Chapter Twenty-One Redemption is Hard Work
Aryn
I had already gone through the conversation in the hallway enough times that it didn’t change anymore. What I had said. What Tara had said.
The way Meri had hugged herself, broken down, and ultimately asked me to leave her alone.
I had a lot of regrets about how I had handled the whole situation.
I grabbed a coffee in the kitchen and brought it to my office. Sitting at the desk, I opened my laptop. The calendar filled the screen, a list of things I was supposed to be doing. None of them mattered at the moment.
I opened the messaging app and selected Mark’s name.
The call connected on the second ring. His face appeared first, followed by the others joining one by one. Jenna was already there, along with Dylan and two of the assistants from development.
“You’re up early," Mark commented. He clicked his mouse, concentrating on something on his second screen.
“Good morning everyone. I have an update on the Ember and Ink situation which I thought all of you would want to know about before we invest more time into the project," I replied.
“That sounds like it’s not going to be a short conversation," Jenna said with concern.
“Did you see what happened at The Enchanted Quill convention? She’s a mess. I wouldn’t want to work with that author," one of the production assistants remarked dismissively.
“She was under a lot of stress," I interrupted. “Besides, we won’t be working with her. We’re stepping back from Ember & Ink."
“I thought her agent said it was a sure thing," Jenna complained.
“There was a miscommunication. The author isn’t ready to sell the film rights which means right now no one is getting the project," I informed them.
There was a pause.
Jenna leaned back slightly in her chair. Dylan stopped mid-note and looked up.
Mark didn’t react immediately. “We’ve already started preliminary work based on what the agent said."
Jenna folded her arms. “We’ve already allocated time and budget to early development."
“I’m aware. Fortunately most of it was just rough draft stuff.
We can absorb the cost," I tried to keep my tone even.
I had been one of the driving forces in pushing for this project and now I was telling them to cancel it.
“I’m sorry. I know I was very vocal in wanting this project and making it a priority.
It was my error in vetting the project and I will cover any expenses incurred by my mistake. "
Jenna tilted her head slightly. “If timing is the issue we could revisit later."
“It’s not the issue. Unfortunately, we’re not getting the project. We should focus our efforts on the other projects we have going. I know we wanted to make this project our flagship for getting our name out there, but it’s just not going to happen," I replied.
The room went quiet for a moment.
Mark nodded once. “Alright, if you’re making the call, we’ll shift resources."
“Thank you." I had a sigh of relief.
Dylan leaned forward slightly. “Honestly, authors are moving away from movies anyway. A lot of them are signing with streaming services to do a longer series. It’s more money but the authors have been saying that movies compress their books too much, leaving fans unhappy."
Jenna glanced at him. “That’s not entirely true."
“It’s happening more," he said. “My wife walked away from her publisher last year because they wanted to sell her film rights for a single movie, plus they wanted to decrease her contract. She’s doing everything independently now."
I looked at him. “She left a traditional publisher to go indie?”
“Yeah," he said. “She bought her rights back to her published books and built her own system. It’s smaller, but she controls everything and she’s actually making more money by doing most of it herself. What she doesn’t want to do, she hires out."
“How does she manage visibility? I would think marketing and getting in front of her fans would be difficult," I murmured, thinking of Meri.
“Honestly the wife doesn’t like putting herself on the internet so she does this sort of faceless advertising. It’s working for her," he said.
“Guys, can we get back on topic?” Mark prompted.
We went over the reports, where to concentrate more of our funds and time now that we weren’t working on Ember and Ink, plus who we had contracted for hiring talent. An hour later, the meeting broke up and my coffee mug was empty.
“Hey Dylan, would you mind staying on the call? I have a few questions for you on a separate subject," I asked.
“Sure thing," Dylan replied.
We waited as the others dropped off.
“So your wife is self-published? What’s that like?” I questioned.
“I didn’t know you were interested in the book publishing business. Are you planning on writing a memoir?” Dylan joked.
“I’m curious. Humor me," I requested, leaning back in my chair.
“Well, Sandy is in charge of her business. She writes, does simple edits, advertises, all the good stuff. She has a virtual assistant or two to help her out and has a cover designer she works with. It’s a lot of work but she’s the one making decisions and she loves that," Dylan responded.
“Does she work with anyone, or is it completely independent?” I wondered.
“Besides the two virtual assistants, she has a small network of other authors," Dylan said. “They have a meeting once a week and are basically there to support each other. They share what’s working for them in the moment so everyone in the group can capitalize."
“Would she be willing to share information?” I asked.
“As far as I know it’s private. One of the authors is a pretty big household name and they want to keep the group to small numbers because it’s easier for the members.
A few of them are quite introverted so it makes it more comfortable for them," Dylan explained. “But I can ask if she’ll point you in the right direction. Who’s this for?
Don’t say you’re writing a book. I don’t buy it.
You love to read but you don’t like writing things out. "
“It’s not for me," I agreed.
Dylan looked at me in surprise as a thought crossed his mind. “Oh dude! It’s for Elowyn Ashwood. You’re asking for her."
“Dylan, don’t get excited," I tried to calm down the situation.
“Excited? Is this your way of trying to get the project back? By helping her transition from trad to indie?” Dylan asked, his voice gaining excitement.
“No. Absolutely not," I firmly told him. “I’m just thinking of a way to try to help her out. There is no motive behind this. It’s entirely up to her what she does with the information."
“Well, I’m slightly disappointed at that. Is this all just altruistic?” he pressed.
“Yes. It’s me trying to do the right thing," I assured him.
Dylan nodded, thinking. “Okay. I’ll tell Sandy and she can talk to her group about it. If they’re interested, I’ll let you know."
“What do you mean, if they’re interested?” I cautiously questioned.
“Well, if the group is willing to invite her to join them. They probably will want to get to know her first and see if she’s a fit, but they might be willing to have her be a member and teach her about the independent publishing scene. I’ll ask the wife," Dylan decided.
“That would be amazing. It’s just that she’s…
” I paused, uncertain of how to say what I needed to say without revealing too much private information about Meri.
“It might be best if one person from the group takes the lead for the first time or so.
Have a one on one meeting with her. I think that would be the most comfortable for her. "
“So she’s an introvert like them. She’ll fit right in," Dylan confidently said, already typing on his phone.
“Are you texting her right now?” I wondered.
“It’s not like I get to ask my wife to befriend a best selling author each day. Of course I’m texting her," Dylan dryly commented. “I’ll let you know what she says."
“Thanks Dylan. I appreciate it." I signed off from the call.
I sat there for a moment, hoping I was doing the right thing, that Meri wouldn’t see this as me interfering with her career once more.
It was probably a bad idea.
I sighed and grabbed the book I had been reading which was next to the laptop. I was already halfway through and felt like I had more questions than ever. “The neurotypical versus the neurodivergent mind, a totally different planet. Yeah, I agree with that but I want to understand it."
Flipping the page, I gritted my teeth, determined to get through the book plus the other dozen I had bought yesterday.
Hopefully the other books wouldn’t be so dry as this one.
I wanted to understand Meri better, but I had the feeling the best way to understand would be to simply spend time with her.
Not something she was open to at the moment. Topher had advised me to give her time, but how much time was too much? Has the damage been irreparable? If I stayed away too long, would she think I didn’t care?
I didn’t have the answers, just a churning block of anxiety in my gut telling me I had messed up something precious.
My phone buzzed on the desk and I abandoned the book to pick it up even though it was an unknown number. “Hello?”
“Hi, I’m Sandy, Dylan’s wife. He’s messing with me, right?” Sandy asked, slightly annoyed. “This is payback for last Saturday, isn’t it?”
“Hi Sandy, I’m Aryn and I really want to know what happened last Saturday, but if you’re referring to the possibility of Elowyn Ashwood joining your writing and publishing group, no one is messing with you," I assured her.
There was a pause on the line. “She’s amazing. She could give workshops on how to write books."
“Well, maybe you can work out a deal where she helps with writing and you help her learn to publish her own books. I really can’t say for sure if it’s something she wants to do, but I would like to introduce you both to each other," I mentioned.
“That would be great. I mean, I’ve got to talk to the other members of the group and we would want to meet her to see if she’s a fit," Sandy cautioned.
“It would need to be a fit for her too. I’m just hopeful it would be helpful to everyone involved.
Can I suggest that she just meet with one of you first though?
She’s been through a lot lately and maybe a group setting right from the beginning might be a bit much," I responded, hoping she would agree.
“We can do that. Let me talk to the others and I’ll let you know," Sandy promised.
“Thanks Sandy." We said our goodbyes and I felt hopeful. It wouldn’t make up for my mistakes and might be seen as meddling, but I hoped Meri would find people who could help her. Maybe she could make a few friends in the group and figure out her next steps.
I struggled through another chapter before giving up and picking up one of the other books. Three hours later, I was decoding sensory overload through entertaining stories in the book while flipping an omelet onto my plate.
My phone buzzed and I looked to see an email notification from Sandy.
I quickly grabbed my phone, opening the email.
It was a simple invitation for a talk with Sandy regarding interest in joining the group.
Attached was a link to the group site. I gave it a quick tour, noticing the group rules were clearly posted.
There were a couple of moderated discussions, optional participation, posts, and once a week a virtual meeting.
It could work.
Everyone seemed to be very respectful of each other and the goal was for all members to do well.
I hoped it would help Meri. Taking a deep breath, I forwarded the email, attaching a quick note, hoping she would take the time to read it.
Meri,
I should have told you about Tara from the beginning. I didn’t handle that properly and I’m sorry.
I’ve withdrawn our production company’s interest in the Ember & Ink rights.
If you’re still considering going independent, I spoke with someone who works with authors self-publishing. I attached the email so you can look at it to see if it might be something you are interested in.
You don’t have to respond to this. I just didn’t want to leave things unclear again.
Aryn