WAHOOOOOOOO!!

The Sisters had a victory today.  A milestone victory.  I have an urge to want to be humble and talk it down, but screw that.  I worked really hard, and my dedicated and ever faithful sisters worked really hard, and we deserve to bask for a bit in the satisfaction that work has brought.  BASK BASK BASK.

Today was the day I was meeting with an agent.  The point of the meeting was to pitch to the agent, meaning to sell my book idea to her well enough that she wanted to read more pages.  It seems a humble goal, but seriously people, it’s a big one.   With the multitudes of writers out there scrambling for an audience with an agent  no matter how brief, just getting a toe in the door is such a break.

We worked so hard this past couple of months knowing that this meeting was coming.  We dissected the first 3 chapters of Seeing Love Clearly to the point of inducing nausea.  Then when we had tinkered with that enough, we started in on the pitch blurb.  That is the same thing as the paragraph or two you see on the back of the book that makes you decide if you want to read it or not.  If I were to say that we obsessed over this blurb it would not be an understatement.  We went to lunch at Barnes and Noble and read dozens of them trying to find the ever elusive trick.  Thank the God of Pastry there were the red velvet cupcakes there to give us fortitude.  We must have written 20 of the things all told.  None of them made us excited.  Then on Friday, we had an epiphany.  I actually heard angels singing, or maybe Roscoe howling, I don’t know for sure…by this time I was fairly well on my way to a breakdown.  We got it.  WE. GOT. IT. 

Today at the meeting, the lovely agent in question gave a seminar on how to write a pitch blurb.  She was fantastic and helpful and generous with her advice, and everything she said we had in our blurb.  I have never felt so confident before.  I didn’t want to throw up.  My mouth didn’t go dry.  There were no flop sweats.  For the first time in my writing career, I realized that I was actually prepared.  It was beautiful and peaceful and calm, and those of you that know me well, know that I rarely find peace in anything.  I am very dramatic and hyper and “on” all the time.  I can’t even tell you how exhausting that can be.

So it was my turn to speak with her one-on-one.  I sat with her and read my blurb.  I started out too fast, but that was just from excitement.  I was able to coherently answer questions and volunteer more information.  I was completely in the moment without the usual hysteria going on in my head.  And then she said the magic words….. “I’d really like you to send me more pages.” 

I’m telling you, I wanted to kiss that poor, unsuspecting woman right there.  Instead, I floated out of the meeting and the three of us, Ava, Isabella and I squealed in the parking lot like little girls. 

Now we just have to resist the urge to dig back in an make all kinds of changes.  Will the God of “Just Let It Be” please send down some words of encouragement?