Sidetracked (The Busy Bean)

by R. L. Kenderson

  “Are you sure you weren’t a psych major?”

  I gave her the finger, and she laughed.

  I couldn’t help but smile. I really liked the way she sounded when she laughed.

  “Okay, so if you must know, the book you saw me writing the other day is actually my second novel. I already finished one.”

  “Hey. Congratulations. Are you going to publish it?”

  “I’ve done some research and joined some online reader groups, and I think I’m going to go for self-publishing.”

  “That’s awesome, babe.”

  She tilted her head and bit her lip, like she was trying not to smile.

  “What?”

  She chuckled and shook her head. “Nothing.” She looked at her computer screen and typed something in. “There are some big steps I need to do before I publish, like find an editor and a cover designer, but I think I know just who to ask.”

  “Who’s that?”

  “My cousin is an author. I haven’t seen her in years, since before either of us started writing. Her mom was my dad’s sister, but since her mother passed away, I really don’t see her or her family anymore. And I probably wouldn’t have even known she was published because she has a different Facebook and Instagram for her author name, except she got married to a guy on one of her covers.”

  “How does that work?” I mostly read sci-fi, fantasy, and crime fiction, so I was at a loss.

  “Hold, please,” she said, getting up from her chair and rummaging around in a box. “I haven’t unpacked this yet because I still need to pick up a bookcase.”

  I smiled. Soon, she wouldn’t have to worry about that.

  “Here they are.” She pulled out two books and brought them over to me.

  The first book was titled Beautifully Broken by Sydney Hart, and on the cover was a couple. They were lying on a bed in a very sensual pose. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and she was wearing nothing but a shirt, which was halfway unbuttoned. He had his mouth on her neck as they embraced.

  Charli pointed to the guy. “This is Travis Zehler—aka book cover model, aka my cousin’s husband.”

  “Wow. She’s okay with him posing like that?”

  She shrugged. “This was before they got married, but I would assume she’s okay with it since he still models. Like I said, I haven’t talked to her for years, and it probably won’t be the first thing I ask her when I do.”

  I looked up from the book. “How do you know he still models?”

  “Because I follow him on IG.”

  I cast my eyes back down to the book. Even if the guy was taken, I didn’t really like that Charli followed him on Instagram. The guy was better-looking, and his muscles were more defined than mine.

  “Are you jealous?” she asked in a teasing voice.

  My head whipped up. “What?”

  She raised her eyebrows. “It’s not that big of a deal. Most guys would be jealous of a man who gets paid to model with beautiful women.”

  Oh. I chuckled. That was the kind of jealous she meant.

  I shrugged. “I mean, I wouldn’t say no to taking pictures with beautiful women, but I wouldn’t want my face on stuff.”

  “That’s too bad because you’d make a sexy lumberjack or mountain man.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I do, but then again, I’ve seen you naked.”

  She pulled the second book out from underneath the first. It was titled The One That Got Away: An Unconventional Love Story by the same author. This cover was not as sexy as the first one, but the way the two models looked at each other, I would swear they were in love.

  “This is Travis again, but the woman is actually my cousin.”

  “Really? That’s interesting.”

  “What’s really interesting is that the couple doesn’t end up together, yet she’s on the cover with her now-husband. It’s on my Ask Sydney list, if I ever get the guts to do it.”

  “So, her real name is Sydney?”

  “Sydney Harting. Or it used to be. It’s Sydney Zehler now.”

  “What is your pen name going to be, or are you going to go by Charli Granger?” I handed the books to her.

  “I’m going to go by Charlotte. But I haven’t decided on if I’m going to use my real last name or not. I don’t have a cool way to shorten my last name, like my cousin does.”

  “Why don’t you go by Charlotte Hart? She is your cousin after all.”

  “It’s an idea, but her books are romance, so Hart makes sense.”

  “And yours aren’t?”

  “You sound surprised.”

  “I guess I am.”

  “While I love reading it, it’s just not what I feel compelled to write. I’m more of a women’s fiction kind of author. With maybe a little bit of romance on the side.” She set the books down. “Which is good because I don’t think I could write sex scenes.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t think I’d be any good at it.”

  I tugged Charli into my arms. “You got that wrong. You’re plenty good at it.”

  She laughed and put her arms around my neck. “Doing and writing are two different things.” She kissed me. “But if this is your way of saying you want to help me procrastinate, I’m more than willing.”

  I put my hands on her hips and scooted her back. “Nice try. But you’re working today.”

  She put her hands on her hips. “You’re no fun.”

  “I’m plenty of fun where it counts.” I stood and kissed her on the top of her head. “Now, get to work.”

  22

  Charli

  Gabe returned to his work outside, and I concluded that he was right about me stalling. I hadn’t even realized what I was doing until he pointed it out. By keeping busy doing other things, it gave me an excuse to put off writing. But I did it by picking things that actually needed to be done, so I wouldn’t feel guilty.

  I was pretty impressed by Gabe’s insight, and it was kind of freaky how fast he’d figured that out.

  But now that I knew what I was doing, I had to make an effort to stop. Or not use things like taking Gabe’s dad to the doctor as an excuse. Instead, I was already making plans to bring my laptop while I sat in the waiting room.

  But today, I had no excuses, and I knew it was time to message my cousin. I certainly had nothing to lose.

  When I couldn’t decide between emailing her author email, messaging her professional Facebook page, or sending a message to her personal profile, I knew I was overthinking it.

  Sydney was my cousin, not some stranger, even if I hadn’t seen her in a few years. But I couldn’t help but feel intimidated by her writing skills and the number of positive reviews she had. Not to mention, her gorgeous husband. Why that mattered, I didn’t know. I just knew it did.

  I pulled up Facebook and went to her personal page. I clicked on the Message button.

  Charli: Hi, Sydney! It’s been a long time since we talked, so I apologize in advance for coming at you with a million questions.

  I know you’ve been publishing your novels for some time, and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions. I’ve been sitting on a book I’ve had finished for a while now, and I’ve decided (after a lot of research and lurking in author groups) that I want to self-publish.

  I don’t write romance like you, but I was wondering if you could suggest an editor or two that you trust and if you know of some good cover designers.

  Thank you for your time!

  I reread my message and hit Send. I planned to close the chat box and work on something else, but I immediately saw that she’d read the message. A second later, the little dots popped up that said she was responding.

  Sydney: Hey, Charli! It’s good to hear from you! Writing must run in the family. Please, ask me as many questions as you want. No apologies needed!

  Congratulations on writing a whole novel! It’s quite a process, isn’t it? And then when you’re done, it’s not over. LOL.

  Before I re
commend anyone, what genre are you writing?

  I grinned as I read her whole message. It was such a relief to know she wanted to help me.

  I put my fingers to the keyboard.

  Charli: Women’s fiction. My first book is titled Before I Knew You and it’s about a teenager whose mom passes away, so she has to go and live with her grandmother she’s never met. Her mom ran away when she was sixteen and never even told the grandmother she had a granddaughter.

  The book is told in both the granddaughter’s and grandmother’s points of view. And as the book progresses, they find out they’re more alike than they ever knew.

  Sydney: That sounds really good! I think my editor would love to work with you. And if she’s not a good fit, I can ask around and get you a few more names.

  Charli: Thank you!

  Sydney: Actually…since your book is written, how would you feel about turning it over within the next week?

  Charli: That would be amazing, but won’t it take time to fit me in?

  Sydney: I’m supposed to turn my latest manuscript over to my editor next week, but I don’t think I’ll be done. Don’t say anything to anyone, but I’ve had morning sickness pretty bad, and I haven’t had as much time to write as I normally do.

  Charli: Congratulations!

  Sydney: Thank you! Travis and I aren’t telling anyone yet since I’m still in the first trimester.

  Charli: I won’t say a word.

  Sydney: Thank you. Anyway, I know my editor can probably find someone else to take my spot since she has plenty of clients, but I would feel better, knowing I didn’t screw up her schedule. I will message her and ask her if she’d like to take you on. What is your word count?

  Charli: 82,000.

  Sydney: Let me contact her, and I will get back to you. Until then, here is a list of cover designers and their websites. (Sydney attached a Word file)

  Charli: Wow. That was fast.

  Sydney: LOL. I already had that on hand. You’re not the first one to ask.

  Charli: I’ll message you back in a bit.

  Sydney: Thank you!!!

  While I waited for Sydney to talk to her editor, I started looking through the list of designers that she’d sent me. I clicked on their websites to look at their work. I also went on Amazon to see covers of books in my genre.

  After narrowing it down to two cover designs that I felt a connection with, I emailed them both to see when they could fit me in. I figured whichever one could fit me in first would be the one I was meant to hire.

  Five minutes after I sent the last email, Sydney messaged me back.

  Sydney: When I told my editor that my cousin wrote a book and wants to work with her, she asked me how soon you’d be ready.