Chapter Seven
All week, Asher had tried, and failed, to make progress on his latest Marshall Kane novel.
It would be easy to blame it on his real-life drama.
He could claim that the constant media attention disrupted his concentration.
In actuality, he barely paid attention to the news anymore.
He didn’t search out stories about himself.
Well, usually. He had made an exception that morning because Talon had emailed him several links to different online articles. Each of them was filled with pictures of him and Cameron outside of Sotto le Stelle and they all had similar headlines.
Gay Rumors Confirmed!
Asher Dare Finally Breaks His Silence!
Asher Dare’s New Arm Candy!
He had to chuckle at that last one. Cameron had been so indignant about being referred to as “arm candy,” and nothing Asher had said would change his mind.
On the whole, the articles hadn’t been too bad. They’d quoted him several times and made a point of playing up his and Cameron’s relationship, using words like “ smitten” and “besotted.” Not inaccurate, but the lazy writing still made him cringe.
Cameron’s impassioned monologue had been quoted as well, and to Asher’s immense relief, hadn’t been taken out of context.
In fact, most of the articles had portrayed his statements in a positive light with only one reporter questioning if he was only with Asher because he was a fan of the mystery series.
Still, it had taken no more than twenty minutes to scan those pieces, so he couldn’t claim it had taken away from his writing time. Hell, he wasn’t even procrastinating anymore.
Every day, he sat down at his desk—or in his favorite chair, or on the loveseat by the fire—and every day, the words refused to come.
What he did manage to write wasn’t fit to wipe his ass with, let alone to print.
The worst part was that he had no idea how to fix it, especially since the problem seemed to be with that particular manuscript and not with the writing process in general.
The new project he’d started a couple of weeks ago flowed like water from the tap.
He didn’t have to think. He didn’t struggle for every sentence.
Ideas just poured out of him, sometimes faster than he could type them.
The characters were vibrant, the setting vivid, and the plot beautifully engaging.
That wasn’t just ego talking, either. The book was damn good, possibly the best he’d ever written .
And none of it mattered.
His publisher wanted more Marshall Kane books. His readers wanted more Marshall Kane. Fuck, even Cameron wanted more Marshall Kane. No one gave a damn about some untitled story with characters they’d never heard of in a place that didn’t exist. Not from him.
Okay, so maybe he was being slightly dramatic.
Things had changed a lot since he’d published his first Marshall Kane Mystery novel.
He could publish under a different name with a different publisher…
or no publisher at all. Maybe people would read it, and maybe they wouldn’t.
It would definitely be a risk, but most worthwhile things in life usually were.
So, yes, he had options, but none which would help him complete a hundred-thousand-word manuscript by his deadline in three weeks.
To make things even worse, he’d just received a text message from his agent telling him to expect a phone call from her shortly. Why she couldn’t have just called without the preamble of a text, he had no idea, but he felt like a kid waiting to be called into the principal’s office.
Even knowing to expect her call, he still winced when his phone began to vibrate against his writing desk in the library.
A picture of Becca with narrowed eyes and pursed lips appeared on the screen, spiking his anxiety.
He’d asked her to pose for the photo, thinking the image of the quintessential “hard-nosed” agent would be funny .
Perhaps he’d been a little short-sighted because he sure as hell wasn’t laughing now. Becca rarely called with bad news, but instinct told him he wasn’t going to enjoy this conversation.
Knowing he was only postponing the inevitable, he swiped his finger across the screen to accept the call before bringing the phone to his ear. “Hello, Becca.”
“Asher. We need to talk.”
Shit. No, he definitely wasn’t going to like what she had to say. “Okay, so talk.”
“I spoke to Danika last night, and she has some concerns about the chapters you submitted.”
Danika Love had taken over as his editor on the fifth Marshall Kane book when his previous editor had retired to Costa Rica. She was tough but fair, and they could usually find a compromise when his artistic vision didn’t align with his publisher’s idea for the series.
“Which part? The dismembered corpse or Detective Kane in a dress?” Every word dripped with acid because he already knew the answer. He just wanted to hear her say it.
“I’m sure you can guess.” Her tone didn’t indicate if she agreed with his editor or not. She was just relaying the information. “With everything going on right now, the publisher thinks—”
“I thought all publicity was good publicity?”
Becca sighed. “In this case, Atrea Press disagrees.”
“And?” he asked through gritted teeth .
“Look, I know you don’t want to hear this, but these are the facts. The publisher is concerned that with you coming out, the plot of this new book feels like you’re pushing an agenda.”
Asher snorted rudely into the phone, but Becca ignored him and continued.
“Not all of the chatter from the fan forums is exactly what you might call supportive. I’m sorry, Asher, but Atrea Press is drawing a hard line in the sand. Either you rewrite the chapters, or they’re threatening to terminate your contract.”
“No.” The series had become stagnant, boring.
Sending his hero undercover as a drag queen to solve a murder was fresh, fun, and it breathed new life into a series that desperately needed it.
“I didn’t change a damn thing about the character.
I just put him in an unusual situation. There’s nothing wrong with those chapters, and you know it. ”
“Asher.” She paused, sighed again. “There’s more. The studio is talking about postponing filming on Injustice .”
Leaning his elbow on his desktop, he dropped his face into the hand not holding his phone and closed his eyes. It wasn’t like the world would fall into ruin without another Marshall Kane movie, but he doubted it would do anything good for his image if the studio canceled production .
Everyone had been telling him that things would get worse before they got better. Apparently, this was the “worse” part.
“Did they say why?”
“Well, it doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with you. I guess the lead actor was caught cheating on his wife and co-star.”
Asher sat up and glared at nothing in particular. “Jesus, Becca, why didn’t you lead with that?”
“Sorry,” she chuckled. “I just thought you should know.”
Sighing, he rubbed his temple, trying to stave off the headache he could feel forming. “Do you have any good news?”
“Atrea Press has agreed to extend your deadline to the beginning of the year.” She paused, then added in a quick mumble, “To give you time to rewrite the first five chapters.”
“Great. Fucking fantastic.” Every part of him wanted to chuck his phone across the room, but he took a deep breath and reminded himself he was a mostly functioning adult. “I need to go. I have work to do.”
“So, you’re going to rewrite the beginning?”
She didn’t sound hopeful, exactly, just surprised. “No, I won’t rewrite the beginning. ”
Christ, he needed a fucking drink. Unfortunately, it was barely nine o’clock in the morning, and things hadn’t turned quite bad enough to justify day-drinking.
“Good.”
Asher pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it for several seconds before bringing it back to his ear. “Did you just say good ?”
“Yes, Asher. I loved those chapters of Uninvited , and I think you’d be an idiot to listen to those bigoted assholes.”
That was the thing about Becca. She never minced words. Asher might not always like what she had to say, but he respected the hell out of her for giving it to him straight. The fact that she was actually taking his side on the issue was even better.
“Okay,” he said, drawing the word out to give himself a few moments to think. “So, what do we do?”
“Well, like I said, they’re threatening to terminate the contract if you don’t make the changes they want. First thing we’re going to do is let them. They have right of first refusal, but once they pass on it, you’re free to do whatever you want with the manuscript.”
It was good in theory, but it all sounded a little too easy. “Do you think they’re actually going to refuse it, though?”
“I do.” She sounded very confident about that. “You’ll have to pay back your advance, of course. ”
“Of course.” He’d already known that, and it wasn’t like he needed the money. “Becca, I don’t know about shopping this to another publisher.” He had a very clear vision for the book, and he didn’t want to run into any of the same problems he was currently facing.
“Then, we’ll self-publish it. You’ll have to find a new editor, but I have a couple of people in mind I think would be thrilled to work with you.”
Asher breathed a little easier. Clearly, she’d already given the matter a lot of thought, which meant whatever he decided, she probably wouldn’t fight him too hard on it.
“Thank you, Becca.” God, he was so fucking grateful to have her in his corner.
“Don’t mention it. That’s what I do.”
“And you’re damn good at it.”
Becca laughed. “I am, aren’t I?”
“And so modest.”
“Whatever.” She made a clicking sound with her tongue over the line. “Look, I’ll get the legal guys on it and see if we can’t get you out of this contract by the end of next week. While I’m taking care of things on my end, you figure out what you want to do with this manuscript.”
“And if I decide to publish it myself?”