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Back Written From the Heart Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover
  2. About the Author
  3. By Trisha Ashley
  4. Dedication
  5. Praise for Trisha Ashley:
  6. Acknowledgements
  7. Foreword
  8. One
  9. Two
  10. Three
  11. Four
  12. Five
  13. Six
  14. Seven
  15. Eight
  16. Nine
  17. Ten
  18. Eleven
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Fifteen
  23. Sixteen
  24. Seventeen
  25. Eighteen
  26. Nineteen
  27. Twenty
  28. Twenty-One
  29. Twenty-Two
  30. Twenty-Three
  31. Twenty-Four
  32. Twenty-Five
  33. Twenty-Six
  34. Twenty-Seven
  35. Twenty-Eight
  36. Twenty-Nine
  37. Thirty
  38. Thirty-One
  39. Thirty-Two
  40. Tina’s Top Tips for New Writers
  41. Tina’s Espresso Ice Cream
  42. Sergei Popov’s Russian Blinis
  43. Linny’s Lebanese Baba Ganoush
  44. Read More
  45. 1
  46. 2
  47. The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
  48. A Leap of Faith
  49. A Good Heart is Hard to Find
  50. Did you love this book?

I said coolly that his name was Sergei Popov, as he knew very well, and that I had never lived with him but always preferred my independence, although we were still together, so clearly rumour lied.

Then I added that I didn’t consider myself a midlist author anyway, and Ruperta had always thought highly of me, and he said, in a mock-sad sort of way that made me want to strangle him, that Ruperta’s judgement hadn’t always proved a financially sound bet for Salubrious, and now she had resigned he’d found things in a bit of a mess.

Well, we batted the conversation to and fro like this for quite a while, each trying to score points, but the gist was that if my next novel, Dark, Passionate Earth, wasn’t (a) delivered right on time, and (b) a mega bestseller, they wouldn’t be taking up the option on the one after that, because hordes of bright young writers were panting at my heels.

When I said they’d have to be fast to catch me, he said insincerely that despite our past differences he hoped that we would still be able to work together to the furtherance of the aims of Salubrious Press, or something like that – I was a bit punch-drunk by this point.

I can understand a threat as well as the next woman, though, even when it’s delivered with a smile, and it was clear to me that Dark, Passionate Earth would have to sink or swim on its own: not only would it not get a publicity budget, but it would be lucky to make it into Salubrious Press’s back catalogue.

Then Tim said he’d been glad of this chat with me and though he was very busy, which he was sure I would understand, Jinni would love to take me out to lunch, and in came the little red-haired girl on cue, so either she was listening or telepathic.

To add the final insult, she’d been given a miserly budget to take me to Pret A Manger rather than Garibaldi’s, and the most I could do was eat as many expensive sandwiches and pastries as possible, while she watched me anxiously over her lo-fat lo-cal Lettuce Carnival, so I feared I would probably come out in spots by the next day.