Last week I vowed to finish the fourth chapter by August 31, and I actually made the deadline! 

Well, that’s three chapters more than I expected to finish in this sticky New York City summer so I’m quite pleased. 

Hope you are too. Many thanks to everyone who’s still with me and my recent subscribers. I also find the comments I’m receiving to be very helpful. I want to keep going!

Things are really starting to pick up in the story. In this chapter you will finally meet Oscar and get a taste of what went on in the decade before the main narrative. 

Eve and Oscar built a collection of vintage cocktail books during their time together. In those days it was much easier to find (and afford) original or early edition copies of those fabulous old titles. Most of the ones I mention in the chapter are real, but a particular one that is described toward the end of it (you’ll know it when you get there) is not. 

“Ooooh! What is it based on? Anything/anyone we know?” 

Maybe. But maybe not? 

You have to keep reading to find out! This drop is a wee bit longer than the last three, so if you’re so inclined, I suggest settling in with a good drink—perhaps even stir up a Manhattan to sip along—as you read. (Hopefully it tides you over till I can publish the next one, which I expect to in a couple of weeks.)

As with the mysterious book I just mentioned, the main character, and all characters, places, and events in this story are made up. Any references to real people and places (and drinks!) are fictionally represented but intentionally recognizable. 

If you’re new, here’s a synopsis to explain what I’m doing. 

If you need to catch up on the previous chapters, they can be found in the Schudown archive here. 

If you’re liking what you’re reading, please spread the word!

Please note: because this chapter is a wee bit longer, I am going to post it in two parts. Below is part one. I will publish part before the weekend!

Perfect Manhattan, Chapter Four

Manhattan

By the second week of May, the contract for Amuse Booze: NYC, part of the Sips & Snippets series by Eve Blum, was finalized and signed. The full 280-page manuscript is due May 1, 2008. Sample pages are due in three weeks, and the first quarter of the book, including essays and recipes, must be delivered within two months.The final timeline of nearly a year is deceptively ample given the short distance goal posts set by Sanderling Press.

There’s a $2500 signing advance, far from glamorous, but it’s enough to make a significant dent on a credit card bill. Eve considers trying on that vintage black and petal pink swing dress she had been eyeing on the wall of Reminiscence.

She pledges to reserve certain evenings of each week for book writing only: no Rosalie’s (unless it’s official “research”), no other diversions. Amuse Booze the blog will have to be updated to maintain circulation too, but she’s hoping a few brief, off-the-cuff essays or recipes on one or two Saturday mornings a month will suffice. She looks forward to explaining the unusually long intervals of silence when the book is finished!

She even considers putting a pause on her cable TV subscription to eliminate any threat of diversion, but it’s too tricky to arrange since her landline and internet are part of a packaged bill. TV time will have to be treated like it was in her household growing up: a rewarding distraction for finishing her “homework.”

The night she signed the contract, she threw an old earth tone Moroccan tapestry she had found at a street fair in the Village over the set for good measure. Ada Coleman immediately jumped up on the entertainment shelf unit, sniffed the fabric, then pulled a few inches down to curl up on. Expecting a few longer periods away from the apartment, Eve set aside some cash to pay Annie, a building neighbor with a petsitting business, to feed and hang out with AC as needed.

Sanderling’s quarterly deadlines remind Eve of school semesters with that rush to hand in final papers at the end. She’s back on an accelerated writing schedule, though this time with better Martinis (hopefully).