Dec. 17

I open my email, to find a letter from the agent at the Harvey Klinger agency. She wants me to call. I realize two things.
A. this could be big
B. I was so unprofessional I never gave her my phone number

First, I have to take a dozen deep breaths. Then I remember an article from the Writer magazine only a few months earlier where a writer was contacted by an agent who was explaining why they would not be representing them. Obviously that was what was about to happen. A new step up on the rejections scale. Nice, but still no cigar. So I calmed down.

I engaged in a quick Internet search to find out all I could about the agent. I know that's backward, but I hadn't done this in advance because I never thought things would get this far, I entered the contest for feedback, not because I expected to win. i was impressed by some of her recent sales, they were the kind of thing I really liked to read, quirky, really outside the average. And a lot like my own story.

Then I took a last deep breath and called.

And yes, she still liked my story and offered to represent me. We spent forty-five minutes on the phone, and I liked everything she said.

There was still the matter of the other agent looking at the story. I felt obliged to give her a chance to finish evaluating and for us to connect. This agent agreed to wait until after Christmas - only a week away, after all, and I sent off an email to the other agent to let them know the situation had changed. They got back to me just before New Year. She liked the novel, but we didn't click, not the way I had with the first agent. So, as of January 4th, I signed an agreement and I'm now represented by Harvey Klinger, Inc. Pull My String is in the hands of several editors for their review. My fingers and toes are crossed. And, I'm heavily engaged in working on the sequel.

Now for the next phase of my evolution.