‘God, no! Do I look like the hide-out sort?’
I laugh. ‘No, you don’t.’
‘I’m ready to fight with everything I’ve got. Who wants to risk their own neck in situations like this? But, if not me, then whowill? The same rules should apply to all in publishing and I for one am over it.’
‘I’m dead proud of you.’
‘Good, because that’s my other reason for coming here. I’ve started my own literary agency and I’d love to take you with me.’
It’s a no brainer. ‘You’re my agent and always will be.’
‘Thank you, darling. But that doesn’t mean you can expect deadline extensions in the future. I’m not going soft or anything.’
I let out a bark of laughter. ‘I wouldn’t expect anything less. And your old assistant, the one who quit?’
Margaret gives me a dazzling smile. ‘She has a sparkly new title of Executive Assistant.’
‘Nice. I’ve got to check this interview out.’
‘It’s online already.’
I take my phone and swipe it to life. The article is titledJuggernaut Agent Quits!It goes into depth about publishing scandals over the years and how certain celebrity or big-name male authors have behaved disgracefully with no comeuppance. I go to Twitter and have a look at what my publishing pals are saying about Margaret’s exposé about the industry as a whole. Which isa lot. My feed is full of retweets and a running commentary about people who have had interactions with the debut author and none of them are positive.
The hashtag #CelebsAren’tRealAuthors is trending, with authors from the same publishing house demanding the debut cosy crime writer be cancelled.
I open the latest message from an author friend, Tully Davies:
Your literary agent has finally silenced that sleaze! I hear she’s on the hunt for new authors. Put in a good word for me, would you? I’d happily switch agencies for one with a woman like that at the helm.
45
21 DECEMBER
Back at the hotel, Manon is clutching her hair while she speaks fast on the phone. She hangs up with a loud sigh. ‘I can’t find an electrician in all of Paris who can come today!’
‘Oh no!’
‘We better go make up the rooms, including Renee’s, before they come back. Leave the calls for a moment.’
‘I’ll watch the front desk,’ Margaret says. ‘I can catch up on my socials.’ She throws me a devilish grin.
I fill Manon in on Margaret’s exposé and what that means for me. ‘She is an icon!’
‘She is.’
‘What about the electrician, what will we do?’
We open the family suite on the third floor and go to the bathroom. I flick the switch and the light comes on. ‘It works!’
‘How can that be?’ Manon frowns. ‘I tried it a number of times and it didn’t switch on at all?’
‘It might be a fuse on its way out, so it’s going off intermittently.’
‘OK, one problem solved for the moment.’ Manon exhales. ‘We need to hire a local handyman for things like this that crop up. Guests will expect things to be fixed instantly.’
‘Oui, that’s a great idea. And let’s still get the electrics checked in here to make sure there isn’t a fault. Maybe JP might know a local handyman?’
‘I’ll ask.’ We spend the next hour making beds and tidying up the family suite.
