Competition

Six

I got dressed into a pair of pale gray ruched cotton-jersey Burberry Prorsum leggings, a taupe crochet-bib jersey 3.1 Phillip Lim tank, a pair of pale grey snakeskin print Christian Louboutin pumps, and my coffee fielding Burberry tote. I picked up a pair of red Jack Wills Stiveley moccasins and put them into my bag, before heading out to my Mini and driving off to a publishers meeting.

'Priscilla Monday,' I said when I got to reception. 'I'm here for a publishers meeting.'

'Okay,' the receptionist replied. 'If you just walk down the hall till you get to room fifteen, then you can go inside.'

'Thank you,' I replied. I walked down the corridor then open the door at room number fifteen. Sat down in the meeting room was my editor Cheryl Marvis and the heads of the publishing company; Deana and Aidan Fisher.

'It's good seeing you again Priscilla,' Cheryl smiled. 'How have you been?'

'I've been good,' I replied sitting down. 'You?'

'Good,' she replied. 'I liked Cold Shoulder,' she lifted the manuscript and smiled. 'It was very good.'

'Deana? Aidan?' I said. 'How are you two?'

'Good,' Aidan nodded. 'The book was great.'

'I love your shoes,' Deana said. 'Maybe afterwards you can tell me where you got them from.'

'Of course,' I smiled. My feet crossed at the ankles and I sat forward ready for what they were going to say. 'Shall we?'

'I thought the redemption theme was very good,' Aidan said. 'It's not something that you've tried before and I really thought that the daughter's forgiveness for her father was very strong and I really liked the tension; I could practically taste it when I read it.'

'I thought that perhaps you could have made the tension slightly heavier,' Deana said looking at her brother, then back at me. 'I loved the theme but I just wanted something a bit more for my teeth to sink into. The ending is sweet and I don't really think that needs changing.'

I braced myself for Cheryl who was never short of corrections or ways I could slightly alter how someone opened a door.

'The story was quick and very fast paced. I loved it,' she grinned. 'My heart was racing at some points, but I do agree with Deana. If you could just emphasize how bad things have gotten between the daughter and the father and show how this affected the rest of the family,' she flicked through a few pages of the manuscripts, ten pages at a time. 'Here when she's coming towards her father with the kitchen knife, maybe you could describe how she's feeling because at the moment it just reads so limp. You could also put in something about the "beads of sweat" or "a skin that had been hardened like steel..." do you see what I'm getting at?'

I nodded like I used to at school. I nodded at the corrections I was supposed to make.

'What were your thoughts on the story?' Aidan asked.

'I thought that it was strong,' I replied. 'I'm not sure how biased that is. I wanted to write about a different kind of relationship, other than sexual. I thought that the dynamics between father and daughter were very important and I wanted my readers and fans to see another side of loving emotion.'

'Well I thought that the title was very significant,' Deana nodded. 'It's so hard and is relevant for all sorts. I think it's very important though, that you keep the title in mind whilst you're writing, because at some points, I wasn't quite sure how it linked in with the title.'

I nodded. 'I don't want the title to detract from the actual story,' I replied. 'I think the story is strong enough to stand alone without a title. The title is relevant to the story, but only to the extent where you can see why the book was named Cold Shoulder.'