Authentically izzy, p.14
Authentically, Izzy, page 14
From: Luke Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 2
Subject: Re: Aunt Louisa and my future
Penelope,
Hallmark heroes aren’t real either.
Love,
Your brother, the Grinch
Text from Izzy to Luke: You are right, Luke. How pitiful that I don’t know what I want, but Aunt Louisa’s decision has spurred me into really contemplating this more than ever. Something MUST change and that something is me. BTW, a children’s book with a title like The Prints & the BookWyrm sounds great. A book-reading dragon.
Luke: Or a book-loving woman and her own book-loving prince?
Izzy: Luke? Is that you? You almost sound . . . romantic?
Luke: Sorry, my dog got ahold of my phone.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Luke Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 3
Subject: The strange case of Eli and romance
Eli Montgomery is a curious sort of person. We just finished a short meeting for coffee at Pages Bookstore to discuss his current manuscript. He listened to my suggestions, asked questions, made notes, and then handed me three more chapters. Sometimes he is delightful company instead of distracted, a little moody, and ready to talk rather than listen. And he was so grateful to me for reading his manuscript and providing detailed notes in the margins that he complimented my purple blouse, my hairstyle (which consisted of a messy bun held in place by two pencils), and my complexion.
Oh, and he apologized for the whole “women in love have no spine” conversation. I think he really is clueless about the whole romance thing.
Speaking of romance, how was your date with Andrew, Penelope?
Izzy
PS: Guess what Eli’s book “heroine’s” name is? Bella. Hmm . . .
PPS: You don’t think Eli would only be seeing me because I’m helping him with his book, do you? I have a tendency to find men who want me for the ways I can enhance their futures instead of wanting me for . . . me.
From: Luke Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 3
Subject: Re: The strange case of Eli and romance
Clearly you’re the woman of his fictional dreams, Izzy. Pencil in your hair, great complexion, and an excellent editor. A romance built through Track Changes.
Luke
PS: If you have doubts, tread carefully with your heart.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Luke Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 3
Subject: Re: The strange case of Eli and romance
You’ve been reading too much Wodehouse. Or Shakespeare. I can’t figure out which one?
Izzy
PS: The only hearts involved with Eli and me are of the fictional variety.
From: Luke Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 3
Subject: Re: The strange case of Eli and romance
I don’t read Shakespeare. I watch it.
Luke
From: Penelope Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood, Luke Edgewood
Date: April 3
Subject: News
I’ve decided to quit school and marry Andrew.
We’re an excellent match. He watched a Hallmark movie with me yesterday and didn’t laugh when I got all emotional. Will you be my maid of honor? Josephine would never approve.
Penelope
PS: April Fools’!
PPS: Except the Hallmark part. And Josie part.
PPPS: Aren’t most men clueless about romance?
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Penelope Edgewood, Luke Edgewood
Date: April 3
Subject: Re: News
Penelope,
Thank you. You just clarified so much for me. I love you.
Izzy
From: Luke Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 3
Subject: Re: News
Penny-girl,
Check your calendar.
Luke
PS: I’m assuming you were not talking about me in reference to “clueless”? I’m the very model of a romantic. It’s the flannel.
From: Brodie Sutherland
To: Izzy Edgewood
Date: April 4
Subject: Special delivery
Isabelle,
You should receive a digital gift within the next few days. Since you are so fond of Peter Pevensie, I’ve sent you a copy of my father reading The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. His accent is thick, but I thought you’d appreciate it all the more. I don’t know how I can compete with a king of Narnia, but I felt certain the Yoda ears left a lasting impression.
I answered a few of your questions in our last video call, but when I checked your last email, there is one to which I forgot to respond.
Fiona loves to read. Though she’s excellent with Braille, she enjoys being read to most of all. I suppose it’s from a habit our family began when she was a young child, well before she began losing her sight. I’ve always enjoyed hearing books read aloud, if done with expression. How about you?
By the way, have you ever considered writing? Your wit and charm in our emails lend themselves to an almost lyrical quality. Add to that your imagination, creativity, and love of books, and it seems the perfect recipe for an author. I realize you may not care at all about authoring, but learning you, as I am, I couldn't help but wonder.
I know I gave you a few lighthearted recommendations during our video call last night, but I thought of another one this morning. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. I think you’d enjoy the humor and the bossy heroine that sounds (at times) like your cousin Josie.
I enjoy my job for many of the same reasons you mentioned enjoying yours. Bringing stories to people. Helping them discover new adventures. When I opened the Brynnwick shop (the first one I started on my own), the wonder and excitement of the townspeople to have easy access to books humbled and energized me. I feel as though this is what God has created me to do and I’m gladly walking in it. Some of the intricacies of the business aspects are not my favorite, but the positives always outweigh the negatives, to my mind. I also enjoy getting to travel, now that Sutherland’s is beginning to spread its wings across the Channel, perhaps. We are still trying to sort out the particulars of that decision. I have misgivings due to the costs, but Mum is determined.
Have you obtained Wodehouse from Luke yet? We’ve had a few humorous emails over the books.
Affectionately,
Brodie
PS: I have a booksellers convention in New York at the end of May. If you’re amenable to it, I’d like to fly in a couple of weeks early and visit you while I’m relatively nearby. How would you feel about that possibility?
Chapter 11
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Luke Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 4
Subject: Breakdown in progress
Luke and Penelope,
I no longer celebrate April Fools’ Day. And the previous sense of peace and enlightenment is gone.
Do not message me unless you have absolutely nothing to say, no news, and no requests.
I don’t think I can handle more this week. Between Josie and the library, Eli and his ill-interpreted romance, and Brodie and his news . . . I can’t.
Izzy
PS: Is God laughing?
From: Luke Edgewood
To: Izzy Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 4
Subject: Re: Breakdown in progress
Does Brodie even celebrate April Fools’ Day? Besides, Penelope must be rubbing off on you because today is the fourth. You can’t NOT respond to him. He’s a good guy. Get over your shock and email him back. I won’t say God isn’t laughing because, well, you’re funny, especially when you don’t mean to be, but I’m pretty sure He has something to do with this. You know, since He’s an omnipresent, omniscient, all-powerful being.
You ordered espresso instead of tea for breakfast this morning when we met. It’s obvious Brodie’s request knocked you for a loop, but you love plot twists. You can handle it. Maybe it’s the plot twist you’ve been waiting for your whole life.
Luke
PS: Never get espresso again. At one point you started speaking so fast I couldn’t understand you—and your eye started twitching. It almost encouraged me to usher up a prayer or two for you.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Luke Edgewood
Date: April 4
Subject: Re: Breakdown in progress
Why am I so afraid of him coming, Luke? I’ve been asking myself this question all morning. I’m a changed woman after all (or will be in two days after my minimal hairstyle adjustment). The idea of meeting him in person carries with it a paralyzing mixture of fear and excitement. Is it because his visit takes him from being an almost fictional person and brings him to real life? Am I concerned once he meets me, our wonderful conversations will end because I’m not what he expected? Am I terrified he’ll be everything he seems to be and my heart will never recover? And if he is . . . what happens next? We live thousands of miles apart. We have two very set, separate lives. I can’t ask him to leave his family and community and I don’t want to leave mine. Having in-person conversations with him would add spikes to that impasse, that decision.
I’ve been okay with fictionally wonderful people. I can close the book after the last page and daydream about their perfect lives. If Brodie comes to Mt. Airy, he will most certainly step from a fictional, framed-by-a-computer-screen person into the real world.
I don’t know any brand of cookie dough ice cream with the potency to comfort me in this situation, Luke. It’s truly a moment for melodrama like Brontë. Or Lord of the Flies. Or a Shakespeare tragedy.
Izzy
PS: I don’t think a haircut can prepare me for this kind of change. Maybe I need to do something really life altering in preparation . . . like kickboxing.
Text from Luke to Izzy: Didn’t you just say something recently about being brave?
Izzy: I’m groaning at your reminder. Yes, I did! I just wanted more time to build my courage. Ack! Blast those fairy tales. I love them and hate them all at once right now.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Luke Edgewood, Penelope Edgewood
Date: April 4
Subject: And the Eli mystery continues
Here’s the most recent Eli manuscript information. Are you ready for this? His heroine (the librarian named Bella, just in case you didn’t remember the strange and rather disturbing similarities) wears a lot of brown and struggles with making decisions, which is why she’s so enamored with the hero, Ross, who gives her “timid heart an anchor on which to steady her fragile worth.”
No. Just no. Want to see me make a few decisions? Here we go. I’m going shopping tomorrow and updating my wardrobe. I’m emailing Brodie and welcoming him to the Blue Ridge. I’m going to give in to the tug and read a Debbie Macomber book. And then . . . I’m going to tell Aunt Louisa that I’m not ready to become the head librarian. Okay, maybe I’m not brave enough to do the latter yet, but once I decide, I’ll make the decision with great certainty.
Izzy
PS: To get really crazy, I’m going to eat mint chocolate chip ice cream instead of cookie dough. Ha! See there? Decision-making aplenty!
Text from Luke to Izzy: Is this an April Fools’ joke? Mint chocolate chip? *gasp* You wild woman, you. Oh wait! It’s April FOURTH. All of the other things are believable.
Izzy: You’re not funny.
Luke: I’m hilarious. Write to Brodie.
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Brodie Sutherland
Date: April 5
Subject: Peter Pevensie and Wodehouse
Brodie,
I wanted to go ahead and respond to your last email before our video call tonight to let you know the audiobook arrived in my in-box this morning. I’m looking forward to hearing your father read Narnia. I can only imagine what he sounds like as Aslan, if his accent and voice are anything like yours, so warm and soothing. The anticipation is thrilling. Thank you very much. Peter Pevensie could never compete with your Yoda ears and overuse of the word y’all. And, yes, I adore hearing books read aloud. There’s something magical about closing one's eyes and just “feeling” the book wrap around you. Or at least that’s what it’s like for me.
I will tell you something that only Luke knows. I used to write children’s books, but I feel I’m more of a concept story person than an actual nuts-and-bolts writer. (Though Luke has a great gift for rhyme and should attempt his own children’s book with Dr. Seuss flare, but I can’t convince him.) I love creating fairy tales of my own, but Luke is the only one who’s ever read any of my ideas because I can’t imagine them measuring up to the classics I hold so dear to my heart. Usually I come up with them in response to reading a poorly written children’s book. Then I feel compelled to set things right, at least in my own mind, by creating one that’s better. Some of my ideas revolved around Appalachian culture and I added a bit of Celtic “magic” from our ancestry to create more homespun fairy tales, but to be perfectly honest, my real love is creating an atmosphere for others to fall in love with stories. I don’t know if there is a profession for “book atmosphere creator.”
I love the sentiment that you’re doing what God created you to do! I am still sorting out where I’m supposed to be and what I’m intending to do, but I know it involves books and children and . . . possibly dressing in a story costume on occasion. Dreams are tricky things, aren’t they? Sometimes they feel as elusive as fog, other times as blinding, and sometimes . . . perfectly clear. I’m in the “foggy” spot right now.
I don’t think anyone has ever referred to me as witty or charming. I’m glad you think so. I may be tempted to use your opinion as a defense when Josie calls me dull and uninteresting. Evidently, if I brighten my wardrobe, I automatically brighten my prospects. Very Cinderella-ish of her, isn’t it?
Luke has relinquished one Wodehouse book. He’s keeping the others to reread . . . and likely taunt me. He enjoys dangling words over my head at any opportunity. It really is one of the worst punishments known to booklovers.
I look forward to talking with you this afternoon.
Izzy
PS: I’m amenable (as well as pleasantly surprised and a bit nervous) to have you visit. Would you like me to send a list of hotels or . . . if you’re brave enough, you could stay with Luke. He’s offered, so that says something. I can’t vouch for his cooking, but he’ll provide a great deal of comic relief and, unfortunately for me, plenty of embarrassing stories from days long ago (or . . . not so long ago).
From: Dr. Eli Montgomery
To: Izzy Edgewood
Date: April 5
Subject: Edits
Izzy,
Your notes regarding my heroine are fabulous! You truly seem to get the heart of my story. I’m so glad we met. I feel as though we’re a perfect pair—you with your eye for detail and me with my story creating.
How about dinner Friday night? The Italian restaurant on Main Street has a great reputation. I’ll bring more chapters. You bring your beautiful smile and conversation. I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun talking books with anyone before.
Eli
From: Izzy Edgewood
To: Dr. Eli Montgomery
Date: April 5
Subject: Re: Edits
You’re welcome. Yes, I can meet you on Friday. I think it would be good to talk over what makes a good hero in romantic books too. Readers will find him much more appealing if he talked less about his accolades, adventures, and pursuits and tried to show more care for others. Most heroes are that way, if you read more eclectically. It’s a great character trait in both fictional and nonfictional people.
Izzy
PS: Good conversations are wonderful things, aren’t they?
From: Brodie Sutherland
To: Izzy Edgewood
Date: April 5
Subject: Books, atmosphere, and hobbies
Isabelle,
I knew it! I knew you had to have some sort of writing outlet for all the passion you have in your words. It seemed impossible not to reconcile the two. Are you an artist as well? Singer? Do you play any instruments? I attempted the trumpet, but my brother said I didn’t have enough . . . what would you call it? “Hot air” to keep the notes solid. However, he took up the trumpet without any trouble. What does that say of my brother . . . and hot air?
I hope at some point, when you feel ready, I can convince you to share your story ideas. Then I can encourage you to do something more than hide them with Luke as your only audience. I have a keen eye for good stories and have tried my hand at a few nonsensical ones here and there (perhaps Luke and I should coauthor something Seussian and ridiculous). It’s one of the reasons my father put me in charge of book ordering when I first started with the business. Some of the reason had to do with my natural love of reading, of course, as well as the speed at which I read, but Da used to say I had a nose for a solid story. I can only imagine what your stories must be like. And perhaps it has something to do with this foggy dream of yours?
And as far as creating an atmosphere for books as an employment—that is brilliant! A good story is one thing, an atmosphere that encourages marination in the story is icing on the proverbial cake. It is my opinion that good editors and storytellers do just that. When someone loves a story, that love casts some sort of spell to draw others into the magic. Excellent idea! I can only imagine how you make this sort of magic happen at the library after seeing your book parade.
I wish Sutherland’s could find a way to differentiate our brand so we could have a unique yet broader appeal. That is one of my plans for the future, but if your story-atmospheric brain thinks of any ideas, I’ll be happy to hear them. To be honest, the longer I work in this profession, the more I realize how very far behind the times our shops are. Mum and Anders are reluctant to change them, and I’m afraid neither Brynna nor I have found a way (or an idea) to inspire change.
