QUERY THIS PAL!



TAKING AIM AT A BOOK DEAL



No more queries for this couch potato! Well, the couch is actually a chair in the man cave, seemingly chained to a desk and computer.



KATE FOLKERS, LITERARY AGENT



Something magical happened on Tuesday, November 16.  A long process of getting someone to believe in my 92 thousand word espionage thriller payed off.  I now have a literary agent!

Thank you Kate Folkers of the Martin Literary Management Agency.

Is it coincidence that a Field Of Dreams is on right now?

I realize this is just another phase of a continuing process, but it feels awfully damn good right now.  Of course, for all the hard work leading up to this moment, there remains plenty to accomplish.  Getting a book deal is no guarantee.  Over the past few months, I felt I was close to securing representation and I have all the rejection letters to prove it.  From the early stages of form written setbacks to letters of encouragement, some of which offered sound advice. 

Thanks to a connection with author Sara Paretsky, agent Dominick Abel gave me a phone call during the early stages of my search.  He offered sound criticism that I took to heart, leading me back to the dark, lonely days of rewrite, rewrite.  I'd come up for air to try again, only to realize I wasn't there yet.  The thought of giving up though, never crossed my mind.

Along the way I discovered the Guide To Literary Agents blog, a tremendous source of updated information.  I also stumbled across Thrillerfest, which I attended for the first time in July.  Talk about an invaluable learning experience!  I've interviewed Presidents, A-List actors and world class athletes but nothing was as terrifying as having to prepare for a pitch session before some the industry's best and brightest.  To help get me there, I owe a huge thanks to the kindness and advice of people like authors Shane Gericke and Lisa Gardner.  They were warm and inviting during a reception the night before as were a number of other authors.  JJ Cooper, my Down Under friend, thanks for the encouragement!  If you write thrillers and haven't yet sampled Thrillerfest, you really must give it a try.  Besides, it's in New York!

So why did Kate Folkers decide to offer me representation?  Why did I decide to sign with her?  From my end, it was a comfortable connection.  She got what my book was about.  She took the time to delve into it, offering both praise and criticism.  She was honest and had a plan.  I also was impressed with her multi-faceted background which I believe in the long run will pay off.

Since November 16, I've had plenty of time to come down from Mt. Small Achievement.  There's hopefully a book deal out there and I've got plenty of polishing up to do.  At least I'm not doing it alone anymore.