Chapter 15 #2
‘I suppose I should have said all that in my email,’ Sean said apologetically. ‘But I preferred to tell you in person.’
‘What do I call you, then?’ Pierce asked, still looking confused.
‘Call me by my real name,’ Sean said. ‘Then we can talk about John Peters like a product we’re marketing.’
Pierce smiled and nodded. ‘Good idea. Unusual, but I like it. Please sit down and we’ll have coffee and cake while we talk.’
‘That cake looks delicious,’ Sean said. ‘I didn’t have breakfast, actually.’
‘No breakfast?’ Pierce asked. ‘In what B&B are you staying?’
‘I’m not in a B&B, but in a dilapidated cottage on the edge of town,’ Sean said as he sat down.
‘The cooking facilities are limited there, to say the least. My mother left it to me in her will and I’m here to see what can be done with it.
I used to spend my childhood summers there, but that was a long time ago.
I didn’t know it had got so rundown. It needs a huge amount of work that I don’t have the energy to even think about.
In the end, I suppose I’ll sell it. Someone else can have the pleasure of doing it up. ’
‘That sounds like a good plan.’ Marian cut a slice of the cake, put it on a plate and handed it to Sean while Pierce poured coffee into the mugs and helped himself to cake.
‘So,’ Pierce said as they all started on the cake, ‘I have some news about the media coverage for your new novel. But first, I would like to ask you if we can read the novel before publication, and then, if you would consider publishing it a little later than you had planned?’
Sean glanced at Marian while he took a bite of cake. ‘Why would I do that?’ he asked. ‘The readers who preordered the book will be very disappointed.’
‘Yes, but all the media publicity I’ve lined up for you won’t happen around that date.
It was impossible to schedule anything at such short notice,’ Pierce explained.
‘I managed to arrange some interviews for late September, which was the earliest they could do. We have The Late Late Show, Newstalk with Pat Kenny, Ireland AM, and both a review and an interview in The Irish Times.’ He drew breath and looked expectantly at Sean.
Sean looked from Pierce to Marian. ‘Well, that’s quite a line-up.
I must say I’m impressed. But would it matter if the book had already been published for a while when I go on stage, so to speak?
I realise I should have contacted you earlier, but I hadn’t planned to hire a book publicist until now. ’
‘If the book has been out over a month, it’ll be old news,’ Pierce said. ‘Launching it to coincide with all the media coverage is the best way to go, believe me.’
Sean nodded while he took another bite of cake.
‘Maybe you’re right. This is delicious, by the way.
Just like my mother used to make it.’ He put the plate on the table and shot Marian a glance.
‘This idea of pushing for a later publication date is not because of the content of the novel, is it? I know about Marian’s relationship with the family that the novel is based on, so… ’
‘I… Well, of course I’m worried about the similarities of the fictional family in the novel to the Fleurys,’ Marian replied. ‘And how people around here will react once they read the novel and make the connection.’
‘I knew that,’ Sean said.
‘But that’s not why we want to delay the publication,’ Marian cut in. ‘It’s about the timing of the media coverage.’
‘Their schedules were already full for August,’ Pierce interjected.
‘It was impossible to get anything around that time. In fact, we were lucky to get what we got for late September. In any case,’ he continued, ‘September is a better time to publish books. Lots of people are still on holiday in August, so they don’t pay much attention to new publications. ’
‘I would have thought they’d want something to read on the beach,’ Sean argued in a pleasant tone, despite the cold look in his eyes.
‘But your books are hardly beach blanket reads,’ Marian countered. ‘I read your latest novel, and it’s not at all a light read for the deckchair.’
‘You read A Stranger Comes Home?’ Sean looked at Marian in surprise.
‘Yes, and I loved it,’ Marian said. ‘It really resonated with me.’
‘Oh,’ he said, looking pleased. ‘That’s good to hear. I’d love to discuss it with you sometime.’
‘I’d be happy to,’ Marian said. ‘And I can’t wait to read Family Secrets.’
‘Neither can I,’ Pierce said. ‘So how about that for starters? Can you send it to us in some kind of format so we can read it onscreen?’
‘Of course,’ Sean said. ‘If you have Kindles, you can send a Word doc to your account and then it will be easy to read.’
‘Great,’ Pierce said, pushing a piece of paper and a pen across the table. ‘So if we can sign this agreement, then I think we will go forward with everything. If you agree to change the publication date to late September, of course. Otherwise I don’t think we can go on.’
Sean looked at the agreement for a moment and then at Marian and Pierce in turn. ‘I only want to do this one book with you. And then we’ll see.’
‘That’s fine,’ Pierce said. ‘We can change the agreement accordingly and you can sign once we’ve done that.’
Sean nodded. ‘I’ll have to go on my social media platforms and apologise to my readers. But I’m sure they won’t be too annoyed.’
‘I’m sure they won’t,’ Marian soothed.
‘I just want to make one thing clear,’ Sean said with a steely look in his eyes. ‘I will not, under any circumstances, change a word in either the description or the plot.’
‘Well, of course we were hoping we might persuade you,’ Marian confessed. ‘But I realise that was a bit of a long shot.’
Sean nodded and got up. ‘Good. I’ll be off now to rearrange the timings. In any case, my editor will be happy to have a little extra time to finish the proofreading, as will I. Nice to meet you, Pierce. Marian, we have to meet up to discuss your take on A Stranger Comes Home.’
‘I’d love to discuss the plot of Family Secrets. Who told you the story of the Fleurys?’ Pierce asked.
Sean shot another glance a at Marian, who stared back at him, waiting for him to reveal everything. ‘Well,’ he started, ‘that’s an interesting question.’
Marian held her breath. This is it, she thought. The end of my stay here and this enjoyable job. And what will Claire say when she finds out? And Sylvia and my cousins? They’ll hate me forever after this.