Kaelee laughed. “That confidence you’re flashing around probably makes your job easier, too.”
“Confidence and bravery, those are the tools that publicists need.” Charlie shrugged like it was no big deal, but she looked a little smug, too.
Kaelee eyed her with more curiosity. “What exactly do you see as your job?”
“Easy. Stay in the background. Insist people notice the star I am pointing out to them.” Charlie tapped her pen against the table. “I can work with you as is. A little media training wouldn’t hurt but—”
“I worked with Rossi and Aubert years ago.”
“Oh my.”
Kaelee’s opinion of Charlie went up as she peered at Kaelee. The media management company her father had used was hella expensive, but they were good. The old man might be a misogynist and a vile homophobe, but he knew where to spend his money in order to hire the best. Kaelee hadn’t fallen prey to the lie that people with evil views were all stupid. Tripp had built his financial holdings, ruthlessly and well. He was a smart man, and he hired smart people.
“May I ask why you had media training?” Charlie asked politely.
This was the time, the logical opening to tell them who she really was… well, who sheusedto be. The only thing Kaelee had to do was open her mouth and say it, tell them her father was a generous donor to the far right, admit that she had been raised in a hyper-religious household. She could omit the trust fund part.
And the predatory ex.
And the money he funneled to book banning.
And the fact that he’s dangerous.
Instead she shrugged. “My father’s company had them on retainer. He got me a few sessions before I went and embarrassed the family. You know how parents can be.” Kaelee braced for more questions, hoping to counter them without confessing her familial history. “I can handle interviews. I don’t love them, and I’d prefer to avoid any visual media.”
Greta’s gaze darted to Emily, who was watching the back-and-forth between Kaelee and Charlie with an increasingly blank expression.
So no avoiding tour… or interviews.Kaelee winced internally.
Charlie leaned forward slightly, not smiling now. “So let’s talkabout the tour. We’re liking six cities, but once we get early reads and account numbers, we may want to increase that.”
“Or decrease it,” Kaelee suggested hopefully. Tour was not appealing in any way. Neither was any TV exposure. She’d felt sure that those things weren’t in her future. Most authors were lucky to get an assigned publicist or a publisher throwing money at promotion.How do I express gratitude without seeming contrary?At such moments, it would be genuinely great to have Toni there to offer tips.
Although those tips hadn’t saved Toni from travel.…
But my book is so much smaller!
“I sincerely doubt that tour will decrease,” Greta spoke firmly. “The team will get your book in the right hands. Toni’s endorsement carries weight, too. And of course, the book is simply delicious.”
Kaelee studied her expression and posture in search of a lie or deceit. Pulling on every media training lesson she had to keep her expression closed, Kaelee asked, “You mean that?”
“I preempted,” Greta stressed. “I had never met you, have no loyalty to Emily—”
“Gee, thanks,” Emily drawled.
“The point, Ms. Carpenter, is that this team can see what I saw at first read: a successful book that with the right backing could be a season standout.” Greta looked down then, lifting the meeting schedule as she did so in an obvious statement of changing topics in some way. After a pause, she carried on. “Right. Well, accounts and marketing and the demographic for books like yours have us ending in California or starting there. Chicago, obviously. Seattle?”
Charlie picked back up from there. “We could do both Seattle and Portland, but I wonder if we ought to look at a few of the cities where Toni’s book stood out. The numbers out of Houston look incredibly strong. What do we think about starting there?”
“In Texas? With mysapphicfantasy?” Kaelee frowned. Her only experience with the state had been via her father.
“In Houston, Austin, and San Antonio, there are a lot of our target readers, and the major cities skew blue.” Charlie’s smile wasbrighter somehow, even as her voice took on a cajoling note. “Trust me, Kaelee. There are so very many amazing booksellers ineverystate. I won’t steer you wrong.”
“Charlie is a master at this,” Greta interjected.
“Right. Texas. California. Pacific Northwest.” Kaelee shook her head, marveling at the thought that there were already four cities, possibly five, she’d be visiting as an actual author. “Not North Carolina.”
“Why?” Charlie and Greta both said at once.
