2 Questions Every Girl is Asking Herself

Chapter 67

Just when I was feeling particularly sorry for myself for being broke and ashamed, and caged up in the limbo of no-progress, an editor from a publishing house contacted me and asked if I was interested in publishing my book.

In return I did an CSI'ish investigative check of her background, mostly along the lines of Is this for real? Could it be a scam? When I found out that her company is a national book publisher headquartered in Beijing and has been in business for over 70 years, I realized a smallish miracle had just descended in my universe. (An occurrence akin to seeing a spaceship carrying handsome aliens like Kim Soo Hyun landing on earth).

I mean you read about pop stars being discovered while they are shopping in the mall, or dancing in a nightclub, and you kind of fantasize about being discovered too, but you don't actually count on that happening. I have heard of far more horror stories of writers banging their heads (and books) against the door of publishing houses and still get rejected. (Just ask JK Rowling or Stephen King.)

But it turns out, this editor, Dandan, stumbled upon my blog while leisurely browsing through other, more famous, contestants on FCWR. She liked what I'd written on my Chinese blog and requested for the full manuscript. What are the chances?!

It appears the show had worked, after all.

Over the next few months, Dandan and I became chummy buddies on IM. We talked about adding photos in, adding stories about what it was like to be on the dating show. We also talked about the book's planned retail prices, royalties, and time of release. She said once it's acquired, they have in-house translators who will translate the book into Chinese. It will likely be released in February of next year. Her boss had approved the deal and they were thinking of titles.

All very amazing stuff.

Going through the book editing and publishing paperwork was a delicious twirl of time. Every form I filled out was a singing sparrow, a magic trick, a truffle for me. I would wake up in the morning and click through my photos, looking for the best images to add to the story. The idea that it will be read by people who would find it useful made me laugh in delight. And as the days rolled by, the show well behind us, my relationship with Matt improved.

I walked under the warm September sun holding his hand, and I told him, "The contract they are offering me is pretty standard in the industry. The advance equates to less than a month's salary in consulting. And this book took a whole year to write." Still, I smiled.

Around this time, Matt was going on his second rotation in Brazil. Another two months apart. Shortly before he left, he took me on a day trip to Whistler. The trip wasn't particularly amazing, the beer wasn't that great, but I appreciated the gesture. I liked being with him. Even if it's doing boring things together.

Then one totally random night, Matt said something I wasn't expecting. Completely out of the blue.

He did it when drove me home in his black Honda civic. He parked in front of my house and we were chatting about the day. He said a coworker of his had just married a girl from China. She recently moved to Canada and has been looking for work for a year. The coworker comes home after a long day and sees that dinner hasn't been cooked, laundry isn't done, the house is a mess, while the wife is sitting in front of the TV playing video games.

Hubby asks why she hasn't bothered to at least make dinner.

Wife replies, "Well, if you made more money, we would be eating out all the time."

Then she picks up the phone and orders takeout.

My reaction was something along the lines of a grimace.