Chapter 25
Liz found the note when she woke up early to join the others for a swim and smiled as she read it. She definitely did fancy spending time with Guy this afternoon – it would be something to look forward to after a morning writing. But first, a swim.
The other three were waiting for her in the hallway when she ran downstairs. She was relieved when nobody commentated on her absence on Sunday and the four of them made their way to the beach and were quickly in the water.
‘It hasn’t warmed up at all, has it?’ Liz said, shivering as she walked into the water until it was deep enough for her to duck her shoulders under and start to swim.
‘I checked and it’s currently about fourteen degrees Celsius,’ Lorraine said. ‘Another couple of weeks and it will be twenty. By August, it will be around twenty-three degrees and rising – almost bath temperature.’
Ten minutes later, they were all floating on their backs, getting their breath back before the swim back to shore, when Helena said, ‘I am so glad I booked this retreat. I’ve written more of my novel in one week than I’ve ever managed before.
And Sandy’s advice has been wonderful. On top of that, I’ve made new friends.
Are we going to keep in touch when we leave? ’
‘Definitely,’ Lorraine said. ‘Shall I set up a WhatsApp group for the six of us and send you all the link?’
‘Yes, better than Facebook,’ Helena said. ‘Thank you.’
‘Time for breakfast,’ Mandy said. ‘I for one am starving. Race you back,’ and she was gone.
* * *
Sandy started the first informal session of the week talking about being a self-published author and asking Lorraine to explain why she went the self-publishing route.
‘I started writing romantasy before it was a “thing”. I got so many rejection letters telling me the story was well written and had caught their interest but they didn’t see a market for it.
Getting an agent too was impossible, so I took a deep breath, watched lots of YouTube videos on how to self-publish and went for it. Now, of course, romantasy is big.’
‘And you’re one of its biggest success stories,’ Sandy said.
Lorraine nodded. ‘Yes, but I can’t stress enough how hard it was.
Everything is down to the self-published author.
Everything. Writing the book is the easy bit.
Outsourcing cover design, editing and all those other essential things is difficult enough, but marketing requires a whole new skillset.
The plus, of course, is without a publisher or an agent your royalties are higher. ’
‘Are you planning on staying as a self-published author?’ Sandy asked.
‘I’m not sure, to be honest,’ Lorraine said.
‘Publishers have started to approach me, but none of them have come up with a truly tempting offer. I might try submitting the next book and seeing what happens. The dream, of course, is a Big Five publisher and a film deal.’ Lorraine laughed.
‘As if. But you’ve got to dream big, haven’t you? ’
Becky, when she returned in time for the last few minutes of the session, was full of her glamorous weekend and the people she’d met.
‘You won’t believe the number of stars that are in Antibes already for the Cannes Film Festival.
So many of them staying at the Eden Roc Hotel.
Xavier took me to a party there. The security there was incredible.
So glad I was with Xavier, I don’t think they would have let me in otherwise.
I’ve been to lots of hotels down here, from Monaco to St. Tropez, but Eden Roc Hotel is sublime in every respect. ’
‘It sounds amazing,’ Mandy said. ‘Were you allowed to take photographs?’
‘Not at the Eden Roc party, but I did manage to take a couple of shots of the grounds and the outside of the hotel. Lots of photos from the rest of the weekend, though. Have any of you looked at my socials today? No? Oh, please do. I’ve had so much interaction and lots of new followers.’
As the session came to an end, the others stood up and left Becky for her one-to-one with Sandy.
Becky sat back happily and smiled at Sandy. ‘So, what do you think about my book? It’s good, isn’t it?’
Sandy took a deep breath and chose her words with care. ‘I think the premise of the story is good, but, and there’s always a but—’
‘I’ve worked really hard on it,’ Becky protested.
‘I’m sure you have,’ Sandy said. ‘And once you’ve finished it, you will have a first draft to do more work on before it’s good enough to send out to publishers.
Writing a book is all about rewriting and rewriting.
I’ve added some notes and ideas for you to consider.
’ She hesitated, but she couldn’t ignore the amount of AI she’d noticed in the manuscript.
‘One of the things you need to work on is replacing the AI material with your own words.’
Becky looked at her. ‘Seriously, you could tell some of it was AI?’
Sandy nodded. ‘Yes.’ As Becky regarded her silently, she continued. ‘Read my notes and suggestions, talk to the others, show them some of the passages you’ve written and see whether they agree with my assessment of your characters lacking the depth and empathy that fiction needs.’
‘I’ll do that.’ Becky chewed the end of her index finger for several seconds before looking at Sandy, a strained look on her face. ‘That’s what last week’s exercise about childhood memories helping your writing was all about, wasn’t it?’
Sandy nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘I don’t have many good memories of my childhood,’ Becky said quietly. ‘I certainly don’t want to revisit that time of my life.’
‘I’m genuinely sorry to hear that, Becky.’
‘Thanks. I’m sure other children had it as bad, if not worse.
’ Becky gave a small shrug. ‘I prefer people not knowing about my background or where I come from. I truly enjoy being involved in social media, being known and accepted as an influencer – I get to go to the most amazing places and the goody bags are fabulous.’ Becky laughed before she added soberly, ‘I don’t think dredging up memories of my first sixteen years would be good for me personally.
’ She gave Sandy a tremulous smile. ‘I think I’d rather stay in the life I’ve created for myself.
Thanks for listening,’ and she turned to walk away.
Sandy stared after her. Becky’s eyes before she’d turned away had looked suspiciously bright. She hoped Becky wasn’t on the verge of tears.
* * *
After the informal session with Sandy, Liz went up to her room and opened her laptop, ready to spend the morning writing.
It felt so good to be creating again and she’d soon have enough written to show to Sandy.
Normally, she didn’t show her first drafts to anyone until she was reasonably happy and only then did she send them to her editor, but she felt honour-bound to show at least a few pages to Sandy.
At twelve thirty, she closed the laptop with a happy sigh – now for lunch and a chat with the others before walking into town to meet Guy.
Guy was waiting outside the entrance to the garden cafe and her heart skipped a little beat when she saw him. ‘Sorry I’m late,’ she said, as he leant in to greet her with a couple of cheek kisses.
‘No, you aren’t late, I was early,’ Guy said. ‘Marie is expecting us, so tea will be served immediately.’
There were other couples already seated at various tables dotted around the garden and a few were clearly locals as several people raised their hand to Guy in acknowledgement when they saw him.
Marie came over to ask which tea they would like, Liz said Earl Grey please and Guy asked for breakfast. Within minutes, the table was full of scones, sandwiches and cakes and the two pots of tea.
‘What a spread,’ Liz said. ‘I hope we can do justice to it. Before I forget, your tiramisu last evening was delicious.’
Guy smiled at her.
As they tucked into the sandwiches – amongst which Liz discovered a new favourite combination, cucumber with cream cheese and a hint of horseradish – they chatted about a host of different inconsequential subjects until Guy said, ‘Tell me six things about yourself that you think I should know.’
‘Okay, as long as you realise it’s your turn afterwards,’ Liz said.
‘One, I don’t like curry and never eat it.
Two, I have an irrational phobia about clowns, they frighten me and I just don’t find them, or slapstick humour, funny.
Three, um well, I can’t bear wearing wet socks or shoes.
Four, oranges make me sneeze. Five, I read the last two pages of any book I read first. Six, I dislike being in a crowd of people, so I avoid them as much as I can.
Which one are you laughing at?’ she said. ‘The orange thing?’
Guy shook his head. ‘No, although that is funny. But the book thing. Do you write the ending of your books first as well?’
‘No, but when I’m reading, I like to know that the characters I meet in the first few pages are still going to be there at the end. Your turn.’
‘Okay, here goes. One, I’ve got funny feet, my second toe is bigger than my first toe.
Two, I hum when I’m happy. Three, I don’t like secret surprises.
’ Guy shrugged as Liz looked at him. ‘I like the anticipation of knowing something nice is going to happen before it happens. Four, I love fast cars and F1. Monaco Grand Prix is my favourite time of the year. Five, I love curry – maybe I’ll make it my mission in life to convert you.
And last but not least, number six is I’m too impatient to stand in a queue of more than one person. ’
Laughing together at the answers set the tone for a relaxed afternoon.
After they’d laughed and eaten their way through too many gooey cakes, had second and third cups of teas, Guy paid the bill and suggested they went for a walk around Port Vauban. ‘Work some of the calories off.’
‘Some of these yachts are seriously impressive,’ Liz said, standing to stare at a particularly beautiful and expensive-looking one.
‘Sadly for us, security is so stringent these days, it’s impossible to walk Billionaires’ Quay which is where the billionaires, obviously, and Russian oligarchs moor their yachts,’ Guy said.
‘Do you sail? Or have a boat?’ Liz asked.
‘No. Never been interested in boats. All I ever wanted to do was to train as a chef, have my own restaurant and own a top-of-the-range car.’
‘Chef – tick; own restaurant – tick; car…?’ Liz said, using her fingers to tick off the first two and raising her eyebrows at Guy for the third one.
He gave her a small shrug. ‘Tick – it’s in the garage.’
‘You’ve successfully done what you set out to do then, congratulations,’ Liz said. ‘So what’s next for you?’
‘Now there’s a question,’ Guy said, sighing. ‘A question I don’t yet have the answer to.’ There was a pause. ‘I do know, though, that I like you and would like to spend more time with you before the retreat finishes. How do you feel about that?’
‘I think that would be rather good,’ Liz said.
‘How about we have a nightcap every night together? Starting tonight. And we can try to grab a couple of hours during daylight on one or two of the days left?’
‘Sounds like a plan,’ Liz said happily.
‘Good. We’d better get back to Villa Celestia now – I have dinner to cook for certain people.’ And he caught hold of her hand and they began to make their way back along the ramparts and on to the bord de mer.