No Matter What: The Ghost Writer and the Male Supermodel

By Lesley Atherton

Jayne Smith is a ghost writer – in more ways than one.
When forced into writing a self-help book for supermodel Hawk, her life changes for the worst, but even this ghost writer will get her happy ending...

Perfect nighttime, commuting and holiday read.

Books by this Author

•Bigheart
•Conflict Management: Novelettes For Discerning Readers (Collection of No Matter What, Walking With Eve, Divine Intervention and Changes)
•Crash Test Dummy
•Feet On The Table: An Enormous Book Of Tiny Stories
•Life’s a Mess... and Then You Die: Hoarding, Writing and Lost Family
•Melissa And The Mobility Scooter: And Other Bedtime Stories
•The Waggon

Published by Words Are Life. Do support independent publishers!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lesley Atherton
• Release date: Dec 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005041359

Lesley Atherton

I’ve always been a writer. I was the kind of kid who would create little books of my own, and I also did quite well at school when it came to writing projects and exams.I’ll always remember my lovely English teacher, Mrs Nash, giving us an assignment. We had to read Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Blackberry Picking’ and then were told to write our own version.My resultant poem, though simple, used some strong words and brought positive and glowing reactions from Mrs Nash, both at the time and later in her literary flourish of an end of year report card in which she told me how much my writing had blossomed and would soon become wonderful. I loved that teacher so much. She was awesome, kind, creative and a little eccentric. Unfortunately, I don’t have her report anymore, and I don’t have the poem either. I just remember that it began something like this:Blackberry picking, sweet and sticky, Dum de dum de dum de dum, Like a gaping wound.Later in life, I married a writer who became a publisher and helped him out with office and business management. I loved the writing-related work that came with it too - reviews, articles, copywriting and editing, proofreading and the rest of the whole shenanigans. Yep, I loved all that.Later, when we split up and the children were a little older and more self-reliant, writing seemed to become my ‘thing’. It was what I wanted and needed to do.When I got a little braver I saw a poster on a bookshop wall. It was for a writing group, and it gave Michelle’s email as a contact. I emailed her a few breathily nervous messages, then we agreed to meet at a local café. It was a lovely and unforgettable meeting. She directed me to join a writing group and this was what I did. Joining the group expanded my new writing confidence massively.So I began publishing more. Writing a little less (temporarily). And Scott Martin Productions was born.The company became Words Are Life as I moved away from publishing fiction (I am truly appalling at selling things, and nonfiction sells itself to some extent). I carried on writing, ready to publish.So, that’s my history. Good at editing, not bad at imagination and writing skills, but bloody awful at selling stuff.​In recent years I’ve published ‘Melissa And The Mobility Scooter’, which is a gorgeous book of bedtime stories for children (not just girls!) between 5 and 8. Older children will enjoy reading ‘Melissa’ themselves.I’ve also published a collection of novelettes called ‘Conflict Management’. It’s an interesting collection of stories about good and evil twins, managing autism and long term illness, making serious life decisions, ghostwriting, revenge, and working with a male supermodel.My first novel originally came out under the name, ‘Past, Present, Tense’, then was slightly re-written under the name ‘Life’s a Mess... And Then You Die’. I love this book. It’s all about hoarding, family lost and found, dysfunctional relationships, vengeance and hope for the future.And, I've also written what might just be the largest, floppiest book of empowering short stories ever created. It is called 'Feet On The Table'; and is the result of many, many years of work.At the time of writing, I’ve just published my second novel, ‘The Waggon’. I normally don’t have much confidence in my work but I believe this to be the best thing I’ve ever written! It came about as the final assignment of a Masters Degree in Creative Writing. This was back before Covid times, and I was due to publish it, but lost a lot of creative confidence when I was given a Merit on the course. I genuinely believed the writing deserved a better grade, which is unlike me. Unsure about how to progress, I gave it to a number of beta readers for feedback. It is their feedback that’s enabled me to rewrite the book. I hope it is deserving of a Distinction grade, even if it is only in my own head! Better late than never.I have also just published short ebooks, 'Crash Test Dummy', 'Could This Be An Office Romance?', and 'Bigheart'. Also, my books, Can't Sleep, Won't Sleep - short story anthologies available here on Smashwords.So, that’s where I am at the moment. I’m publishing on a few different platforms and am concentrating on editing and writing. There aren’t enough hours in the day to write all I want to write, but it’s getting a little easier every day.

Book preview

No Matter What

No Matter What

The Ghost Writer and

the Male Supermodel

by Lesley Atherton

Published by

Words Are Life

www.wordsarelife.co.uk

Published in Great Britain in 2022 by Words Are Life.

Words Are Life

10 Chester Place,

Adlington, Chorley, PR6 9RP

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www.wordsarelife.co.uk

Copyright (c) Lesley Atherton and Words Are Life 2022

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

No Matter What

The Ghost Writer and the Male Supermodel

Chapter One

Normally I love my job. I adore the ludicrous challenges it poses, and the ridiculous assignments that regularly appear uninvited in my inbox.

I’m a ghostwriter, you see.

I’m successful, though completely unknown, and that’s the way I like it.

That’s the way I need it.

I’ve written books for footballers and fishermen, ex-cons made good, and politicians made bad.

Give me a subject and I’ll give you a book.

That’s the strapline I use on my anonymous website and my anonymous blog.

Usually, I love my job, but that doesn’t mean that things can’t go wrong…

Chapter Two

My agent, Susan, emailed me early that morning to present me with a new proposition. Hawk, a famous male model not known for either his wisdom or his compassion, had decided to write a self-help book.

But Hawk did not know how to write, and to make things even worse, he also had no other skills he could put into play - not only did he have no idea of grammar, punctuation, planning or organisation, but he also had no skills in self-help. He was distinctly lacking in compassion, empathy, and (above all) common sense.

This impartial information hadn’t come to me through magazines or the usual celebrity gossip channels of hairdresser studios, tabloid papers and crap television, as I hadn’t even heard of him till that morning (yes, I know, I’m insular almost to the point of agoraphobia). The words above were Susan’s words, and have been related almost verbatim. She was certainly not a Hawk fan - but it didn’t matter much. She wasn’t a fan of any of the celebrities we slaved to satisfy. She was a woman who was most definitely in the wrong profession.

So, I, Jayne Smith, was to be paid peanuts for the creation of a book which was destined to earn its pretend author thousands, if not millions. It was also likely to earn him kudos and respect. Like every other occasionally resentful ghostwriter, I reckoned I had some idea of how Marni Nixon must have felt (she was the singer whose voice most famously overdubbed Audrey Hepburn’s in ‘My Fair Lady’). Now there was a woman who never got her proper recognition.

I read through Susan’s email again, and certain phrases jumped off the screen at me. ‘Vacuous Dickhead’ was one she used quite a lot, and others, like ‘Typical Model’ and ‘Waste of Fucking Space’ had been capitalised and appended with many exclamation marks.

I’d agreed to do it, of course, but how the hell would I, a woman whose life was falling apart, be able to write a series of self-help books?

And how the hell would I be able to give it a supermodel slant? No, this wasn’t an assignment that reached me as its natural destination.

However, not being a person who ever gives up without a fight, I also wasn’t ready to contact Susan and explain my apprehension till I’d at least got started.

So, I got started.

Want to be Happy, No Matter What?

Introduction

I'm not a psychologist, a life coach, or in any way qualified to write a book of this type, other than by virtue of being born a human being: a human being who thinks and feels and who occasionally analyses what's going on around him, and one who has been on the planet for quite some time. I’m a supermodel. That doesn’t qualify me to help you with your life, but please hear me out.

The information given in this book is not provided in the form of advice or commands, simply positive information. What you choose to do with the information, and how you choose to interpret it, is your decision entirely.

Of course, short books of this type lay themselves open to accusations of (in the words of Basil Fawlty) Stating the bleeding obvious but I would like to defend that position. Yes, most of what's within is obvious, but there are many times when reminders are required. This book is just that - a reminder of what might at other times seem obvious. When I’ve been in my darkest moments, it’s what I’ve needed. Almost an affirmation of what is real.

For this book, I’ve drawn occasionally on my own experiences, because they are the best and most personal information sources I can access. All experiences are valid so I decided to share what's worked for me in this short book which is ideal for dipping into should you need inspiration during your daily life, commute or even sleepily before