More progress and another rejection

Because this blog is about the whole process of making an award winning book, I want to include all the grit and grime as well as astonishing insights, amazing discoveries, and awesome triumphs. This post includes all of the above.

I met with an exhausted agent Saturday afternoon and blew myself away with my focused presentation. He was gracious, though it was obvious that what he needed was a good nap and said he'd consider the package when he got home and will let me know. I'm willing to accept that. Will email him tomorrow to let him know I'm alive and remind him to dig into the lining of his suitcase for the maroon presentation packet.

On that high, I raced over to the library when I got home to pick up a book on the herms I'd requested ages ago. A rare slim volume subtitled "The Crisis in 5th Century BC Athenian Religion" written a dozen years ago by a British scholar. Holy Hermes! Every question I had was answered. Questions I hadn't even thought of were answered. Sources were listed! A good time was had by all. I feel that when I finish page 120, I'll be able to polish my piece the way I want it. I already feel as if I'd spent a night on the paving stones of history listening to the marble crunch. I'm jazzed, too, because I'd reached several of the same conclusions he did all by myself... Of course, that could have been sheer, dumb luck...

This afternoon, I received a rejection from another agent who'd been sitting on my email query for a coupla weeks. "Dear Patti Cassidy," she wrote "Thank you for thinking of me with you novel. Unfortunately, this does not sound like a match for me. I wish you all success in finding the right agent and publisher for your work. Yours sincerely,"

Ummmmm. Ya think it's not a match because it's not a friggin' novel??? Maybe the "right agent" would be someone who actually reads my query letter past the salutation. It was actually funny enough that it took any potential sting out of it. Maybe I should be printing this paper trail out and filing it away to read at future awards ceremonies...