Offer letter in hand, I wondered if a dream had turned to reality. Surely it wasn't this easy to get published? And it wasn't, but i was mislead. That comes later in the story.
The world is an odd place full of minds that think in their own realm. To predict someone else's motives or understand reasoning is arduous. Even the inner workings of our own mind cannot be entirely unveiled.
When I received the offer letter for my first novel I was 8 months pregnant. I can't imagine the state of mind I inhabited at that time, nor could I replicate it. I can however explain that even with all those hormones coursing through my body I knew this offer letter was odd.
I scoured the online sight for information on the publisher but found nothing amiss. They were listed under the Better Business Bureau, had a Facebook page, the line up for their publishing process looked legit. There were books on the Amazon bestseller list and even author interviews on their success. In short. Nothing gave me warning bells.
I called the publisher on the phone and asked my questions, putting my arts management brain into high gear. After a week I asked for the contract to review.

We will continue in the Next Segment.