Snowed Under: A Lesbian Romance Novel by Dane Nicolette

Author:Dane, Nicolette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-24T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

I stood in my kitchen, hovering near the island on top of which sat an open bottle of wine and a half-full glass. In my hands I held my phone, looking into an email that my agent Crystal had sent me. The message revealed who my new editor would be at Empire House, and Crystal had scheduled a phone meeting between me and this new editor. Her name was Wendy Firestone, and I had never heard or read her name before. I was nervous.

It wasn’t that I expected Wendy to be bad or inexperienced or inattentive. But I had worked with Maxine for my entire career. She knew my writing in and out. She could tell if I had struggled with a passage, and she knew how to translate it into what I was really trying to communicate. Maxine ended up being a major part of my process. She was a brilliant woman, sharp as hell, kind when she needed to be, and a total bitch when it was called for. Without Maxine, I often wondered if I would have been as successful as I’d become.

After a few more sips of wine for courage, and our three o’clock meeting time approaching fast, I tapped the phone number linked in Crystal’s email and I lifted the phone up to my ear.

It rang a handful of times before she picked up.

“Hello, this is Wendy,” said a meek-sounding voice on the other end. It was kind of nasally, whiny, but not in a snotty way. Wendy sounded almost scared.

“Hi Wendy, this is Emma Doughty,” I replied. “My agent Crystal Bergen set this up. It seems as though you’re my new editor.”

“Yes, that’s right,” offered Wendy. “Thank you for calling. It’s nice to, um… meet you. Over the phone.”

“Yeah, you too. So, um… what’s… up?”

“I suppose you probably want to know a little about me,” Wendy offered up. “I worked closely with Maxine for the last five years here at Empire House, and she taught me a lot. I’ve actually… well, I’ve actually read and provided notes to Maxine on all of your more recent Mona Beringer novels. I’m familiar with the character and storylines, and Maxine herself personally recommended I take over as your editor.”

“Did she?” I asked with some skepticism. Wendy’s shaky voice wasn’t very convincing. I took another drink of wine. “You know, I’ve got to say… losing Maxine has been a real blow to me. She’s been my editor forever. For my entire career, actually. She’s been an integral part of my entire process.”

“We were all sad to hear that she was retiring,” Wendy lamented. “But she was ready. Between you and me, Emma, Maxine was starting to check out.”

“Check out?”

“Yeah, you know. Check out. The last three years, her heart didn’t always seem in it,” Wendy revealed. “She wasn’t reliably around or available. I don’t blame her. She wants to spend time with her grandchildren. She’s in her seventies. She had been working in publishing for forty years.

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