Agenty Thoughts
Last week I went to NYC!
We saw a play. We hung out with friends. We had pho for the first time. We went to a rooftop bar and felt very Gossip Girl. But the three main objectives of my trip were thus:
1. Pilgrimage to Crumbs. Done, three times over. My friend Meg and I went every day.
2. Meet my agent. Done! Awesomesauce Agent Jim is, as his name suggests, so, so nice. We geeked out about books and series and covers we do/do not like. We talked about theatre and favorite playwrights. He insisted on giving me books by other Dystel & Goderich authors. He is so passionate about books and his clients that I feel pretty confident he’s someone I would still like tremendously had he not also happened to speak very hopefully about my own book. It made it feel very real, to be having coffee (okay, mint iced tea) with my agent in NYC, hearing the list of editors he plans to submit the manuscript to. It also made me less terrified of him. Here’s hoping that next time my phone rings and it’s “Empire State of Mind” I’ll have slightly less of a heart attack?
3. Go to the Strand. Done! Emphatically. Steve and I went to New York on the Bolt Bus with four books between us. We came home with…twenty-nine. Eighteen of which were mine. Kind of ridiculous, I know.
Now I’m home and tackling another Garolass revision. Agent Jim asked if I could look at the end again. Fix the pacing and one minor character’s motivation. My first reaction, honestly, was teh sads. Why didn’t I catch those flaws last time? Why am I not the brilliant writer I want to be? It makes so much sense when he points these things out; why don’t I see them myself? This means another few weeks before we can start submitting it to that exciting list of editors. I keep thinking I’m almost there, sosoclose, and then…there’s another step.
I have this dramaturgy gig doing a 24 hour play fest this weekend at my undergrad, and one of my besties is flying in from San Diego tomorrow, and I’m gonna stay in a dorm again, and lo there will be lots of wine, and my brain is full of over-analytical college reunion thoughts now (could I ever have imagined coffee with my agent 8 years ago?). I’m feeling a little bit overwhelmed, but mostly–mostly, I am lucky to have someone in my corner who will tell me honestly when it’s not as good as it could be.
