sounds promising

Okay, I'm totally afraid to post about this so as not to jinx it, but in an effort to be less superstitious overall I'm going to anyway. So I started sending out query letters for the novel none of you have read (no pressure! It's too late for your feedback, anyway) last week--I sent out ten email queries, figuring that no matter where I live, my email address doesn't change, so it's the safest route at present. Anyway, I got a couple of rejections (completely par for the course, and while it doesn't feel good, I know the drill and am trying not to take it personally), but this weekend I did get an email from a new agent at a fairly new New York agency who wanted to read the whole manuscript. I sent him the MS and a little thank you, and I got an email this morning saying that he'd read the first two chapters already and really enjoyed them--"the writing is fantastic". I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up, what with this week and next week being kind of important re: the job search, which I'm already nervous/stressed about, and I really don't need to be vainly hoping for something else good to happen to me, but I still can't help it. He might not end up digging the whole manuscript--I know it has flaws I've yet to find or don't know how to repair--but just the fact that somebody in the industry thinks my writing has promise is encouraging. I'll keep you updated, but it'll probably be a while before anything materializes, if it does at all. Oh, and so far no interviews yet, and I go to New York next week, but I do have some lunches/drinks scheduled with some contacts at Random House and Penguin, so those will be fun and hopefully illuminating. I'm applying to a few new jobs today after Lesley at CAPS (the U of C career center--she's kind of my personal cheerleader) takes a look at my resume and cover letter, so maybe something will happen with those? I don't know, but pray for me. Miss you!

Oh, and I don't know if anybody's noticed, but Mandy Michel is back in Dublin, working at a pre-school or something. Laters!