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Back The Messy Lives of Book People Save as PDF
Chapters (48)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Dedication
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. THE BOOK AHEAD BLOG
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. HOW I WRITE
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. THE CONSTELLATION AFTER-PARTY
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. BESTSELLER ESSIE STARLING HAS DIED
  44. 36
  45. 37
  46. Acknowledgments
  47. Questions for Discussion
  48. Booklist

“Thank you,” Liv said. “I need time to let my other clients know anyway.”

“Let’s keep in touch.” Anthony stood up and shook her hand.

As he walked away, he chatted to Shakespeare for a while before leaving. Liv watched him and felt a rush of emotions catching her off guard—worry, panic and pure excitement. Also, a growing sense of fascination about Anthony she couldn’t ignore. Why did he claim his relationship with Essie was purely businesslike, when several things indicated otherwise?

More than anything, Liv felt rather proud of her new go-getting attitude and felt like blowing on her fingernails and polishing them on her blouse.

She was actually going to be a full-time writer. Whether she’d be able to finish Essie’s last ever book was a different matter. But she was going to damn well try.

10

HANDPRINTS

While waiting for Anthony to sort out her new contract, Liv continued to empty bins for Platinum and make sandwiches for Tarkers and Jules for the next few days. She didn’t want to jump the gun by giving up these jobs, or telling Jake about her new role, until she had something in writing. She dug out her cleaning agency contract and groaned when she saw her notice period at Platinum was one month. She wanted to do things by the book, and didn’t want to leave the Cardinals without a cleaner either.

While she cleaned, dusted and scrubbed, Liv listened to Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. She devoted every moment she could to typing up Essie’s manuscript. As she tapped away, she finally felt like she had a mission in life. She wanted to show Anthony, and herself, that she could do this.

Fortunately, Liv wasn’t a complete novice when it came to using computers. She’d taken IT lessons at school, and an evening course to help Mack and Johnny with their homework. She could use Word and type, even if she only used two fingers.

Many of Essie’s sentences and paragraphs were messy and disjointed, but Liv loved seeing the book slowly taking shape on screen. She couldn’t wait to finish inputting and start to work on the story itself.

However, the thought of summoning up her own words felt like a huge step in the dark. She worried her prose would be more like The Very Hungry Caterpillar rather than Essie Starling. She wondered why Essie hadn’t passed her task on to someone more experienced. The author had only ever read her childhood poem, hardly enough to instill a sense of confidence in Liv’s abilities. So, what had Essie seen in her?

Wanting to see and feel close to the author again, Liv looked up the Constellation Prize footage on YouTube. There were several videos of Essie’s acceptance speech and Liv clicked on one of them. Might she glimpse Anthony in the audience, too?