conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What could be a title for a book about Sarah, Fain, Kansas with the genre: Teen & Young Adult, Literature & Fiction?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A title for this book could be 'Bass Ackwards and Belly Up'
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the first three paragraphs for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Bass Ackwards and Belly Up
  Harper glanced back at the two whole words on her screen and thought about her conversation with Sophie.
  Harper had never wanted to be one of those nostalgia hounds who haunted the corridors of their former high school, reliving the glory days of Friday night football games and Latin Club bake sales. But here she was. Haunting.
  Not by choice, she reminded herself. She was darkening the linoleum-lined hallways of Fairview High with a purpose. Amy had forgotten to bring her American History essay to school, and the teacher, Ms. Mazarra, was notoriously unforgiving about late assignments.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know five more paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: As Stuart paid the check, she stared out the window at the mountains and listed all the reasons she hated herself. One, she hadn't made him laugh once tonight. Two, she'd spent an hour straightening her hair, which was so pathetic and desperate. Three, she couldn't stop being afraid.
  As they pulled up to the redbrick building, Becca reached for the door handle almost before the car was fully stopped. Fleeing seemed de rigeur.
  She sighed. "I don't know why you wanted to go out with me. This must have been the worst night of your life."
  She knew where he was going. "Where everyone's nervous, and they make all these mistakes. So then, in the big game..."
  But even the morning rush couldn't ruin her good mood. Having sprung herself, at least temporarily, from the Waddle Detention Center for Wayward Writers, Harper felt like a new woman. Being out in the world, even the tiny world of the Rainy Day Books Café, was a new adventure. This was how Helen Keller must have felt at the water pump when she uttered her first word to Annie Sullivan. Reborn.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the last five paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Harper knew why those fifty-one pages hadn't been what she wanted. Why nothing she'd written had been what she wanted.
  Because she had been writing to prove something. She'd wanted to produce the next Great American Novel to show the world that she was worth something. That she wasn't just a waste of oxygen. The Dream Plan had been nothing more than a tool to hide her shame.
  But all of that had changed when she confessed to Becca, Kate, and Sophie. Something had been released inside of her, and she knew now what she wanted to do.
  Harper opened a new document and put her fingers on the keyboard. From now on, she was following her Dream for herself, not for anyone else. Maybe she'd write the next Great American Novel. Maybe she wouldn't.
  SF: Coach Forest Carey of the Middlebury ski team, Cheryl at Americans for African Adoptions, and Evan Dumouchel—thanks for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Many thanks to Pamela Beccera, who mentored me just as much as I mentored her. And, of course, to all of my parents—Judy Strong, Bob Fain, Anna Fain, Jerry Carson, and Gordon Scholes—thanks for knowing that when it comes to dreams, tread softly.