Dying to Get Published (24 page)

"Get off of me," Edith half screamed, half growled. "You're cutting off my windpipe."

"If that were true, you couldn't talk," Jennifer pointed out. "I'm not moving and neither are you!" she declared. She'd stay there all night if she had to, until Moore found his way to the authorities or until something or someone—

"Jennifer?" a male voice called from the darkness of the den. "Jennifer, are you in there?"

Sam. Thank God. Sam had finally made it. Tears wet her cheeks.

"I'm in the kitchen," she called back.

A beam of light appeared in the hall and trailed across to the T formed by the two women. "What the—"

"I can't explain now. Don't get too close or you'll find yourself down here with us. There's a gun somewhere in the hall toward the front door. Get it, find the fuse box, see if you can get the lights back on, and please, please call the police."

Chapter 35

"What's he saying?" Jennifer asked, hovering over Sam as he uh-huhed into the phone. New York publishers didn't call just anyone any day. Thank goodness she'd stopped by the paper to catch a quick lunch with Sam when the call came through.

"I see," he was saying. "No, I'll take care of it. That's right. And thank you for calling." He hung up the phone.

"What'd he say?" Jennifer demanded again, grabbing Sam by the tie and pulling his face within inches of her own.

Carefully, Sam peeled her fingers away from the silky fabric. "He said he was interested." Sam stood up and began shuffling papers on his desk.

Jennifer could hardly contain her joy. The proposal for
The Channel 14 Murders
had been submitted a mere three weeks ago and already had a response.

"He
is
going to buy it, isn't he? I mean, he wouldn't be calling if he weren't serious," she persisted.

Sam turned and faced her. Something was wrong. She could tell. He should be smiling, ecstatic, bubbling like she was. Okay. So she had enough enthusiasm for the both of them, but Sam's steely calm could not be good.

"He had some conditions."

Conditions? She expected changes, revisions, whatever. They were all part of the process.

"He wants the book to come out under my name."

"And mine," she added, and immediately wished she hadn't.

Sam shook his head. "He wants a more…
objective telling of the story. He says we should downplay your role in all this. Actually he said you come off…
too pixilated."

"Pixilated?
Ambitious, determined, overfocus
ed maybe, but pixilated?"

"His term, not mine."

Jennifer sank back against the desk.

He cupped her chin. "Look, it's not really all that bad. The book belongs to both of us. We'll split the advance and the profits, if there are any. Besides, what do you care? You want to make your name in fiction."

It was true. And publishing a nonfiction book wouldn't help her all that much in the fiction market. But for one brief moment she had seen her name—Jennifer Marsh—splashed across a book jacket.

"I guess you're right," she sighed.

He kissed her cheek, a sweet, discreet peck, and scooped up a folder from his desk. "I've got to get this copy to my editor before I can take off. I'll be right back."

Jennifer settled into his swivel chair. Disappointment was nothing new to her, but why didn't it ever stop hurting? She'd be impossible to live with for the next two days, if her normal pattern held true, and she intended for Sam to be by her side throughout all the waking moments of those forty-eight hours. It was the least he could do.
His
name would be on the cover.

She picked up a copy of the morning paper and glanced over the front page. Typical newsy day. An article in the lower left-hand corner of the second page caught her eye. It was about a woman in Phoenix who claimed to have dreamed an entire four-hundred-page novel over the course of a week, writing down chapters each day when she awoke. It was being acclaimed as a surreal journey into the subconscious. Following the initial skepticism, two renowned psychologists had flown in to interview her and monitor her sleep process.

Dreams. Murder. Sleepwalking. It'd been done a few years ago, but what if she had a psychic detective who visited crime scenes through out-of-body experiences
,
and what if he had a spirit guide who—

"Okay, I'm all yours," Sam announced, grabbing up his jacket.

Jennifer practically leaped from the chair. "Let's make it dinner or maybe lunch tomorrow. I gotta go before I lose this thought. This one," she beamed, "
this
one's gonna sell!"

###

If you enjoyed this book, t
he next book in t
he
six-book
Jennifer Marsh Mystery series is
Dying to Get Even
.
Purchase it at
http://www.amazon.com/Dying-Jennifer-Marsh-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B005TLFQE0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346238286&sr=8-1&keywords=dying+to+get+even
.

You can find a complete list
of
The Jennifer Marsh Mysteries
availab
le for the Kindle
at
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Judy%20Fitzwater&search-alias=digital-text

Don't miss her
Newest Release
:
VACATIONING WITH THE DEAD
, a fun-filled romantic comedy that demonstrates that love can be just as complicated after death as it is for the living. 
http://www.amazon.com/Vacationing-with-the-Dead-ebook/dp/B00935AQKW/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346238720&sr=1-1&keywords=Vacationing+with+the+dead

VACATIONING WITH THE DEAD

When Rex Ferris’s great, great Uncle Nate dies and makes Rex promise to take care of the Ferris Mansion and “everything in it,” Rex has no idea the “everything” includes ghosts. Now he’s stuck with four ghosts, all actors, who have no intention of moving into the “Light.” With maintenance costs rising at the huge, old mansion, and four bored spirits who want to act, Rex does the only thing he can think of. He turns the mansion into a murder mystery weekend destination with incredible special effects that aren’t really effects at all. But not content with his growing success, Rex makes one fateful decision: he advertises his new enterprise in The Traveler’s Companion, the nation’s premiere travel magazine.

Trapped in the basement of the Traveler’s Companion’s offices in Washington, D.C., dreaming of traveling the world and reviewing exotic resorts for the magazine, is Talia East. It’s her job to input and format ads for the magazine. But the closest she’s ever likely to see the world is gazing at the posters that line her tiny, gray cubicle….That is, until one strange ad comes across her desk which begins, “Vacation with the Dead.” It sounds ridiculous, even hokey, yet somehow intriguing. But maybe, just maybe, it could be her ticket out. IF she can write one knock-out article and IF the effects are even half as amazing as Rex Ferris promises, she might just land her dream job.

What she finds at the Ferris mansion will forever change her life and her understanding of true love. But the path won’t be easy. Mediums, spirit guides, cutthroat critics, interfering coworkers, and an old boyfriend are all on hand to complicate Talia and Rex’s quest.

Vacationing with the Dead is a funny, sweet romantic comedy in which true love is not just for the living, and its obstacles don’t end after death. It’s a fun romp filled with peril, mystery, unforgettable characters, and the adventure of finding everlasting love
.

Judy's
Newest Suspense
release is
DROWNING IN AIR
.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Drowning-in-Air-ebook/dp/B007YS9CQO/ref=sr_1_8?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346239047&sr=1-8

DROWNING IN AIR

Blood. All over her hands. And Eva Keller doesn't know how it got there or whose it is. Or how she got to a gas station in downtown Washington, D.C., in the middle of the night with no car. The last 32 hours of her life are a complete blank. And the man she remembers going to meet is missing.

When she arrives home late that night, she finds ruggedly handsome police officer Simon Talbot waiting for her. She has no idea who he is or why she feels such a strong connection to him, but he certainly seems to remember her. Can she trust him?

Fifteen years ago, Eva watched helplessly as her teen-aged boyfriend died in her arms, the victim of a drive-by shooting spree that took the lives of eight people one August evening. That event shaped her life and left her damaged. Now a successful documentary film maker, Eva has only one goal: to prove on film that Luther Isaacs, a petty thief just released from prison, was the killer.

But someone is trying to kill Eva and will stop at nothing to keep her from proving who killed those eight people.

DROWNING IN AIR is a taut romantic thriller, filled with twists and turns. It’s a story of strength, survival, determination, love, danger, and, ultimately, redemption.

Visit Judy's website at
http://www.judyfitzwater.com
for a complete list of her past and upcoming books.

Contact her at
[email protected]

Books by Judy Fitzwater

The Jennifer Marsh Mysteries:

Dying to Get Published

Dying to Get Even

Dying for a Clue

Dying to Remember

Dying to Be Murdered

Dying to Get her Man

The Jennifer Marsh Mysteries were originally published by The Ballantine Publishing Group.

Suspense Books by Judy Fitzwater:

D
rowning in Air

No Safe Place

Ghostly Romantic Comedies:

Vacationing with the Dead