My heart starts pounding again of its own volition, and my mouth goes dry. Apparently, I had gotten accustomed to her bravado. “Do you think it will go sideways?”

“No,” she says with what I think is real confidence. “But I also believe in being prepared. Which, frankly, you could learn from. Now, get dressed or we’re going to be late. And you know I hate it when people are late.”

I make my way to my bedroom to hastily dress and brush my teeth. I don’t bother trying to do anything with my hair since a professional will be attacking it shortly anyway. When we leave the apartment, Trina links her arm with mine in a gesture of solidarity that fills me up to the brim. Knowing she’s got my back goes a long way toward making me feel like this is all going to turn out the way she says it is. It feels almost as good as finishing that draft did.

Almost.

Chapter 4

Ryan

It has been days, and I can’t get that book out of my head. The author, S.J., titled it Becoming, which is such a brilliant double entendre for the themes. It’s a sprawling coming-of-age story about a young woman. Haunting in its simplicity, it’s about a young girl literally becoming a woman. But at its core, it’s also about how adulthood suits her. It is becoming on her, in an older sense of the word. The book is an achingly beautiful story of loss and hope. My heart still hurts thinking about the ending.

When Casey had sent over the initial chapters, I skimmed through them on my computer. Then, I read them again. And again, more slowly. It was a little rough around the edges, but it was clear this book had potential. I immediately asked Casey to get the full manuscript. Luckily, Trina acts fast. She sent the whole thing over, and I did something I haven’t done in a long time—I printed the entire manuscript out on the industrial printer in the lounge area. It’s something I only do for books that I have a desire to sit with for a long time. This was definitely one of those.

I took it home and read the whole thing in one sitting. I think it was three in the morning when I finished, but it was worth it. Casey was right—this one was special. I asked him to send an offer the next day.

But now, it has been three agonizing days of back-and-forth. Anastasios Press needs this book. I need this book. The need to get into those pages and muck around within those words to pull out the best version of them is almost an obsession.