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Chapter Eighteen
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2021-09-27 08:02:05Anna was on her third martini when Elaine finally arrived at the bar.
“Sorry, I’m late. I had a last-minute response that had to be filed with the court first thing in the morning and I didn’t want to write it under a hangover cloud.” Elaine stole Anna’s drink, then signaled for the bartender to make two more. “So, tell me everything!”
“We better order some food. Everything is going to take a few hours.”
By the time Anna finished telling Elaine the full story about her lunch with Nate, Anna’s misreading the menu and having another Vashti vision, what he had told her about how he came to write Vashti’s Daughter, and Henry&rsqu
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Vashti's Daughter Chapter Nineteen
The editors and assistants at Steine and Steine respectfully focused their eyes away from their boss when Anna arrived at corporate headquarters two hours late. Without greeting anyone, Anna walked swiftly from the elevator to her office and closed the door. A few moments later, Janet entered carrying a stack of phone messages in one hand and a large cup of espresso in the other, which she carefully put on Anna’s desk.“I know an all-nighter when I see one,” her assisted whispered. “Dare I ask, work or play?”“All work all night. I finally finished reading Dr. Braverman’s manuscript.”“And?”“And it’s well written for academia. I’m just not sure how well it’s going to sell, which is, of course, the true determination. But, I’ve already offered him a contract based on specs. He should be meeting with Arty any minute, then they’ll come up here for final con
Last Updated : 2021-09-27Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty
For the next several hours, Anna, Nate, and Arthur discussed the details of the publishing contract Janet had previously printed out before the meeting. The first ten pages were mostly boiler plate with the names of the principles, date and title of the manuscript filled in. The rest of the twenty or so pages spelled out the terms regarding copyright ownership, publishing rights, and the most important detail; advance and royalties.With any other literary agent, Anna could negotiate percentages for days, but she knew Arty trusted her, as she did him, so it made the process go by much more smoothly. Besides, it was Elaine who had drawn up the original contract agreements, so she was more than confident her company, as well as the author and his agent, was fully protected. Anna sat back and watched as Arty explained the terminology before his client signed his name on each line. Even though her attention
Last Updated : 2021-09-27Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-One
“Now that you know what I’ve been going though Bibi, you have to agree this is one very weird situation on several levels.” Bibi ordered another round of hot wings and cold beer. When Nate called earlier, he thought it was to celebrate his signing with an agent and finding a publisher. Bibi was totally unprepared to hear the entire story his friend had just told him. “I’ve known you for a long time, Nate. You’ve always been a logical guy, but what happened to you at Hamadan, the success of the book and your feelings for Anna Steine, who you just met, is way beyond rational thought. I know how you like to analyze everything, but in this case my advice is to just go with the flow.” Nate refilled his mug. “What is really
Last Updated : 2021-10-04Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Two
For the next several days, Anna didn’t have a spare second to think about her Vashti fantasy, as her concentration was totally immersed in the reality of preparing for the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. Although the event was open to the public for only two days, for the publishers and authors, planning began weeks in advance. Even those years when Anna wasn’t scheduled as a guest speaker for a discussion panel, her and her staff was busy deciding which titles to spotlight at the event, scheduling her author’s personal appearances, book readings, signings submitting all the necessary information to the FOB by the deadline and praying there wouldn’t be any embarrassing last-minute changes to Steine & Steine’s line-up. When she had just started at Beacon Press, Anna painfully learned there was nothing more damaging to an author’s career than disappointed readers, when one of their star authors was a no-show, the backlash from
Last Updated : 2021-10-04Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Three
When the staff returned to the conference room, Anna felt an uncomfortable chill in the air, which was not caused by a faulty thermostat. She immediately knew by the tentative looks they were being thrown her way, the topic of the conversation discussed during the fifteen minute reprieve was all about Anna’s odd behavior concerning Vashti’s Daughter and its author. Anna was thankful none of her staff asked her the questions each of them no doubt had on their minds, because she honestly didn’t have any logical answers she would have been able to give them that would have not led to more questions. She hadn’t a clue why she was so adamant about publishing Nate’s book. At pitch meetings in the past, her gut feeling about whether to publish a new title and an unknown author was usually supported by most of her editors. More often than not, her instincts had been right on the mark, but
Last Updated : 2021-10-04Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Four
The time difference between her dream world and her real one always amazed Anna. Although her recent dream seemed like hours has passed, the clock on the wall in her office showed that it had only been less than one from the time she had closed her eyes until the alarm brought her back to the present. What also amazed Anna was, even though she had only taken a quick nap, she felt fully energized. If that’s what the scientists called a power nap, she thought, it certainly was working for her, dreams or no dreams. The thought of going home to an empty condo on a Friday night was depressing. Anna knew that most of her single friends already had plans with their perspective dates and not wanted really wanted a divorcee third-wheel to join them. As much as she didn’t want to continually rely on Elaine for company, her friend never turned her down, even when the invitation came at the last minute. Anna w
Last Updated : 2021-10-04Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Five
Saturday morning was unusually overcast when Anna took her coffee onto the balcony. Even though she knew from experience, the marine layer that obscured her view of the Pacific ocean would eventually burn off, she was still a bit irritated that for the exorbitant price she had paid for her home because of the view was not depreciated by nature’s cruel joke. It was on days like these that made Anna even more appreciate the clear, blue sunny skies she could enjoy nearly every day of the year. Anna checked her clock. It was nine am, plenty of time to get ready for her meeting with Nate later that morning, Anna thought. She was uncomfortably nervous, trying not to feel as if she were on a first date and not a business appointment. The sound of the phone ringing interrupted her thoughts on what she was going to wear, but the voice on th
Last Updated : 2021-10-04Vashti's Daughter Chapter Twenty-Six
By now, Anna was no longer referring to her past life travels as dreams. The more times Anna was transported into her Adara persona, the easier it was becoming for her to adapt to the environment, so when she found herself back in the garden holding the wedding invitation in her hand, she wasn’t that surprised it was the exact parchment that Nate had handed to her only what seemed like seconds ago. The biggest changes were that the faded print she had been looking at was now perfectly clear lettering and the hand holding the page was no longer Dr. Nathaniel Braverman’s. “I believe the scribe really outdid himself.” Darius retrieved the invitation from Anna’s hand. “These invitations will be hand-delivered immediately after you’ve accepted my marriage proposal following the banquet tonight.”
Last Updated : 2021-10-04
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Vashti's Daughter Acknowledgements and References
Jessica Price -Why Can’t Vashti And Esther Both Be Purim Heroines? Alma.com, March 2019Walter Semkiw, MD, - Author - Born Again: Reincarnation Cases Involving Evidence of Past Lives, Cases Researched by Ian Stevenson, MD – President Board of Directors of the Reincarnation ResearchProfessor Jim B. Tucker, M.D. is Bonner-Lowry Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia. He is Director of the UVA Division of Perceptual Studies - Author - Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives Michelle W. Malkin, MPA, MAJNM - What does it mean to me to be Jewish?Michael Shapiro – Author - Jewish Pride: 101 Reasons to Be Proud You're Jewis
Vashti's Daughter Epilogue
Epilogue It was a perfect Sunday afternoon for the annual Ojai wine festival at Lake Casitas. Anna and Nate had attended the event every June since they were married. Three years ago, they were joined by their baby daughter Melody, making the event a special Braverman family outing. From the time Melody was six months old, she was completely mesmerized by the live performances. Melody’s little feet began dancing to the music even before she could walk. When she was older, she would kick and squirm in time to the music, creating quite a show for any passerby to admire. This year, instead of being confined in a stroller, Nate held Melody in his lap. Anna sat on the blanket next to them, sipping wine while they waited for the next show to beg
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Six
Nate and Anna followed Bibi out of the cabin as the others stayed behind busy carefully removing the paintings and crating the other artifacts in the cave. Anna held the precious book under her shirt to protect it from the elements. She hadn’t noticed that Nate had pocketed the rings that were in the box along with the hair samples Bibi had taken to the portable lab for DNA analysis. As they walked across the desert to the other side where once had been a flowing river, Anna’s mind was rerunning all the scenes she had experienced as Adara. Despite all the evidence that had just uncovered, the further she walked away from the uncovered cabin, the less she felt the connection to Adara. The one thing she did not lose was the overwhelming compulsion to keep the promise to Queen Esther that the truth about Vashti would be revealed to the world. Now that she had Vashti’s journal in hand, she needed to find a way to
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Five
For the next hour, Anna and Nate escaped the devastation of the past week, deeply involved with the passionate joys of the present. It wasn’t until they were basking in the afterglow that they allowed conversation to intercede. Lying with her head on his chest, his fingers gently caressing her back, Anna listened to Nate’s calm voice recite every detail that had kept him away from answering his messages over the past few weeks. Her emotions flew the gambit of shock, anger and disbelief. That Monday morning following their stroll on the pier, Nate was just about to leave for his tenure interview when he’d received a call from the NCAA head office. The head of the Syracuse investigation committee had seen the C-Span program where Henry had accused Nate of being involved with the events when he was on the basketball team and demanded he fly to Indianapolis to attend an emergency meeting.
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Four
If Anna had any idea what was waiting for her on Monday morning, she would have stayed in bed. The early morning June gloom enveloped the view on her drive to her office, filling her with a foreboding sense of impending disaster. Even though she knew the fog would soon burn off, revealing the clear blue sky and golden sun later that day, Anna just wanted to escape the depressing scene as quickly as she could.To put herself in a more positive mood, Anna turned up the volume on the radio and sang along with her favorite hit from the 80s; The Eye of the Tiger. She always thought it ironic that a song about fighting to overcome overwhelming defeat was written by a band called Survivor. Feeling re-energized, Anna walked out of the elevator ready, expecting to see her staff busy at their desks with compiling the data from the weekend’s book festival. What greeted her instead on her arrival was an uncha
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Three
Sunday afternoon on a warm spring day was the perfect way to experience the magic of the Santa Monica Pier. From the moment Anna walked under the welcome sign, the dark foreboding shadow of Henry’s broadcast was left on the other side. Walking with Nate by her side, she could feel the tension he had felt earlier fade as well. They bought a gigantic ball of cotton candy and rode the carousel like a couple of teenagers on their first date. Anna couldn’t remember the last time she had enjoyed an afternoon of simple pleasures and she was grateful for the opportunity to share it with Nate, who seemed to be enjoying the mini-vacation as much as she was. “Would you believe I’ve lived in California for over ten years and have never been to Santa Monica?”&
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-Two
Out on the balcony, Anna and Nate quietly took in the view of the clear star-studded sky over the pacific ocean with lights of Los Angeles shining to the left. It was nights like these when Anna would sit for hours, clear her mind and simply take in the beauty of her world that reminded her of the reason she stayed in Los Angeles after her cantankerous divorce. Three years ago, she didn’t let Henry’s threats of retribution for her winning control of their company drive her from her home, and she wasn’t about to allow that to happen now. Back then, she had been alone on the balcony. Tonight she was sharing the view with a man she wanted to share much more with in the future. “It’s beauty like this that almost makes me believe in God.” Nate remarked. “I’m surprised to hear you say that, with
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty-One
The dust from Darius’ horse galloping away from the carriage crash stung Anna’s eyes. She walked toward the river’s edge in hopes she would find the book he’d thrown into the water, but there was no sign of it anywhere. She could still hear Darius’ condemnation of her and Vashti. It was hard to distinguish it from Henry’s threats she had heard only moments before.Men’s egos were the same in any era, Anna thought. Judging by the fact that all mention of Adara or Vashti after she was banished in biblical text was omitted, it was clear that Darius had made good on his threat. She wondered if his curse on her ever finding love would also become reality. When Nate first told Anna about his hearing a mysterious voice at the shrine and how he came to write Vashti’s Daughter, she had thought he had a very active imagination, but she couldn’t explai
Vashti's Daughter Chapter Thirty
After spending the morning supervising the various authors who were signing their books at each of Steine and Steine’s exhibit booths and going over her notes for the panel discussion that afternoon, Anna was grateful for a lunch break. She tried to stay as anonymous as possible to avoid the onslaught of authors who were looking to side-step the submission process by giving their query letter, or, what was worse, their entire manuscript directly to the publisher. For whatever reason, the words “no unsolicited submissions” didn’t seem to apply to them.Anna emphasized with her authors who had agreed to attend the event under the Steine and Steine banner, as well as all the independent authors at the show who had to pay the exorbitant registration fee themselves to promote their books and instead were constantly being accosted by writers who only wanted to know the magic formula they used to get their book published.&nb
