Blind Submission
Page 26
“I’ve known Lucy Fiamma for a long time,” Natalie said.
“So she’s said.” Lucy had also told me, “I knew Natalie Weinstein before she was Natalie Weinstein—when she was still taking messages for Gordon Hart.”
“She’s never brought anyone to New York with her before,” Natalie went on. She paused a moment to let this sink in. “You must be something very special,” she said, and let out a mirthless laugh. “Either that or you’ve got something on her.”
I laughed politely.
“I’m betting on the former,” Natalie said. “That Italian book…Lucy hasn’t come through with anything like that for a long time. I think you had something to do with that one, didn’t you?”
I laughed again. It seemed like the thing to do.
“And I think you have a hand in whatever it is she’s got today.”
I shrugged.
“Ever thought about moving to New York, Angel?”
“No,” I said. “Not really.”
“Maybe you should. Think about it, that is. So tell me, should I get excited about that manuscript you’re holding?”
I looked down at Elvis, which was getting damp and curled from the sweat of my palms. I knew I should tell her that she’d fall in love with it, but I was thinking about Sunny Martin and her memoir, Balsamic Moon. I’d read part of it the night before when I was too wired to sleep and I really liked it. I knew that it was exactly the kind of book that Natalie Weinstein wanted. “Well, it’s…” I hesitated, my mouth still open around the words.
“Come on, Angel,” she said. “Let’s see what you’ve got. Pitch it to me.”
I looked into Natalie Weinstein’s freaky eyes and made a decision. I hoped I wouldn’t live to regret it, because once the next words were out of my mouth, I’d never be able to take them back. I was taking a big chance. Lucy could walk in on us at any moment and I’d be caught in literary flagrante delicto.
“This is a terrific book,” I said, holding up Elvis, “but I think I should let Lucy tell you about it. She’s so excited about it and I’d hate to ruin it for her. But I have something else. It just came in and Lucy’s not—I mean, I’m sort of handling it right now and…” My nerve was fading and I looked at Natalie for a sign that I should proceed.
“I get it,” she said, giving me one. “Go on.”
“The title is Balsamic Moon,” I said in a quick rush, frantic to get it all out before Lucy came back. “It’s a memoir by an astrologer, but with a great twist. It’s a real-life Da Vinci Code, which is perfect since everyone wants a new Da Vinci Code, but nobody wants another imitator. I think we all know that ship has sailed. The subject matter is fascinating—hasn’t been done before that I can tell—and the writing is excellent. She’s a natural. I know the kind of books you publish and I know you’ll love this one.”
“Indeed,” she said. “And what is the author’s name?”
“That’s the best part,” I said, going in for the close. “She already has great media visibility. Her name is Sunny—Solange—Martin. I’m sure you’re familiar with her.”
“In fact, I am,” Natalie said. “Is there a finished manuscript?”
I was about to answer her when Lucy glided back into Natalie’s office on a wave of freshly applied Chanel No5. The three of us froze in a weird little tableau for a moment, Natalie looking like the cat that ate the canary, Lucy glowering when she saw me seated in front of Natalie’s desk, and me, slack-jawed and speechless. It was Natalie who spoke first.
“Well, Lucy, your assistant has just been telling me what beautiful weather you’ve been having in California. Sounds divine.” She looked over at me, smiled, and winked.
“Like Valhalla,” I said, and stood to give Lucy my chair.
To: anna.anderson@fiammalit.com
From: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
Subject: manuscripts/editors/questions
Hi Anna,
Hope all’s well. We’re back at the hotel for a minute before we head out again for dinner—well, before Lucy has dinner with Susie Parker and I wait for her in the bar—so I’ve got a minute to send you a note. I know I’ve already spoken to you about 50x today, but Lucy keeps adding more editors for every project, so I’ve been continually updating all day. I guess the most important one is Elvis Will Dance at Your Wedding. She’s been pitching that to everyone, and since I can’t copy it everywhere we go, please send a copy overnight to the following editors: Susan Jones (C&P), Lydia Smith (Long, Greene), and everybody who bid on Parco Lambro (you have a copy of that list, right?). I’m sure there will be more tomorrow, but that’s it for now.
She’s really been talking up Blind Submission and they’re getting excited. It’s not ready to go yet, but Lucy wants you to start generating a list. Just put every editor in New York on it and I’m sure you’ll be fine. Speaking of BS, Lucy wants to know if everybody’s read the material. If you could let me know, or maybe send me reader reports, that would be great.
Some random questions from Lucy (I’m reading my scribbled notes here, so bear with me—I had to write this stuff down while I was running along next to her on the way to appointments!):
—Film interest for Parco Lambro?
—Permissions backlog for Cold!?
—Reading cycle while we’re gone? (I think she means is Jackson picking up more submissions?)
—Change hold music. Lucy would like you or Craig to change the hold music in the office (but she also said that she doesn’t want anyone to ever get the hold music—she called a couple of times today and the phones went right over to hold and she wasn’t happy). Anyway, she wants the music changed to “Some Girls” by the Rolling Stones. (I don’t know why.)
I think that’s it for now. I’ll be here for about another forty-five minutes and plugged in, so if you can e-mail back, I know Lucy would appreciate it.
Thanks!
Angel
To: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
From: anna.anderson@fiammalit.com
Subject: Re: manuscripts/editors/questions
Hi Angel,
That is GREAT news about Blind Submission!!!! Please tell Lucy that I will be MORE THAN happy to put together a list immediately. Does she need a pitch letter? I can do that too. And if she wants me to put the pages together, it’s no problem.
As for the list of editors who bid on Parco Lambro, of course I have it. I put it together. Anyway, I will get those manuscripts off to the editors ASAP. Although I think you should know that since you’ve been on vacation, we’re seriously short here, so I’m picking up a lot of the slack, including the reading, and I might not get that out until tomorrow morning. I guess that answers one of your other questions about Jackson. He really doesn’t seem to be “getting it.” Maybe you can retrain him when you get home. Because of this, I haven’t been able to get to the permissions (I thought you were supposed to be covering this?) or the film interest for PL yet. But please tell Lucy that I am working on it and will hope to have very good news for her when she returns.
Re: hold music. Can you tell Lucy that Exile on Main Street is considered by many critics to be one of the Rolling Stones’s best albums? If she likes, I can prepare a folder with some of the important reviews for both that album and Some Girls and then she can make a final decision.
So, are you having a good time in New York? Have you eaten at Michael’s yet? That’s where all the literary muckety-mucks hang out. You should go. It must be so exciting to be there—you should live it up, do something outrageous and different. You go, girl, as Oprah would say.
Give Lucy my love.
See ya!
AA
P.S. Speaking of Oprah, can you please tell Lucy that I just learned that my aunt’s stepdaughter’s friend’s cousin is a producer there! Please tell Lucy that I’d be happy to use my connection to try to get our authors on the show.
To: anna.anderson@fiammalit.com
From: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
Subject: Re:
Re: manuscripts/editors/questions
Anna,
I don’t think Lucy wants a report on which Rolling Stones album was better received—I’m pretty sure she just wants you to change the hold music, okay?
By the way, I’m not on vacation. I haven’t done anything except work since we got here (and sleep—although not very much). Just so we’re clear on that.
I’ll pass your Oprah news on to Lucy. And I’ll get back to you on everything else tomorrow. Have to go now.
Thanks,
Angel
To: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
From: anna.anderson@fiammalit.com
Subject: one more thing
Hi Angel,
You’re probably off having drinks or whatever now, but I wanted to send you a note before I forget to tell you that someone named Sunny Martin called for you today. She was calling about a book. She said you met on the plane? She said you had given her your “private number” but that she “lost” it. She was calling here because she said you told her you worked with Lucy. I must have gotten confused because it sounded like you were offering to represent her…. Anyway, I told her that you would be back in the office on Friday and that she could send in the first 50 pages and you would pass it on to Lucy. Just thought you’d like to know.
Also, your old boss from the bookstore called looking for you. I didn’t tell her where you were. She said she has your home phone number.
That’s it for now. Hope you’re having fun! Make sure you take care of Lucy!
AA
To: solange@sunstar.com
From: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
Subject: BALSAMIC MOON
Dear Sunny,
I just wanted to drop you a note to tell you how wonderful it was to meet you on the plane the other day. What good fortune for both of us! I also wanted to offer you my thanks for being so gracious about having to get up and down so many times—that was really very nice of you. Finally, I must tell you how excited I am about your book. I’ve read quite a bit of it already and I think it’s terrific. I’ve been meeting with several editors here in New York and I think that many (if not all) of them would be most interested in a book such as yours. I’ve already mentioned it to one of the most talented editors I know and she’s extremely interested—sight unseen! This is the right time for a book like Balsamic Moon.
Speaking of sight unseen, I understand you spoke with Lucy Fiamma’s assistant, Anna, today? My apologies if she didn’t understand who you were. As I’m sure you can imagine, we get scores of submissions daily and many of the authors claim to “know” us to get a foot in the door. Anna may have been a little aggressive in her screening today—my apologies again.
I’ll look forward to discussing all of this with you very soon. I’m including my personal phone number, which Anna said you’d misplaced, so please feel free to call if you have any questions.
Many thanks again, Sunny.
Best,
Angel
To: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
From: jackson.stark@fiammalit.com
Subject: Anna
Hey Angel—
Hope all’s well with you. I’m sure you’re super busy and I might be totally out of line here, but I thought you should know that Anna’s been going through your desk a lot since you’ve been gone. Well, actually, she’s been sitting at your desk. And also—I know this sounds a little weird—she’s answered the phone a couple of times by saying “This is Angel.” She said she just got confused because she’s sitting at your desk and that she had to sit at your desk because she has to do all your stuff now that you’re gone, but I don’t know. Like I said, it’s a bit weird. Also, she’s been feeding your fish—A LOT. He doesn’t look good, Angel. I told her to stop but she said she promised to take care of him for you. I didn’t think that sounded right. I think the only thing Anna knows to do with fish is eat them. Anyway, maybe you don’t want to know any of this and maybe I’m just overreacting, but I thought I should tell you.
Thanks,
Jackson
To: jackson.stark@fiammalit.com
From: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
Subject: Re: Anna
Hi Jackson,
I don’t think you’re overreacting and I appreciate your telling me all of this. Would you do me a big favor and just take my fish over to your desk before she kills it? Tell her I asked you to do it to take some of the load off her. As for the other stuff, yes, please keep me posted about what she’s doing. And, not that I have to tell you this, but it’s just between you and me, okay? And please make sure that you delete this e-mail after you’ve read it, okay? Thanks, Jackson.
Angel
To: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
From: jackson.stark@fiammalit.com
Subject: Re: Re: Anna
Hey Angel,
Not to worry re. deleting and keeping things on the QT. I’m glad you’re not mad. You never know around here…. One more thing. I heard her on the phone (but don’t worry, she didn’t know I was listening) having an argument and then crying. Well, weeping actually. Anyway, she was talking to someone named Malcolm. She seemed pretty upset. Isn’t your boyfriend’s name Malcolm? Not that there’s only one Malcolm in the world but still…
Speak to you soon,
J.
THIRTEEN
To: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
From: ganovelist@heya.com
Subject: ?
Dear Ms. Robinson,
I’m wondering if you’ve received my most recent installment? You are usually very prompt, so I’m a little concerned about what might have become of you! And may I ask what are Ms. Fiamma’s feelings about the manuscript to this point? One final thought: I am wondering if either you or Ms. Fiamma have discussed the possibility of film for this book?
Looking forward to your reply,
G.
To: ganovelist@heya.com
From: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
Subject: Re: ?
Dear G,
I’m sorry that I haven’t been able to respond for the past few days, but I’ve been in New York City with Lucy Fiamma on business and am only intermittently on e-mail. I’ll be back in the office on Friday.
I have received your pages and I’ve just finished reading them. I think that they’re very good. This set is really in the best shape of all that you’ve sent so far. I think the direction you’ve taken is a good one and I also think you’ve really hit your stride. I’ll be sending back my notes as soon as I return to the office. For now, though, here are a couple of questions I had:
I’m not totally clear on why Carol likes Alice as much as she does. It seems to me that Alice hasn’t really offered Carol much to like? I guess the question is, what is Alice giving Carol Moore?
What has happened to Alice’s own writing? Is her ultimate goal to publish her own work or just to have her name on a book? I’m not sure where you’re heading with this and, while I like the underlying comment you’re making about the “business” of books and the role of the writer within that business, it’s important that we have an actual story here. Does this make sense? If not, it’s probably because I’m getting kind of punchy. It’s been a long day.
At any rate, I’ve shown the pages to Lucy and she’s gone over them as well, although she’ll be giving a closer read when we return home. But she’s very enthusiastic about this book—so enthusiastic, in fact, that she’s been talking about BS to editors while we’re here and they are all very excited about it. The sooner you can get it all to us, the sooner we can get it out there! We haven’t discussed film in any depth yet (it’s a bit early for that), but Lucy has, as I’m sure you know, an excellent track record as far as selling her projects in that arena.
I’ll have to sign off now as it’s extremely late and my day will begin again in a few hours. Just one more thing…Between friends (because I do consider you and I to be friends at this point and I hope you feel the same), who are you? I promise n
ot to tell anyone! Well, maybe Lucy! Seriously, G, do you think you might consider revealing yourself pretty soon? It’s not like this book is giving away any national secrets or anything. It’s a book about books, right? I guess the secrecy thing is kind of fun, but I don’t really understand it. We’re getting pretty close to the wire here, and if you want us to represent you, we’re going to have to know a LITTLE bit more about who you are. Have to know where to send those checks, right?
Soon,
Angel
To: angel.robinson@fiammalit.com
From: ganovelist@heya.com
Subject: Re: Re: ?
Dear Ms. Robinson,
I am quite thrilled on all counts.
I’ll look forward to your notes (and I do look forward to them—it’s so refreshing to read them—you have an excellent way of identifying exactly what I mean to say, quite a talent), but in the meantime, let me address your questions. What does Carol see in Alice? As Ricardo stated, Carol sees herself in Alice and she likes the reflection. As I wrote in Chapter 2, Carol’s rise to the top wasn’t exactly without some questionable moves, but that was what she had to do to reach her goal. Carol sees the same drive and ambition in Alice. Of course, Alice is possessed by something that Carol is free of and that is the need to write. Alice is a self-loathing writer and clearly not very good at her craft. So her plan is just to take over, to attain as much power as possible, and then take the publishing world by storm. The catch, as I pointed out in Chapter 1, is that Alice wants to be a legitimate writer. She wants to write a bestseller, but she wants the accolades, too. She knows that Carol Moore is the key to all of this. As for her own writing—well, I thought I’d made it clear that she didn’t deal with rejection very well. Of course, if you’re not getting any of this, then I’m not doing my job, am I? Back to work I go.