The Newsmakers
Page 30
Barbara smiles coyly. “Aren’t you leaving something—or maybe I should say someone—out?”
Erica looks over at Greg, who is fully recovered from a bullet that missed killing him by millimeters. They haven’t gone public yet, but Erica knew this was coming. “Yes. I’m engaged to Greg Underwood.”
Barbara can barely contain her satisfaction—even at the age of eighty-six, she loves a scoop. “When and where is the big day?”
“Oh, we haven’t even begun to think about that. Maybe we’ll go to City Hall on the spur of the moment.”
Barbara wraps up the interview, and she and her crew pack up and leave. Everyone else stays for a dinner spread Erica orders in from a local burger joint. They fill their plates and sit around the fireplace enjoying the hearty food—and for a fleeting moment Erica feels safe and secure.
After everyone leaves, Erica and Jenny clean up together, side by side, a team. Erica doesn’t have to ask Jenny to pitch in, she just does, and Erica swells with pride, both in Jenny and in herself. She’s an okay mom, really she is.
Jenny washes up and gets into bed. Erica comes in, sits on the edge of her daughter’s bed and tucks her in, brushes her hair from her forehead.
“I thought we could go ice skating in the park tomorrow. Does that sound like fun?”
Jenny nods. “And get hot chocolate?”
“And get hot chocolate.”
“Know something, Mom?”
“What, honey?”
“You’re not that fascinating.”
Erica hugs Jenny and laughs. “You know what? I couldn’t agree more.”
Before going to bed, Erica walks around the apartment turning off lights. She stands in the darkened living room, illuminated only by the city lights pouring in the windows. The world is hushed, and for a moment Erica feels an emotion that is so foreign to her that she hardly recognizes it—contentment.
Her phone rings. She’s tempted to ignore it, but as a journalist, she’s always on call. The incoming number is blocked.
“May I speak with Erica Sparks?”
“This is she. And I’ve had a long day. Who is this?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Ms. Sparks. I’m calling from the White House. I have the president of the United States on the line.”
Erica realizes that she now leads the kind of life where this isn’t necessarily a prank call.
“May I put him through?” the staffer asks.
“You don’t think I’m going to say no, do you?”
“Hello, Erica, this is President Garner. How did your taping with Barbara Walters go?”
“How did you know about that, Mr. President?”
“The intel is pretty decent around here. Which brings me to the point of this call. I’m sorry to disturb you at this hour, but your country needs you.”
Erica looks out the window at the glittering lights of Central Park, sits on the sofa, slips off her shoes, and says, “I’m listening.”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Global News Network (GNN) creates the news to drive ratings. What tools do the real cable news networks—FOX, CNN, and MSNBC—use to drive ratings?
2. Nylan Hastings uses fear as a management tool. Drawing on your own experience, do you think fear is an effective management tool? Was it effective for Nylan?
3. Erica Sparks is determined to rise to the top in the news business. Do you think she behaves ethically in her pursuit of this goal? For example, she lies about having secured an interview with the Duchess of Cambridge. Is this an understandable “fib” or unethical behavior?
4. Erica is sabotaged by Claire Wilcox, her rival at GNN. She turns the other cheek. Do you think this is the strongest response to Claire’s underhanded behavior? Did you want her to confront Claire directly?
5. Erica grew up in poverty, with abusive parents. How did these circumstances shape her personality? How do they continue to influence her behavior?
6. While a student at Yale, Erica grows dependent on alcohol as a tool to ease her social anxiety. In light of this, is her subsequent descent into full-blown alcoholism understandable?
7. After being fired from her local anchor job for on-air intoxication, Erica hits bottom and puts her daughter’s life in danger. Is this forgivable?
8. Erica and Greg Underwood fall in love and by the end of the book they are engaged. Do you think they are a good match? What is your opinion of Greg?
9. Erica has a tortured relationship with her mother. Do you think she is right to cut off all contact?
10. Erica worries about her parenting skills. What do you think is the root of those insecurities? Do you think she is a good mother? If so, why? If not, why not?
11. When she becomes an enormous success, Erica is adamant about treating everyone fairly and ethically, and with kindness. How do these values help her stay focused in the harsh glare of stardom?
12. Erica is obsessed with uncovering the truth. In pursuit of this goal, she puts her own life in danger. Do you think she is foolhardy or courageous? Or some combination of the two? Can you imagine putting your own life in danger in pursuit of a noble goal?
13. In the next book in this series, do you think Erica will succumb to her inner demons and start to drink again? Now that she is wealthy, secure in her work, and has custody of Jenny, do you think she will put her life in danger again? Do you think she and Greg will marry? If they do, do you think it will be a happy marriage?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CREATING A NEW SERIES MEANS creating new characters, so thank you first to Erica Sparks. You are an amazing character, and I look forward to all of your adventures. Stay safe.
Thank you to all my friends at Fox, who continue to encourage and support my love of writing a good mystery. Thank you O’Reilly, from Wiehl. And Roger Ailes, for hiring a certain legal analyst and bringing me in to the world of cable news at the highest level. Thank you to Dianne Brandi and her mom Dolores.
A big shout out to my friend and bestselling thriller author, Steve Berry, who helped me think through the plotting every step of the way. It is an honor to be your friend.
Thank you to Stephen McCauley, who was an invaluable early reader. And to Michael Borum and Daniel Medwed, who provided wise advice and insight.
How to thank this publishing team? They are almost indescribable. They “got” the idea behind The Newsmakers right off the top. Imagine if the people reporting the news were actually the ones making it happen! Daisy Hutton, Amanda Bostic, LB Norton, Becky Monds, Jodi Hughes, Karli Jackson, Kristen Ingebretson, Elizabeth Hudson, Kerri Potts, Kristen Golden, and Katie Bond.
Special thanks to Todd Shuster, my book agent and friend for many years. The Newsmakers would simply not have happened without your guidance.
And thank you to Jennifer Williams, my intern turned producer.
Thank you Sebastian, my collaborator and friend. I love your energy and spirit. Onward!
And always, thank you Mom and Dad. Thank you does not even begin to express how I feel.
All the mistakes are mine. All the credit is theirs. Thank you!
Lis
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PHOTO BY KYLE WIDDER PHOTOGRAPHY
LIS WIEHL IS A NEW York Times bestselling author, Harvard Law School graduate, and former federal prosecutor. A popular legal analyst and commentator for the Fox News Channel, Wiehl appears weekly on The O’Reilly Factor, Lou Dobbs Tonight, Imus in the Morning, Kelly’s Court, and more.