edits, adding the final chapter to Vashti’s Daughter, which explained in detail the death of Queen Esther, Darius’ efforts to destroy the book and the subsequent cancellation of the marriage, Anna sent the galley to pre- publication. The pressure of a deadline was a much needed distraction from Anna’s dilemma, trying to explain all that she had experienced over the past several weeks. Fortunately, she’d not had a single dream or dizzy spell since her experience in the museum, and she was grateful for the respite from the unknown so that she could accomplish all that she needed to do to prepare for the upcoming weekend event. The Festiva
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- Vashti's Daughter Acknowledgements and References
- Vashti's Daughter Epilogue
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Six
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Five
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Four
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Three
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Two
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-One
- Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty
