Farewell, Dorothy Parker by Ellen Meister

Author:Ellen Meister [Meister, Ellen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Women, Fiction
ISBN: 9781101609231
Google: v6J5pDYFeN0C
Amazon: B008ON45LA
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2013-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Violet knew better than to press Dorothy Parker on a subject she refused to discuss, so she let it go, and hoped that eventually her mentor would feel comfortable enough to open up.

In the meantime, Mrs. Parker had made a special request. She wanted to see Violet’s former nemesis, Andi, in action. And so Violet agreed to bring the guest book to the office, as long as Mrs. Parker promised to keep herself invisible.

“Someone’s birthday?” Travis asked, as she passed his office carrying a Macy’s box large enough to hold a folded winter jacket…or an open guest book stolen from the Algonquin Hotel.

“No, just…uh, something for a friend.”

Quite the riposte. You must be some kind of genius.

Sarcasm from a ghost, Violet thought. This could be a long day.

She laid the box on her credenza and got to work, hoping Dorothy Parker would behave herself and stay quiet. After scanning her e-mails to see if there was anything urgent, Violet’s first order of business was to read Andi’s review of the Matt Damon movie. She clicked into the document and ignored the distinct sound of buzzing as she tried to concentrate.

Is that the little shit’s review?

“Mm-hm,” Violet said quietly.

Any good?

“It needs work,” Violet whispered. “But stop asking me questions. If anyone hears me talking to you, they’ll think I’m crazy.”

Someone coughed, and Violet looked up. It was Andi. standing at the door of her office holding a big, steaming cup of coffee—Violet’s coffee.

“Everything okay?” Andi asked.

“I was just…uh…reading something aloud. Why don’t you come in. We can talk about your review.”

Andi handed over the coffee and took the chair opposite Violet’s desk. “What do you think?” she said. “Do you like it?”

“There’s a lot of excellent stuff here,” Violet said, conscious of the fact that the best way to critique someone’s writing was to start with a positive. “I especially liked the line about the actors finding a chemistry that seemed to surprise them as much as it surprised the audience.”

Andi grinned. “That was my favorite part, too.”

“The trickiest thing about writing a review,” Violet continued, “is finding your own voice. It takes a bit of practice and a leap of faith. You have to acknowledge that your opinion has value and that the reader wants to know what you, Andi L. Cole, think of this movie.”

“You don’t think I found my voice?”

“It reads a little formally, like a book report.”

“I was trying to make it perfect.”

“I know,” Violet said, “but remember that you’re not trying to impress an English teacher.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You’ve got a big personality, Andi. God knows I’ve seen it. If you can capture some of that on paper, your review will sing.” Violet paused to let that sink in, but as she studied Andi’s face, it occurred to her that they were two sides of the same coin. Andi needed to bring her real-life courage to the page, and Violet needed to bring her writer courage to real life.

Still, Andi looked skeptical.

“Trust me on this,” Violet said.

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