Sleeping Beauty

Book Tour

Did Ashley and your sister become friends?” a young woman in the back row asked Miles Van Meter.

“Yes, Ashley started visiting Glen Oaks regularly. When Casey was able to walk, Ashley would keep her company on the trails at the Academy. They’re still good friends.”

A hand went up in the second row. Miles smiled at a middle-aged woman in a business suit.

“Sleeping Beauty reads like a murder mystery,” she said. “Have you ever tried your hand at fiction?”

“I took a creative writing course in college. I did rather well in it. And, of course, there are all those lawyers who are writing legal thrillers. When that trend started I thought about trying my hand at one, but I practice business law and my cases were too dull for a good plot.”

“Are you going to write another true crime book?”

“No. Writing about my sister’s case was enough for me.”

“What about a novel?”

Miles smiled shyly. “Well, I do have an idea for a thriller. I’m working up a proposal. If my agent thinks it’s any good I’ll probably take a stab at it.”

A heavyset man in the front row raised his hand and Miles acknowledged him.

“Whose idea was it to write a new edition of Sleeping Beauty?”

“Actually, my editor got the idea after Maxfield’s arrest. He asked me if I had any interest in writing additional chapters that would include the trial for a new edition of the book. I agreed. I thought that the book needed these final chapters to bring the events in it to an end. It also gave me closure.”

A woman who was standing between the bookcases in the back of the room raised her hand. Miles pointed at her.

“Has your sister read Sleeping Beauty and, if she has, what does she think of it?”

“Casey has read it. I think it was tough for her, but she’s one tough lady.”

The audience applauded.

“To answer the second part of your question, Casey said she liked it, but I don’t think she’d be honest with me if she hated it. After all, we love each other. That, by the way, is one reason to never ask your mother to critique your work.”

Miles waited for the laughter to die down before calling on a scholarly-looking gentleman with gray hair and wire-rimmed glasses who was wearing a tweed sports coat with leather patches on the sleeves.

“Was it hard for you to sit through Joshua Maxfield’s trial?”

“Yes and no. I didn’t like to hear about the terrible things he’d done, but I felt great relief that he was finally facing justice. I think it was much harder for Ashley.”