near wild heaven

This is now, this is here, this is me, this is what I wanted you to see.

Spoke to Agent #2 and met a new cagy breed of human: the agent. She liked my work a lot, but thought the collection would be impossible to sell as a debut. In part this is because collections are a tricky sell anyway, especially tricky for a debut...and mine seemed to lack a kind of ineffable quality that might make it appealing. This said, she likes the stories--they are "dark and compelling"--and while she thinks places like Knopf won't publish it but should, she may publish several of my stories in the literary journal she edits. She requested "dibs," and I gave them.

She also really loved the novel start, all 40+ pages, and this is really why I think she has taken an interest in me. She's really behind it, and I think she wants to take a flyer on it right now, in the hopes that it finishes as its started. She made the point of telling me that she generally does not phone people's homes to say she loves their work and is interested in it--she made this point while having phoned my house to compliment my work--so I take all of this as good. She gave solid counsel to me, but she is not my agent. She has not "actually" taken me on. But I'm going to let this ride because I think this can only lead to good places. 2006 is looking like a good year. Now, if only I can get enough sleep at night...

posted by: zithereen at January 04, 2006 10:42 | link | comments (1) |