Page 19 of Player For Hire
I took a sip of my coffee and my eyes almost rolled back in my head at the rich chocolate and dark espresso combination. “No, but that’s what pays the bills.”
He lowered himself to the floor in front of me, leaning on the bookcase as he looped an arm around his long legs. He reached onto the shelf and took the book back out. “If this is what excites you, why wouldn’t you write these kinds of stories?”
At my widened eyes, he laughed.
“Maybe a poor choice of words based on the pages I was reading over your shoulder. But if those books make you happy, shouldn’t that be what you do? Surely you have ideas for a book.”
“I do.” I made myself relax. I wasn’t embarrassed about what I was reading, just that I’d been so engrossed. Okay, maybe a little embarrassed, but only because I’d completely lost myself in it. “I actually do have a dragon story I’ve always wanted to write. I just never had the time with the deadlines at Webster.”
“But now you have time, right?”
“No, I have to find another job.”
“Okay, but while you’re interviewing…or hunting. Only so many hours in the day you can actually submit your resume. And you have unemployment, right?”
“No, but I do have a severance package.”
“Well, there you go.” He flipped the book around and looked at the back of the jacket. His eyes widened. “Especially if you can get that kind of money.”
I peered at the price on the UPC. “Not likely. Besides, I know too much about the publishing field. I know that authors definitely don’t make that. And that it’s not so easy to get published these days.”
“Just because it’s not easy, doesn’t mean it’s not worth it to try.”
“Easy for you to say.”
“Maybe.” He slid the book back onto the shelf. “But there are tons of readers out there that might just want to read your story.”
“I appreciate the idea of it.” I curled my hands around the cup, happy for the warmth. “But there’s also the research and the planning and…”
“And, and, and…bet you’re not afraid of work, Naomi.”
“No.” I sighed. “But I also don’t think I’m good enough to write like that.”
“No, you write like you. You wouldn’t want to copy this author, anyway, right?”
I laughed. “You’ve got an answer for everything.”
“Not really.” He linked his fingers around his cup. “I just remember how powerful books were when I was a kid. I wish I had that kind of talent. Why would you hide it away if it’s inside you?”
Encouragement hadn’t been a big part of my life. My parents had been happy I went into technical writing because it was a far safer bet. I’d thought about going into teaching, but I didn’t have a great love for the classics. I appreciated them, but I’d always been pulled to genre fiction.
Even when my teachers had put me down about wasting my talents there. For many professors, literary fiction still was king.
“Can I ask why you were let go? If it’s not too personal.”
“Downsized. Lots of my kind of writing is now being done by artificial intelligence and then edited to clean it up. Which is offensive, but there it is.”
“So, what makes you think you won’t get downsized again if you find another of the same kind of job?”
I sighed. “Now you sound like Iona.”
“Iona is pretty smart.”
“I’m looking for stability, not dreams.”
“Maybe stability isn’t the answer here.” He took a sip. “What’s your severance?”
“Two months. And I have some savings.”