The Groomer of Best Sellers

William scoffed at reading the headline, “And dropper of them when they’re no longer producing,”

He couldn’t even finish the article because he’d begun to feel sick again. As he rifled through his cupboards looking for a cookie to help his blood sugars—God, there was another thing to worry about now too—it occurred to him that Morris and Orelia were in this together.

Had this all been some massive plot from the start? Did Morris already know Orelia and had set her upon him at the Bountiful Books event? Maybe Morris had decided he wanted to be rid of his loser client and engineered his downfall, while feigning disinterest in Orelia’s manuscript. Was that user of a man, in fact, behind this?

No, no, that didn’t make sense, he decided, as he ate the stale, sweet cookies he’d found at the back of what he now noted was an empty fridge.

He remembered the hospital visit and the way Orelia smiled as she gleefully shared her insipid book. No, those two simply attracted each other because evil, bad energy attracts its own kind.

He couldn’t help himself though and picked up the article again. He wished he hadn’t. The more he read, the more bile rose in his throat as the insult traveled through his body like toxin. William had been mentioned in the article.

How dare Morris talk about him in such a disparaging manner? How dare he take credit for discovering Orelia? How insulting!

Morris Usher, agent to Orelia Mason, author of the best seller phenomenon “Back to the Start”, admits, “When you read talent, it hits you in the heart. Orelia has that special gift in so much abundance, her work glows on the page.”

Under Usher’s management, there’d be few bookstores or supermarkets, which didn’t feature Mason’s novels prominently on the shelves. The modest agent, who literally plucked the unknown author from anonymity to a seven-figure book deal, says “sometimes you get lucky.”

Usher met Mason through a mutual friend and their meeting “changed everything in his business.” He had previously managed several authors, most notably William Barnes, who enjoyed best seller status for a short period.

Usher now spends his time “supporting Orelia because she’s going to be around for years to come. Until her, I’d never realized romance can also be art. Compared to her, the rest of my clients was good, but she is a superstar.”

The agent’s face lights up as he remembers his initial read of his star client’s book. “When Orelia’s manuscript came across my desk, I was having a bad month. I even considered getting out of the business, thinking all the great books had been published and I had nothing to contribute. We’d begun to see a decline in authors’ earnings and I decided I couldn’t help anymore.”

Usher is most likely referring to the poor sales at the time of his headline author William Barnes, whose second book “Hidden in the Shadows” was a flop, selling way below expectations to unfavorable reviews. His third novel “Flying Toward the Sun” received an even more hostile response, selling only a few thousand.

When asked about Mason’s simultaneous rise while another author in his stable faltered, Usher admits, “You can’t help everyone. Some authors may only have the one great in them. The focus is now on Orelia. My job is to take care of her so she can concentrate on what she does best; creating worlds and characters readers love.”

The wistful groomer of talent stares out the window of his tenth-floor office and muses, “This business has ups and downs, and some get burned. Ultimately, I tell myself, if I bring talent such as Orelia’s to the reading public then I can sleep well at night.”

Morris Usher will be speaking at the Walter Bridge Literary Festival this weekend on a panel How to make it in publishing the easy way.

Tickets are available at www.walterbridgeliteraryfestival.com