Without a Net Read Online Free PDF Page B

out with the hospital. Not to mention living in Santa Monica isn’t cheap. Whatever you’ll be paying each month for rent, utilities, and food could probably support a family of four in Wichita for a year.”
    “You’ve never been to Wichita. How would you know?”
    “Stop avoiding the subject. If we miss the filing deadline, we’re screwed.”
    “It’s not that bad,” Eva disagreed, ignoring the fact that there were plenty of times she’d felt just as pessimistic about the future. If all else failed, she could still auction off the meager collection of jewelry and designer clothing Roger had given her over the course of their marriage. She’d have done that already, if not for the fact that she needed to maintain at least the façade of success in order to attract paying clients. And whatever she would get on eBay for her Louboutins and Jimmy Choos, it would still be just a drop in the bucket compared to what she owed because of Roger’s unfortunate investment choices. “The accountant says I can claim a tax deduction for the capital gains taxes Roger paid on his withdrawals from Blackwell.”
    “ Meaning you’ll get that money refunded?”
    “ Not exactly. More like it’ll offset whatever taxes I owe going forward. So in the end, I probably won’t have to pay the IRS anything on the sale of the house. As long as I have all the supporting paperwork, and can get it in on time.”
    “Great. Prepare to be audited.”
    “I don’t have anything to hide.”
    “Right. That was your husband.”
    Eva gritted her teeth. “Look, Angie, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but rehashing the past isn’t particularly helpful.”
    “Sorry.” Angie glanced at her watch. “I have to run. At least promise me you’ll go over the form. Three pages, that’s all I’m asking.”

Chapter 6
     
    Max watched the virtual fish swim across his laptop screen. He’d been doing a lot of that lately, staring at the computer screensaver in lieu of doing something productive.
    Everyone had one book in them. At least that was the conventional wisdom. Well, he’d written his, and now he was stuck trying to figure out what to do next.
    The whole process of accumulating rejection slips from agents and publishing houses didn’t appeal. Besides, it took too long. In a world where everything else moved at lightning speed, data bytes streaking along fiber optic cables, transmitting billions of signals and data points per second, the glacial pace of getting a book out to the public seemed ridiculously dated.
    Luckily, while he was recuperating, he’d stumbled onto an online community of indie writers—authors who self-published their work. He devoured their blogs, eavesdropped on their discussion groups, and slowly shed all his preconceptions. Gone apparently were the vanity presses of previous generations, outfits that charged a writer exorbitant fees to print a limited number of books, which the author was then responsible for hawking. He recalled one of his high school English teachers going that route, passing out books to anyone who wanted one. Max had at some point used his copy as a doorstop. He cringed now at the memory. Having spent the past three months slaving over his own manuscript, he knew how hard the process of writing could be. Whoever said it was like slitting open a vein and bleeding was right.
    At least today’s technology made sharing books with readers much easier. Thanks to distribution giants like Amazon, and hand-held devices like the Kindle, Nook, and iPad, indie books were reaching the public in unprecedented numbers. Uploading a finished manuscript was quick, easy, and the digital platforms integrated seamlessly into whatever e-gadget a reader had.
    So that’s what Max decided to do. He’d already had an editor proofread his work. All he needed was someone to design an eye-catching cover, and he was good to go. Maybe a website as well. And a blog. It seemed every writer had a blog these