Seeing Stars (42 page)

She pried open a lid and found extra headshots and résumés, books of monologues, folders filled with sides, Bethy’s Mimi Roberts Talent Management tote bag, and clothes she and Bethy had bought especially for auditions—artifacts from a lost civilization. She felt a sudden sense of vertigo: Had they really done all this? She pulled out a long feather boa Bethy had used as a prop for some of her headshots, and then, running her hand around the bottom of the box, she felt the frames of a lens-less pair of glasses. She pulled them out and put them on, thinking they would make Bethy laugh. Or maybe they were capable of magic, of opening a portal through which they could go back. But no. They were just cheap plastic sunglasses frames, slightly warped from sitting in the hot car. She could never go back there again and neither could Bethany. Angie would be dead and the rest of them would be older, and Ruth would step back into her life and her marriage and the steady hum of ordinariness, and eventually that would be enough.

“What are you looking at?” Bethany said from the doorway. “They don’t even have lenses.”

Ruth turned to Bethany and smiled. “I know,” she said. “I’m seeing you.”

Acknowledgments

T
HIS BOOK WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT
the generosity and support of family, friends, and colleagues. Special thanks go to Caryn Casey, whose abiding friendship I first lucked into on a TV set and who has ever since, with unfailing tact and patience, helped me chart and navigate the minefield that is Hollywood. Caryn: You, Jim, Siera, and Carlie have given me both psychic and physical shelter, and I only hope that one day I can repay the debt. Your willingness to slog through an early draft of
Seeing Star
s when it was in its gawky adolescence unquestionably made the grown-up version a better book.

To Delaney Andrews: I owe you boundless gratitude for the many insights that helped shape this book, as well as your keen sense of humor, your ever-ready shoulder, and, by turns, your unwavering faith and righteous indignation. You, Andrew, and Brandon were always a welcome reminder that even when the assault was on, we were all in the bunker together.

To Richard Liedle: I am deeply appreciative of your friendship, enthusiasm, and indefatigable good humor. Those LA dinners kept us sane.

To Donnajeanne Goheen and everyone at Young Performers Studio back in the day: We are indebted to you for giving us a community when we needed one most. To Judi O’Neill: A special thank-you for your sage words “Love the work.” They hold every bit as true for writers as for actors.

To Kate Nintzel at Harper: I once again extend my most heartfelt thanks for believing in me and for turning an incisive editorial eye to immature drafts of this book. It would have been a very different and much diminished work without you. To my agent Erin Malone and to Jennifer Rudolph Walsh: Thanks, as ever, for your support and belief that good books will find good homes. And to Dawn Stuart and Brenda Ambrose: Thank you for helping me take my place in the world as a writer.

To my mother, Debbie Coplin, who supported us during the dark days: I have no words that adequately express my love and gratitude. To my sister, Laurie Coplin, who read draft after draft of this book with unflagging energy and insight: I am especially indebted to you. You may have missed your calling.

To my daughter, Kerry: I admire your talent, your courage, and your willingness to share your Hollywood experience with us on bad days as well as good ones.

And, as always, I have no words that adequately express my love and appreciation to my husband, Nolan Harvey. I would not have survived, never mind written about, the funhouse that is Hollywood without you. It was one hell of a ride.

About the Author

DIANE HAMMOND
is the author of the critically acclaimed novels
Hannah’s Dream, Going to Bend,
and
Homesick Creek
. She is the recipient of an Oregon Arts Commission literary fellowship and served as a spokesperson for the Free Willy Keiko Foundation and the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Hammond lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband and daughter.

www.dianehammond.com

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

PRAISE
FOR
Hannah’s Dream

“Irresistibly touching, delectably uplifting, Hammond’s understated yet gargantuan tale of devotion and commitment poignantly proves that love does indeed come in all shapes and sizes.”

—
Booklist
(starred review)

“Diane Hammond writes with heart, compassion, and humor. With subtle assurance, she invites you to fall in love with Sam and Winslow and Neva and Corinna and Truman and Max and, of course, Hannah, the beloved elephant that ties them all together. A generously told tale that will stick with you long after the last page is turned.”

—Terry Gamble, author of
Good Family
and
The Water Dancers

“While it’s easy to guess the outcome of
Hannah’s Dream
, its predictability lends to its charm. It helps that Hammond’s writing never becomes overly sappy. She treats each of her characters with a tenderness that draws sympathy rather than groans. And she’s no stranger to the bond between humans and animals: In the mid–1990s she was part of the rehabilitation team of Keiko, the killer whale in the
Free Willy
movies, at the Oregon Coast Aquarium….
Hannah’s Dream
runs at a quick pace but feels substantial, and the humorous bits sprinkled throughout make it a very satisfying read.”

—Portland Oregonian

“A pleasure to read.
Hannah’s Dream
is gently unpredictable. It’s full of suspense—but not unbearable suspense. There’s a missing document, a devoted pig, and a villain with a pith helmet and a riding crop. Most of all, there’s an elephant and the people who really love her.”

—Susan McCarthy, author of
Becoming a Tiger
and coauthor of
When Elephants Weep

PRAISE FOR
Homesick Creek

“
Homesick Creek
follows two troubled marriages and an enduring friendship through some exceptionally difficult midlife straits, and does so with sensitivity and intelligence. Given the material, this could be a three-hankie job, but the story never turns maudlin, thanks to Hammond’s clean prose, pitch-perfect dialogue, and keen eye for social detail….
Homesick Creek
is an honest, finely nuanced, emotionally rich novel.”

—Boston Globe

“Hammond digs into the past, revealing bad decisions and their consequences, desperate acts of courage, kindness that sometimes is not enough to save or redeem. And woven throughout are insights, sprinkled with humor, on marriage and friendship.
Homesick Creek
is an honest, beautifully written book.”

—Denver Post

PRAISE FOR
Going to Bend

“Plucky…. Hammond depicts a place and a community with a fine eye for the details of small-town life…. Hammond excels with snappy dialogue, and has written a humorous, moving and lively novel of friendship and healing.”

—Seattle Times

“An exceptional debut…. Hammond’s depiction of the town and its people is refreshingly unsentimental: poverty and bad luck have not created endearing rascals and wise earth mothers…. A portrait of the hard-scrabble life: moving and deftly told.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] witty, revealing and enthralling novel that deals with important issues…. Confident…tightly constructed, written in a deceptively loose style [with] characters so real you’ll swear you could walk out of your home and go have a beer with them….
Going to Bend
has a marvelous story, the sort that keeps you reading longer than you’d planned. In fact, you’d best set aside a large block of reading time, because once you’ve started reading this book, you won’t want to stop.”

—Statesman Journal
(Oregon)

“Hammond shines an unwavering light on a group of people who struggle to make do, yet who live their lives and cope with hardship with grace and dignity. Her clean, sharp prose, idiosyncratic dialogue and deep insight into relationships embellish this heartfelt debut.”

—Publishers Weekly

ALSO BY DIANE HAMMOND

Hannah’s Dream

Homesick Creek

Going to Bend

Credits

Cover photograph of mother and daughter by Siri Stafford/Getty Images

Cover photograph of Hollywood sign on hillside by Will & Deni McIntyre/Getty Images

Copyright

Clear Glass Marbles
is one of a series of eleven monologues performed under the collective title
Talking With
. It was first performed in New York under the name
Talking With
on October 1, 1982. It was an Actors Theatre of Louisville Production, performed and presented by the Manhattan Theatre Club, and directed by Jon Jorry. Copyright © Alexander Speer, trustee, 1983.

SEEING STARS
. Copyright © 2010 by Diane Hammond. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

EPub Edition © February 2010 ISBN: 978-0-06-198626-0

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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