One afternoon, when Amelia was finished her editing work for day, she took a few minutes to fold the laundry.
While she was folding, her editor friend Nancy called, and Amelia put her on speaker while she finished the chore.
“How is your author doing?” Amelia asked. “The last time we talked, he had writer’s block and was refusing to get dressed in the mornings.”
“He’s doing much better now,” Nancy replied. “He’s actually writing a children’s book.”
“But didn’t he write suspense mysteries before?” Amelia asked. “What sort of children’s book is he writing?”
“The ABCs of Forensic Pathology for Little Peggy,” Nancy replied.
“Oh no…”
“Yes. He thinks it’ll be a big hit,” Nancy sighed. “I don’t know what to do with him! If he can’t sell it, neither of us will be paid.”
“Maybe it’ll be good, after all!” Amelia said hopefully. “What is it about?”
“The theft of a teddy bear, and all the crime scene evidence left behind,” Nancy said. “Finger prints, a stray hair, footprints, DNA left on a postage stamp…”
That could have been much worse! It actually sounded rather cute.
“You know what… that might be pure gold!” Amelia said. “You just never know! Authors are strange animals, and they can suddenly change lanes. Patricia is known for her romances, but she wrote a cozy mystery and it got nominated for an award. So you never know.”
It felt good to chat with another editor about the job. No one else understood the unique challenge of dealing with authors better than another editor. Authors WERE strange animals, and they required a lot of supervision.
“If you were to write a book, George, what would it be about?”
George was thoughtful. “I think I’d write a financial book about how to have a baby on a budget.”
“Are you serious?” Amelia asked. “Do you know about that?”
“Not yet,” he replied. “But if I came across that book right now, I’d buy it.”
“That’s a good point,” Amelia said. She was impressed. George was very pragmatic.
“What kind of book would you write?” George asked.
“I’d write a sweeping romance about an Amish frog who is forced into a marriage of convenience in order to rescue her family from certain ruin.”
“A forced marriage?” George asked. “Aren’t marriages better when you get to choose your own frog?”
“In real life, yes,” Amelia said. “In fiction, it’s much better to mix things up. My Amish frog hero would end up falling desperately in love with his wife.”
“Would the wife love the husband?” George asked.
“Not at first. But eventually she would.”
“I like your idea better,” George said. “I’d watch that movie.”
“The book would be better, of course,” Amelia said. “But I like how you jump right to movie deals.”
Because George was a pragmatic frog. It was one of the things that Amelia loved about him.
Amelia and George lived in Northern Canada, and spring had finally arrived. The temperature was rising, the snow was melting, trees were dripping, a moist breeze was blowing, and Patricia Johns had finally opened up some windows to let fresh air in. Everywhere they could hear the sound of dripping water from melting ice.
“We should take a walk,” Amelia said.
“We should,” George agreed.
“It would be good for us–fresh air and exercise.”
“Very healthy. Good for the heart and lungs,” George agreed.
They stood, looking outside at the puddles on the sidewalk for a moment. That sound of dripping water and blowing wind sounded rather chilly. Neither of them really wanted to go outside. It was nicer to just smell the fresh air and look at the slushy sidewalks.
“But then again, we only have so much winter left,” George said.
“That’s true! It would be a shame to waste perfectly good snowy weather,” Amelia said, brightening. “It’ll melt away soon enough.”
“Should we curl up with some Netflix?” George asked. “I can make some hot chocolate for us.”
“That sounds much better!” Amelia agreed.
They went back inside. Tomorrow was another day.
I hope you are enjoying the Knitted Newlyweds. If you like books about love, families, drama and maybe even some sweeping romance, why not check out my books?
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Happy reading!
❤
Patricia Johns 
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