Of This and Other Worlds

It's unofficial Agent Appreciation Day! (Who makes these things official, anyway?) And far be it from me to hold back on declaring my very great and heartfelt appreciation for my agent, Josh Adams of Adams Literary.

I love that Josh and his wife Tracey (who started the agency) work as a team, and have young children so they understand the challenges of raising a family and trying to write at the same time. I love that they're warm, friendly, funny, generous and caring -- I've never doubted that Josh is every bit as invested in the success of my books as I am, and that he really wants to find an editorial match that's in the best interests of me and my writing, not just make a quick sale and leave me to it.

Josh encourages me and affirms me and makes me laugh and tells me not to worry (he's uncannily good at telling when I'm fretful and trying not to show it), and he's always looking ahead and exploring future possibilities. He's great at networking and following up with editors, and fantastic at keeping in touch whenever there's the slightest bit of news.

I've heard all sorts of complaints -- legitimate ones -- from fellow authors whose agents have been indiscreet, apathetic, disorganized, difficult or even downright dishonest, but never once have I felt the need to chime in. I really couldn't wish for a better agent than the one I have, and I'm so thankful that he and Tracey saw the potential in my work and took me on as a client.

Thank you, Josh and Tracey!

Last weekend I attended the SCBWI Canada East conference, a one-day event featuring agent Stephen Barbara of the Donald Maass Literary Agency and authors Alma Fullerton and Jo Ellen Bogart. Unfortunately my pen died early in the afternoon, so Jo Ellen's talk has been lost to posterity. But I took detailed notes in the morning sessions, and got the speakers' permission to post them.

Stephen was up first, so here's a recap in my own words of what he had to say:

( What to do BEFORE you look for an agent )

( Four Habits of Highly Successful Writers )

In Part Two, which I hope to post soon, Stephen discusses what a good agent can do for an author. Part Three will cover the Q&A session that followed his talk.

SCBWI CANADA EAST SPRING CONFERENCE

Location:
Saturday June 23, Barrie, Ontario, Kempenfelt Conference Centre
Just 10 minutes from downtown Barrie or 40 minutes north of the Hwy
400/401 intersection

Featuring:
* Agent Stephen Barbara from the Donald Maass Agency, NY talking about what an agent does, do you need an agent, how to get one. He acquires YA and middle-grade novels plus adult literary fiction and nonfiction. [Yes, he does fantasy/SF -- Ed.]

( More Details )

*** If you'd seriously plan on coming please drop Lizann a note at lflatt@muskoka.com or ra@scbwicanada.org as soon as possible. We need to judge attendance numbers because we will have to cancel if it doesn't look like we can cover our costs. ***

Anyone else interested in this? James and Erin? *dangles shiny new agent*

I got a bicycle for my birthday! A shiny new bicycle from my husband, who is wise in the ways of cycling! Yay! I think this may be the first new bike I've had in my life. And it's certainly the first one I've owned in over fifteen years. *huggles it*

My other birthday present: spring weather! It was positively mild today, and the snowbanks are rapidly shrinking. Dare I hope that by next week they will be gone?

In other news, I fail at writing today -- only 572 words so far. But my head feels like it has been stuffed with cotton wool, and I just can't seem to get my thoughts to cohere. So I have been using the time to do character maps, timelines, and other useful things. At least that will keep me from feeling completely unproductive.

It's embarrassing to admit how hard I have to think to do a timeline, though. I'm constantly counting things on my fingers with my tongue stuck out one side of my mouth, trying to figure out how much time has passed between on event and another -- and even after I've done my best, I'm sure I've got it wrong. Why do numbers hate me so?

I also fail at intuition. I really thought that by now I would have some word from Agent E. about Knife. However, no news is at least potentially good news, right?

Needing something to cheer me up after the horrible train wreck of FBOFW these last few days (Lynn Johnson, you have two days to pull this storyline out of the toilet. I am not optimistic), I turned to my f-list. And superversive, bless him, came through:

I had already read (or watched) all the really seminal English-language fantasy works of [1977], except for The Sword of Shannara. I have therefore been plodding through that distinctive if not distinguished work. It is actually a very good sort of book to read while one is sick and depressed, because it reconciles one to the brevity of life and makes death a happier prospect than it seemed before. In Heaven there are no such books, and in Hell all books will burn.

He promises to write a more detailed review soon. I confess that after suffering through the first two Shannara books (otherwise known as Brooks Does Tolkien and Brooks Does Donaldson), I am rather looking forward to it.

***

Yesterday I got my brand-new glasses -- lovely pink metallic frames that suit me better than any pair of glasses I've worn in the past ten years. Unfortunately, there was a pinwheel-like smudge in the centre of both lenses, which no amount of rubbing could remove. After suffering through a couple of hours of frustration and eyestrain, I ended up turning around and driving back to the optometrist's to return them. They confessed that they had made a mistake and offered to replace them, but now I have to wait another week to wear my bootiful new eyeglasses with the updated prescription again. Alas.

***

Remember how a couple of weeks ago I mentioned getting migraine auras without the migraine? Well, on the weekend I got the migraine without the aura. My first migraine, and all I can say is OW. I really hope this is an isolated incident, because there's nothing like blinding pain and nausea to put the kibosh on your creative energies.

***

In other news, I watched "Words and Deeds" (House) yesterday and actually quite liked it -- not that it didn't have its logistical flaws, and not that the behavior of all the characters was perfectly consistent with their behavior in the past, but I didn't think it was the Worst Episode Ever, or even close to it.

This is why I have come to the conclusion that I am happier out of fandom than in it. Not that I mind hearing what my closest friends think of the shows and books I enjoy, or discussing our opinions even when we disagree; but on the whole I prefer to make up my own mind about whether I like something or not, and not have it spoiled for me by people insisting that it stinks. I offer a belated bow to yahtzee63, who has long been wiser than I in such matters.

***

Got an e-mail today from Agent #2, telling me she'd received my ms. Thanks to Canada Post's parcel tracking system I knew that already, but it was nice to get a personal note to that effect. She says she's hoping to get to the book by mid-March.

I have a feeling that March is going to be The Month for my writing career, in a lot of ways. Could be good, could be bad, but something is definitely going to happen around that time.

***

And finally, I have tagged all my old entries up to June 2005. Go me!

I made it!

KNIFE - The Hook

She didn't ask for pages, but she didn't stomp all over me with hobnailed boots, either. Now I just have to try and figure out how to incorporate a few more plot details into the hook so that the story's internal logic comes through. So... useful, yes.

Right now the full ms. of Knife is on its way to two agents, and while I'm waiting on their responses, I've been thinking about what specific qualities I'd like in an agent -- aside from the obvious ones like being reputable and qualified and knowing the ins and outs of the publishing business and having a good track record of sales, and generally being a decent sort of person.

jaylake's just written a helpful post on the writer-agent relationship, and I agree with a lot of what he says, though not all. As arcaedia points out in her response, not all agent-writer relationships begin the same way, and her personal experience as an agent is different from what jaylake suggests is the norm. jaylake also believes that agents ought to live in or around New York City, and although I used to worry that might be the case, I've read enough now to feel differently. Agents Erin Murphy and Kristin Nelson, for instance, have both remarked that most business between agents and editors is done over the phone, not at the mythical business lunches, and therefore there's no particular advantage to an agent being located in NYC as far as sales go. As long as they're willing to make occasional trips to New York in the line of duty, that usually covers things just fine.

So, I'm not going to worry too much about the fact that I've only met one of the two agents I've queried in person, nor that one of them is located thousands of miles away from NYC. I don't think either one of those things is going to make a big difference in the end.

( Qualities I'd really like to find in an agent )

In other news, I have got my copy of First Draft in 30 Days and am eagerly perusing it. I have no idea whether the system will work for me, but I'm definitely interested in giving it a try when the New Year rolls around. Only with my schedule it's more likely to be First Draft in 60 to 90 Days, but the author of the book says that's just fine.

Also, in case there was any doubt that I am a masochist, I just sent my hook for Knife into Miss Snark's current Crapometer. I won't be showing up until #314, and she's only on about #50 at the moment, so it'll be a few days before I get her comments (and I think I can already anticipate half of them). But it's definitely worth skimming over the current Crapometer entries to see what makes a hook work and what doesn't.

I was busy packing up boxes, listening to the boy's new album, and steadfastly ignoring Chapter Sixteen of my novel, but lizbee and cesario nagged me into doing this. So...

( Da Rulz )

So, that done, here we go:

( Da List )