Lost Coast Literary by Ellie Alexander

Author:Ellie Alexander [Alexander, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781737391531
Publisher: Sweet Lemon Press LLC
Published: 2022-03-28T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Instead of exploring more of the house, I returned to Gertrude’s office and retrieved the stack of forsaken manuscripts. My body moved like sludge. I felt like one of the gooey slugs slithering in her garden. I had to fix this. I’d clearly done a hack job on my first round of edits. This couldn’t be what Gertrude had intended. What was it about this stack? What was I missing?

The answer had to lie with the forsaken manuscripts. Maybe they needed a complete re-write. Maybe they needed to be shredded or burned in the fireplace. But what would that do to the characters? If I burned the stack, would they die in a horrible fire? How much power did my editing pencil actually have?

I had always believed that any book could be salvaged. It was a personal challenge to take on books in need of deep repair and unearth the nuggets of beauty and wisdom within. Maybe this was a sign that it wasn’t possible.

My heart thudded in my chest as another thought invaded. Was this a sign that I had made a mistake? A reflection of my life choices? I’d been so confident, so convinced that publishing was where I was meant to be, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe this entire experience was meant to teach me that.

I sank into the chair and ran my finger along the picture of all of us on the desk. Was there a reason I was meant to be here? What did Gertrude know? My lips trembled as I stared at the photo. My hand instinctively went to my locket. I held it tight and said a silent prayer to Mom or whoever was listening to offer me some kind of guidance. Any kind of guidance.

I leafed through the stack, running my thumb against the edge of the pages. To my surprise when I landed on a short manuscript, I was stunned to see a sticky note taped to the front. The rectangular note was oyster pink with a butterfly on the top right edge. Gertrude’s handwriting in beautiful calligraphy filled the page. It read:

if the lightest flutter of a butterfly’s wings can send ripples of wind across oceans, so too must be the touch of an editor’s pen.

Was she speaking to me from the other side of the grave?

I carefully pried the note from the manuscript and set it on the desk.

Tears stung my eyes as I read her words again and again. The lightest touch. Was that my lesson?

Thank you, Gertrude, I need that.

I exhaled slowly and studied the manuscript. Unlike the others it was only a few pages in length. The forsaken manuscript was titled Tip Jar Karma. I read the short story in a matter of minutes. It was a cautionary tale about second chances. Lindi, the heroine, has recently been released from a women’s prison after serving time. Her path of self-destruction was painful to read with abusive relationships, massive gambling debts, and a young son whom she was forced to abandon.

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