“I’m glad,” he said. “Nora, I was kind of wondering—my situation has changed somewhat lately, and I was thinking—is there any chance I could get an advance? You know, on sales?”

“Todd,” said Nora brightly. “You’ve had your advance. Now all you need to do is sit back and wait for the royalties to flow in.”

“Yes, I know that,” said Todd, perhaps a little too tersely. “But I have certain, as I say, fresh financial issues, and…”

“Relax,” said Nora. “You’ll get your first check in April.”

“That’s months away!” cried Todd.

“Yes it is,” agreed Nora. “I’m sorry, Todd, that’s how publishing works.”

“Okay, okay,” said Todd. “There must be other ways to get money. How about movie rights?”

“We could look into that,” said Nora. “In fact, yes, that’s a good idea. That might net you a few hundred dollars.”

“A few hundred?” Todd said.

“Rights don’t really go for that much,” Nora said. “But listen, Todd, and this is something I was going to broach later…”

“What’s that?”

“How ready are you to write another book?” said Nora.

Todd was silent.

About as ready as I am to swim the fucking Pacific Ocean, he thought.

“Would that entail a larger advance?” he asked, slowly.

“As your publisher, I can say that we are in a good position regarding an advance on a sequel.”

“A sequel?”

“It doesn’t literally have to be a sequel,” said Nora. “Although people would love to know what happens to the characters.”

Me too, said Todd. He thought of a piece he’d once read about the late Elvis Presley. Asked about his new movie, Presley had apparently said, “Yeah, it’s a good script. I’d like to read it some time.”

“That ending,” said Nora, mistaking his silence for encouragement. “It’s ambiguous. And people hate loose ends.”

“A sequel,” said Todd. He was thinking fast now. I wrote the first one, didn’t I? How hard can it be? “And if I say yes, you can guarantee me some decent… a proper advance?”

“Yes,” said Nora. “You come up with the goods—and I know you can, in fact I shouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t been working away at something already—and I will negotiate an advance as big as the Ritz for you. Not that this is all about the money of course,” she added.

The hell it isn’t, Todd thought.

“Okay,” he said. “I better get to it.”

Nora rang off, and Todd leaned back in his seat.