I Am a Writer of Poetry, Short Stories and Novels
Book One: Lilly meets Desmond
Lilly was on cloud nine. Her first novel, "Cupid strikes Twice" had just been published and already critics and journalists were writing rave reviews. It was even being considered for Booker. Book sellers across the country had pre-ordered thanks to some sensational build up accorded by an efficient network of publicity campaigns. She had been waiting for just this moment since 2 years! It took her two years to write her first book. Hours of research, pain staking edits and rewrites. When she placed the finished work on her publisher's table, she was not sure who was the happier. It was a moment of truth for her publisher as well. Because had it not been for her, Lilly would never have begun the project. But Martha, the publisher had been her friend for as long as she had moved to this island which was her home for almost 5 years now.
Lilly remembered her moving day to the Elounda, Crete Islands. She had just come into a little money after her grandmother suddenly passed away leaving just enough money in her will for Lilly to make a fresh start and on her 25th birthday. And start she did. Longing to chuck her job as a Management Consultant with one of New York's prestigious Forbes 100 Company where she sometimes felt like a robot, a highly paid one at that, with no time left to call her own, the cloud had a silver lining at last! After attending the memorial service of her beloved grandmother, she was told by the lawyers to attend the reading of the Will along with other family members. She was surprised that her grandmother had enough money saved to pass on to her family. When she heard how much was bequeathed to her, she stood dumbfounded. It was too good to be true. Going in to work on returning, she handed in her resignation and browsed on the internet for her future home. She had always wanted to live in a laid back beach town and she stumbled upon Crete.
She made tea and went out onto the balcony and gazed with unseeing eyes at the waves crashing on the rocks and brought the cup to her lips. The sound never ceased to please her. It was as sweet a music as any. Sometimes she felt that the waves were speaking to her. She laughingly thought to herself, "If I keep listening for words, pretty soon I will have to be in a nuthouse!". An idea for another novel started germinating right there. Now that the euphoria of the success of her first book was receding, it was replaced with an aching longing for someone to share her happiness. She saw herself with a family of her own on the waves and shook herself to come out of the hypnotic effect. She decided to start off immediately since the urge to put it all on paper overtook her. Booting her system, she checked her mails and found her mother online. Switching on the webcam, she gazed at the beautiful face of her mom who was smiling as she looked lovingly at her daughter.
After the usual conversation with her mother who congratulated her on the success of her book and passed on tidbits about the rest of the family, Lilly started working on her second novel. Since the first book was about romance, she wanted to take it to the next level and make it a family/relationship story with social impetus.
Elounda was a small beach town and the community was close knit. Everyone knew about everybody. The only people not known, were the tourists and since they pretty much occupied the commercial side of the beach and the only luxurious hotel, the residents had nothing much to do with them. Some cabins were also built along the remote parts of the beach which were snapped up by the salesmen and couples who wanted complete privacy. They were also more affordable than the hotel. During summer when the town was flooded with people who enjoyed the laid back nature of the beach and could surf and go scuba diving with minimum delays, the added bonus unlike other more popular resorts.
It was summer when Lilly's book was published. She could see the tourists like tiny specks of foam, one with the waves. Gosh there were too many of them this year. Which meant good sales of her book right there. The only book store would probably ask her to sign some of the copies though she hoped they wouldn't.
(to be continued:.....)
Lilly was on cloud nine. Her first novel, "Cupid strikes Twice" had just been published and already critics and journalists were writing rave reviews. It was even being considered for Booker. Book sellers across the country had pre-ordered thanks to some sensational build up accorded by an efficient network of publicity campaigns. She had been waiting for just this moment since 2 years! It took her two years to write her first book. Hours of research, pain staking edits and rewrites. When she placed the finished work on her publisher's table, she was not sure who was the happier. It was a moment of truth for her publisher as well. Because had it not been for her, Lilly would never have begun the project. But Martha, the publisher had been her friend for as long as she had moved to this island which was her home for almost 5 years now.
Lilly remembered her moving day to the Elounda, Crete Islands. She had just come into a little money after her grandmother suddenly passed away leaving just enough money in her will for Lilly to make a fresh start and on her 25th birthday. And start she did. Longing to chuck her job as a Management Consultant with one of New York's prestigious Forbes 100 Company where she sometimes felt like a robot, a highly paid one at that, with no time left to call her own, the cloud had a silver lining at last! After attending the memorial service of her beloved grandmother, she was told by the lawyers to attend the reading of the Will along with other family members. She was surprised that her grandmother had enough money saved to pass on to her family. When she heard how much was bequeathed to her, she stood dumbfounded. It was too good to be true. Going in to work on returning, she handed in her resignation and browsed on the internet for her future home. She had always wanted to live in a laid back beach town and she stumbled upon Crete.
She made tea and went out onto the balcony and gazed with unseeing eyes at the waves crashing on the rocks and brought the cup to her lips. The sound never ceased to please her. It was as sweet a music as any. Sometimes she felt that the waves were speaking to her. She laughingly thought to herself, "If I keep listening for words, pretty soon I will have to be in a nuthouse!". An idea for another novel started germinating right there. Now that the euphoria of the success of her first book was receding, it was replaced with an aching longing for someone to share her happiness. She saw herself with a family of her own on the waves and shook herself to come out of the hypnotic effect. She decided to start off immediately since the urge to put it all on paper overtook her. Booting her system, she checked her mails and found her mother online. Switching on the webcam, she gazed at the beautiful face of her mom who was smiling as she looked lovingly at her daughter.
After the usual conversation with her mother who congratulated her on the success of her book and passed on tidbits about the rest of the family, Lilly started working on her second novel. Since the first book was about romance, she wanted to take it to the next level and make it a family/relationship story with social impetus.
Elounda was a small beach town and the community was close knit. Everyone knew about everybody. The only people not known, were the tourists and since they pretty much occupied the commercial side of the beach and the only luxurious hotel, the residents had nothing much to do with them. Some cabins were also built along the remote parts of the beach which were snapped up by the salesmen and couples who wanted complete privacy. They were also more affordable than the hotel. During summer when the town was flooded with people who enjoyed the laid back nature of the beach and could surf and go scuba diving with minimum delays, the added bonus unlike other more popular resorts.
It was summer when Lilly's book was published. She could see the tourists like tiny specks of foam, one with the waves. Gosh there were too many of them this year. Which meant good sales of her book right there. The only book store would probably ask her to sign some of the copies though she hoped they wouldn't.
(to be continued:.....)
By:
28mystery
Age:
51-55
,
Female
