Agent Action

No contract in hand, but supposedly it's coming. Yesssiree. It all came down yesterday at around the noon hour. I won't bore myself with too many specifics. Let me go right to the best part -- and there's no other way to put this: not a lot of experiences come close to having someone who seems to know a lot about the book business gush over your work. Damn. I might've heard my Future Agentress all wrong, but I swear she said some of the following friendly phrases during our first phone conversation in the history of our relationship.

"My legs were like cramping because I was so excited to get through it."

"I almost emailed you midway through, but decided against it because I've been burned before."

"It's seamless, it flows together really, really well."

"You ruined my weekend because I couldn't put it down."

"You have a very understated, unique voice."

"It's the kind of writing that helps you forget about the writer."

Holy cow. I tried to be calm while I talked about the bagel I was eating. That's right. I was talking about my bagel. She was like, "Is there a better time?"

Then I wondered -- asked myself, actually -- if all agents read from a list of gushing praise.

I also remember asking where my fiction fits and I suggested maybe it was like maybe ... "chick lit or something"?

"No," she said. "It's literary."

It's the greatest feeling to have someone notice the things you strive so hard to accomplish.