Read Online Wish Club by Kim Strickland - Free Book Online Page A

only to have them end up here, in obscurity, their titles and names never heard of or forgotten, lost in a sea of bargain books. She mourned for them. It took a lot to write a book, a lot of time, a lot of courage, things she had always thought she had. Or would have. She’d envisioned herself writing her novels over the summer breaks and then editing and refining at night during the school year.
    Claudia got off the escalator and stood in front of another display. She picked up a copy of a best-selling hardcover book and looked at the cover. She ran a hand over the jacket, creaked it open. God, how she had wanted this. How many books had she started? Three? Four? It didn’t matter. It was an idea she had given up on.
    She’d abandoned it shortly after buying a
Writer’s Market
guide. “Over 4.3 Million Sold,” it boasted on the cover. Four-point-three million. That was a lot of people writing, and they were all probably working on their novels, the pinnacle of prose, what the marathon was to runners. The look on the clerk’s face when he’d rung up her purchase was what had stopped her writing cold, had given her a writer’s block that to date had lasted for two years. In one brief glance, his look had mocked her. It was as if he’d said,
Oh yeah, sweetie, you too. Isn’t everyone writing their novel?
Of course, she realized, everyone was. Four-point-three million copies sold.
    Now, Claudia resigned herself to just reading books. It was much less frustrating for her, and she felt free to criticize and critique without fear of any future karmic repercussions. It also made her feel a little less like a character in someone else’s novel—the English-teacher/aspiring writer.
    Claudia turned the corner and arrived at the New Age section and began scanning for
The Sacredness of the Wiccan Way.
She could have called ahead to see if they had it, but then they always ask if they can hold a copy for you. Claudia could visualize the book behind the counter with “Dubois” emblazoned on the spine, right there in front of the main check-out counter. Ms. Dubois, teacher at the prestigious Strawn Academy of Arts and Sciences, a heathen. Blatant paganism right there for all to see. She couldn’t take the chance, even if this store was out of the way, even if her school was always professing its desire to “embrace individualism.”
    If only she could be more bold. Yeah, well. Claudia always managed to find a way to stop herself when it came to acting more bold. She couldn’t even shoo away one of her students without worrying about getting fired.
    Claudia started looking for the book. The New Age Wicca section wasn’t too big, which was a good thing, since Lindsay had never gotten back to her with the author’s name.
    A woman came around the corner and stood next to her, pulling a book off the shelf and flipping through it slowly.
Bell’s Complete Astrologer and Ephemeris.
She had long gray hair and was wearing a long skirt, down to her ankles, and sandals with socks—an edgy, bohemian look but, judging from the skirt, the sandals and the jewelry, one that didn’t come cheap. The woman smelled vaguely of sandalwood incense.
    Great,
Claudia thought.
That’s how I’m going to end up. A crazy old New Age woman browsing astrology books and looking all eccentric. I’ll bet she has twenty cats at home.
    Claudia glanced from the shoes to the shelf and found herself staring directly at the store’s only copy of
The Sacredness of the Wiccan Way.
She crouched down and began flipping through it. It seemed to be everything Lindsay had said it would be. It was big, but it wasn’t terribly expensive. Claudia’s knees started to ache. She sat down cross-legged on the floor and flicked through the book, resting it on her lap. The woman reached for another book, this time pulling out a copy of
Past Lives, Past Loves,
skimming it, then putting it quickly back on the shelf.
    The woman ran her hands slowly along a row of books on