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Chapter Thirteen
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2021-09-27 05:32:42After she washed her face to rid herself of the last remnants of the dream, Anna phoned Elaine and gave her a rundown of the details of her dream, including how she knew how to ride a horse.
“I know how much you hate horses, even though I’ve invited you to our ranch in Thousand Oaks many times,” Elaine said. “This is really incredible. You’re sure you’ve never seen the man who was looking for directions in your real life before?”
“Absolutely. He’s not someone I’d forget. I’ll say that for sure. Of course there are tons of photographs that cross my desk of authors’ head shots with their bio and the back jacket of their book covers, but no artist drawing or publicity shot came even close to this Darius g
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Vashti's Daughter Chapter Fourteen
The victory party moved to Bibi and Nate’s apartment where they, along with the rest of the Syracuse University fans, celebrated their historic win over USC. The festivities lasted a lot longer than Nate had planned. Considering he had to prepare for his presentation the next afternoon, he thought it would be prudent to stay the night, but with the after-image of Anna’s face burned into his eyelids, sleep wasn’t something he was able to achieve. Being the great host Bibi was, a steaming pot of fresh coffee was waiting for Nate as he compelled his groggy body to get out of bed. He stumbled into the kitchen, where he nearly collapsed on the counter stool. “Not that I’m stating the obvious, Nate, but you look like one of the mummies we dug up on our last exhibition,” Bibi poured the coffee.&
Last Updated : 2021-09-27Vashti's Daughter Chapter Fifteen
As soon as she opened her door, Anna’s cell phone buzzed. She didn’t have to look at the caller ID to know it was Elaine wanting to hear all the details about her going to Nate’s presentation. Elaine was disappointed that Anna didn’t have that much to tell her since she had only spoken to Nate for a few minutes and that was only to set up the meeting in her office to discuss his book.“You didn’t tell him anything about your dreams, or that sketch you drew, or that you’re suddenly speaking and reading a foreign language?”“No, he would have thought I was a nutcase. I will say that after hearing his presentation on Vashti, I might really be interested in his book. That’s what I plan to discuss with him tomorrow and nothing else. We’re meeting at eleven.”Elaine sounded disappointed. “That sounds boring. Try to get a good night’s sleep.”“I doubt I’ll
Last Updated : 2021-09-27Vashti's Daughter Chapter Sixteen
Janet buzzed the intercom to let Anna know that her eleven o’clock appointment had arrived. Usually when she met with an author, especially for a previously unpublished author, they would be accompanied by their agent, or agents depending on their representation. Obviously that was another policy that Nathaniel Braverman either wasn’t aware, or chose to ignore as he had done by directly dropping off his manuscript. If only he knew as much about the publishing business as he did about basketball, Anna thought. She was more concerned about his knowledge of Vashti than either of the other two. Nate followed Janet into Anna’s office, mouthing a silent “he’s gorgeous” to Anna behind his back before she turned to leave. Seeing Nate under the bright florescent lights, Anna could make out more details in his face than she’d been able to during their earlier two brief encounter
Last Updated : 2021-09-27Vashti's Daughter Chapter Seventeen
Walking on their way back to the office, Anna was so deeply involved with her own thoughts, she could just barely engage in the continuing conversation with Nate. What he had told her at lunch about his experience in Iran was, on its surface, completely unbelievable, but then again, so was her ordering an item off the menu that wasn’t there and her seeing a waitress momentarily transform into a different person.Then there was the author himself. From the moment she met him at the basketball game, Anna’s body had reacted with alarmingly familiarly. Anna definitely knew the reality of lust at first sight, having taken advantage of that instant attraction on numerous occasions, but she was never convinced there was such a thing as love at first sight. No, that kind of deep, emotional connection was only what she read about in the hundreds of romance novel submissions. Unti
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Anna 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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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
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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
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“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
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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
