Back to 80: My literary life

Chapter 268 Hot sales in the United States

It's the end of October, and the weather in Xijing is gradually getting cooler.

During this period, Fang Minghua received letters from writers one after another, some of which were direct calls, and without exception they agreed to publish their novels in the United States.

The young man named Liu Cixin who was far away in Niangziguan Power Plant not only expressed his gratitude in the letter, but also carefully asked how to solve the translation problem of his article "The Wandering Earth"?
Do you need to pay for the translation yourself?
Of course not.

That girl in London, England has already started translating for you.

free.

Consider me a small compensation for your shedding of wool?
Now that he had obtained the writers' authorization, Fang Minghua did not hesitate to download the published clips and put them in a large envelope, and wrote a letter to Lawrence Ferlinghetti in Los Angeles and enclosed it.

At the same time, he wrote a letter to Sun Lizhe in Chicago, telling him that the novel had been sent to Lawrence Ferlinghetti and that he had been entrusted with all follow-up matters.

Good news.

What Fang Minghua didn't know was that in the United States, his "The Bridge of Lost Dreams" had just been published, causing a storm in the best-selling book industry in the United States. In major bookstores in New York, the supply of this novel that had just been released suddenly exceeded the demand.

The novel has only been on the market for two weeks, and it has climbed into the top three bestsellers of the New York Times, and sales are still rising!
For a time, the publishing phone number of Simon & Schuster, which published "Covered Bridge's Lost Dreams", was inundated with calls.

On the one hand, booksellers from all over the country are calling for additional printing and sales, and on the other hand, readers are calling the publishing house to ask:
Did the novel actually happen?

Is the Rothman Covered Bridge in the book still there?
Where is Francesca's husband's grave?

Clark, the editor in charge of the book, was overwhelmed by the calls from enthusiastic readers.

"Oh, my God, how do I know? This Chinese writer named Minghua has returned to China. Do you want me to go to a distant eastern country to inquire?"

Fortunately, he entrusted Sun Lizhe, the general manager of a Chicago-based company called Universal Books Publishing Company, with full authority to handle all aspects of the book.

Clark immediately called Chicago and heard the man's voice on the phone with a not very standard English accent.

"I'm Sun Lizhe, is there something wrong with Mr. Fang's book?"

"No, no, everything is fine." Clark explained on the phone, and then talked about the problem he encountered.

Sun Lizhe on the phone was also confused. Before leaving, Minghua only signed a letter of authorization with him, but did not explain the ins and outs of writing this book.

Who knows if the things written in the novel are true stories he has heard? I don’t know if the Rossman Covered Bridge exists or not?
"Mr. Clark, didn't you ask the translator of this novel, Ms. Nie Hualing of the University of Iowa, about the situation?" Sun Lizhe asked on the phone.

"Oh, I called and asked, but Ms. Nie wasn't sure. She only translated it and didn't ask about the source of the novel."

oh.
"Mr. Sun, can you make a long-distance call to your country and ask about the situation in Minghua?" Clark made his request.

Let me call Minghua and ask?

The issue is:
It seems that the phone number at their workplace cannot support international long distance calls. We keep in touch via letters. I can write to you and ask.
write a letter?

My God, from the United States to China, and then from China to the United States, a round trip takes at least two months, right?
In what you Chinese would say, the day lily is cold!

Clark slapped his forehead.

However, Sun Lizhe revealed a piece of news on the phone: "While Mr. Fang was visiting IWP in Iowa, he had a close relationship with a college student named Emily from a private university in Davenport, and they often went out to play together. , she may know something about this novel."

"OK!" Clark was overjoyed: "I'll take a flight to Davenport in the evening!"

Davenport is a city in eastern Iowa, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. It is a city of 10 people.

At the end of October, the city of Davenport has entered late autumn. The sassafras trees all over the city have changed from summer green to orange now, but the unique fragrance of the sassafras trees is still fragrant.

Emily was wearing a thick sweater and washed-white jeans, and was reading quietly in a bookstore outside the school.

I was holding a copy of the recently popular novel "Covered Bridge's Lost Dreams" in my hand.

She had read the Chinese manuscript of this book but could not understand it.

That was what the Chinese young man named Minghua asked him to watch when he was in Iowa City in the summer.

When I read the English version now, I realized that the bridge I once saw in the small town of Winterset in Madison County and the very ordinary story I heard in that unknown small restaurant were so beautifully written. .

"Each of us lives in our own past. It takes a minute to get to know someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to fall in love with someone. But what happens in the end? It takes a lifetime to forget someone."

When she read this sentence in the book, she suddenly remembered that summer, after visiting the town of Winterset, the two of them went back together. Minghua had said something similar in the car.

It turns out that he is not only writing about Francesca and Robert in the novel, but also about us, right?

The floodgates of memories suddenly opened, and Emily remembered the two of them driving around in the Iowa countryside, and sitting on the roof of her home watching the stars and the moon chatting.
Suddenly I became a little crazy.

"Excuse me, are you Miss Emily?" Suddenly a man's voice interrupted her memory. Emily turned around and saw a strange middle-aged man in a suit and leather shoes standing in front of her.

"you are?"

"Hello, I'm Clark, editor of Simon & Schuster." The middle-aged man took out a business card from his pocket and handed it to her, then pointed at the book in her hand.

"He is also the editor-in-chief of the book you picked up."

Emily took the business card and glanced at it before returning it to the other party.

"I'm Emily, what do you want from me?"

"Excuse me, are you familiar with Mr. Fang, the author of this book?" Clark asked.

"It's okay. He used to be a visiting student in the IWP program of the University of Iowa. I was taking classes at the University of Iowa's summer school at the time. We met by chance. What's wrong? Is there any problem?"

"Oh, it's nothing." Clark quickly replied: "Beautiful lady, please allow me to buy you a cup of coffee and chat about Minghua and this book. I guess you also know that this book is a bestseller. , enthusiastic readers want to know some background of the novel, and Mr. Fang is far away in China, so I want to know from you about the situation of taking you."

Emily hesitated for a moment before saying: "Well, okay."

The two left the bookstore and entered the coffee shop next door. After ordering two cups of steaming coffee, Clark couldn't wait to ask: "Miss Emily, how did you meet Mr. Fang? Was it in Iowa City?" "

"No, no, it was earlier than that." A smile appeared on Emily's face: "We were on the train to Chicago. He was going to Chicago to attend this year's science fiction "Nebula Awards" award ceremony."

Oh my god.

Clark almost forgot that he is also a famous science fiction writer and the winner of this year's Nebula Award.

(End of this chapter)