17. SUBJECT: MY BOOK

to: cassandra.belford@baderu.com

from: weston.maguire@baderu.com

subject: Where to study

sent: March 19, 2017 at 2:28pm

Hi Cassie,

I can definitely relate to a lot of the things you wrote about. It's like you're in my head, sometimes. I wish we could sit down and talk through this, face to face. Maybe together we could make sense of it all.

Where do you normally study? I've been up and down the aisles of the library on a few occasions and have yet to run into you by accident.

I don't usually study on campus. I can't handle the quiet. I feel like I get about eight dirty looks anytime I do anything. God forbid I try to eat a granola bar or something.

I like studying outside when it's nice, at home, or in town. My favourite place to go right now is that restaurant, The Purple Fern.

Have you heard about it?

It's on main street and looks kind of like a cottage from a fairytale. It's a small stone house with a huge chimney. They even have flowers and vegetables growing out front in the summer.

They make pancakes before noon and have decent sandwiches at lunch. They're one of those 'natural is best' places, but the food is good anyway.

Anyway, the restaurant is owned by a cult.

The women wear their hair in really long braids and the men have beards as long as the women's hair. They wear old timey clothes that I'm assuming they make themselves. I know you hate assumptions, but unless you can tell me where a guy would buy a linen tunic in the 21st century, I stand by it.

The cult's leader is a guy named Martin. He's pretty young, maybe 40, and skinny with a ponytail. He and his people all live on a farm nearby. They grow and raise all the food that's cooked at the restaurant.

When I first started going there, people kept coming up to me to talk about their way of life and how I should come to one of their "meetings" to get an idea of what it's all about. I would have stopped eating there, but they have amazing blueberry muffins. Even Lena's aren't that good. One of the older women who work there, Harriet, always saves me a couple when she sees me come in. She's 72 years old, and the rest of the staff take her seriously. Harriet has never talked to me about the farm or Martin, and she's told all of the waiters to leave me alone to eat and study in peace.

I like having a place that knows me, even if it's run by a cult.

School seems to be picking up quickly. I have no idea how you manage to go to class, write to me, and work on your book. I can barely juggle the first two.

I meant to ask you how the book is coming... am I still being helpful? It's just occurring to me now that I don't actually know what it's about. How is it we've never had that conversation? Weird. I guess we've had a lot of other things to talk about.

Talk soon,

Wes

. . .

to: weston.maguire@baderu.com

from: cassandra.belford@baderu.com

subject: My book

sent: March 20, 2017 at 2:19pm

Hi Wes,

Of course I can tell you about the book. I probably should have done that earlier... oh well. Better late than never, right?

The working title is Stamp of Approval which my publisher really likes, but I'm having second thoughts. The story is about two high school students and the events leading up to a car accident killed them both. One student, Braiden Adams, was captain of the soccer team, a good student, and well liked. The other was Olivia Greenberg. She was quiet, tried hard at school to get decent grades, but was ultimately forgettable. You know the kind of girl I mean; she's probably the same kind of girl who wets herself whenever you say hi to her.

Olivia was easy to write. Braiden was harder.

In the days leading up to the crash, Braiden finds himself struggling to keep up with other people's expectations, while Olivia is trying to push herself further and spend more time outside her comfort level.

You, and our writing, has been very helpful in the rewrites. My initial draft portrayed Braiden as a bit of a cliché, but now, as I go back and make changes, he feels much more tangible. More real. Even if you aren't the inspiration for Braiden, there's a lot of your voice in his narration. You helped, and continue to help, in giving him substance.

Olivia and Braiden cross paths throughout the novel and acknowledge one another, but do not play a significant role in the other's lives until the very end. He's drunk, she's distracted, and their cars crash.

It's sad, sure, but it isn't a tragic book. Mike calls it a coming of age story that doesn't get to come of age. It's really just about two young people who are flawed and trying to find themselves.

Mike is my editor, Mike Onesi (pronounced own-ess-ee, not one-zee) is a truly kind man. He's older, probably in his 70s now, but he's a smart geezer. He's read everything and so he knows how to go about making a good book. He was the one who decided that Stamp of Approval was worth publishing, so I take his opinions seriously.

I met with him today. Mike's office is very different from Julie's. Hers is cluttered and full of trinkets, whereas Mike's space is clean and well lit. I mean, so far as I can tell. I've only seen it on video chat. He flew in to meet with Julie and I once, but for the most part, we communicate over email and Skype.

Today we Skyped.

He told me about his doctor's appointment and I told him about school. We talked a little about his grandson's dance recital and Hank. Mike loves dogs, so he's fascinated with any stories about Hank. I told Mike he's been doing this thing lately where he wakes up every morning around 5:00am and paces for a few minutes. It's odd. Simon says it's probably nothing, but I think it's creepy.

Then we got to business.

Mike went over some of my new changes, which took about an hour. We got into an argument at one point, but Mike calls arguments "exchanges".

About halfway through the book, Olivia goes out with this guy, Alen, who she's always liked. They go to a dinky diner---a lot like Sloop, and Alen takes out his wallet to pay for the meal when the cheque comes. I wanted Olivia to get flustered and excited about the fact that he's paying for the date, but Mike wanted her to request that they split the cheque.

"Her story focuses on her self-discovery. It makes sense that she takes charge in the situation. You wrote such a sweet date between them, I think she'd be more determined," Mike said to me, his voice sounded far away through the video chat.

"No." I was adamant. "She's spent every day of her life feeling inadequate, and now there's someone, a guy she likes, telling her that she's worth the full cost of dinner."

Mike smiled at me. "But she's worth so much more than a meal. She knows that. She knows she has more power if she refuses his offer to pay."

"She doesn't know shit! She's flattered and feeling giddy, and for her, him picking up the bill is enough." My voice can get really high pitched and whiny when I argue.

We went back and forth on this for about twenty minutes, but I got my way in the end. Mike conceded that I had a better idea of what dating today is like for young women (nope) and what Olivia would be feeling.

I remind Mike of his daughter. He's told me that a couple of time. But I've heard a lot about Arlene, and she sounds a hell of a lot nicer than me. I think she and I both give him headaches, and that's what seems so familiar to him. Either way, it means I often win in our exchanges.

The book isn't very long in its entirety, so editing isn't going to take as long as you might think. If I wasn't dealing with school right now, I'd probably have already finished it. But if that were the case, who's to say whether or not we'd be writing to each other today?

How's Peter been?

Sincerely,

Cassie

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