Friday, January 19, 2007

Making a Literary Life Friday: Agent City

It's been a wonderful week for the Group! Read below for the good news. In addition, we're thrilled that the blog is beginning to create dialogue on varying topics, thanks to your comments. For those who may visit and have yet to post a comment, please do. We'd love to know how our experiences connect with your own literary lives!

Lisa
Perusing Grub Street's website, I came upon a new posting for a weekend course. It's offered by Grace Talusan, a writer I had the pleasure of meeting in another Grub Street weekend course taught by Kathleen Spivack, where she too was a student. Grace's writing is stellar; she shared work with our group. She uses a direct and simple prose with remarkable music in her language. It's sick! Lately, I have been studying favorite authors, trying to understand what draws me to their writing. I'm looking forward to studying (even if it's only for a weekend) with a writer with this talent.

Amy
This week I was offered representation by my dream agent. We all have one, a naive sentiment to be sure, still...she is just as lovely as I imagined her to be. And smart. I adore every book on her list and am in awe of the writers she represents. The best part? Now I can focus entirely on my WIP knowing my finished manuscript is in her famously competent hands.

And thanks for the kind thoughts, Debs!

Hannah
The non-literary sides of my life all shared the driver's seat this week, and yet knowing that Group is waiting for edits, and knowing I had to report in to all of you today, I shoved them aside here and there to edit. Those moments were the best part of my week, so here's to finding the things that make sure I stay on track, no matter what else is afoot. Thank you!

Lynne
Like Lisa, I reviewed the courses available through Grub Street, and I signed up for an editing workshop with Hallie Ephron, author of Writing and Selling your Mystery Novel: How to Knock 'Em Dead with Style. Her book, though marketed toward writers of mystery fiction, is one of my favorite books on craft. I also signed up for a weekend workshop on story construction with Stace Budzko. You may remember a previous Making a Literary Life Friday where we discussed Stace's great writing and his ability to run a wonderful workshop. This week, I wrote a chapter of my WIP and researched the hobby of one of my lead characters and the job of another.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great week, Writer's Group! Hannah, congratulations for staying on track (so difficult, I know); to Lynne for getting so much done to truly live this writing life; to Lisa for doing the same and being so open to continued learning; and of course to Amy, for snagging that dream agent! Big things happening, ladies, it's a pleasure to watch it.

Lynne Reeves Griffin said...

Thanks, Kristy for the kind words and encouragement. We are all so proud of Amy. It's truly a pleasure to share in another writer's success. We all need to be there for each other; thanks again.

Holly Kennedy said...

I sure enjoy popping by your site! And a big CONGRATS to Amy from a fellow author -- landing your dream agent is a huge hurdle to clear. I wish you all the best and will watch for a future deal posted on Publishers Marketplace (one of my favorite haunts).

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Holly! And I'll be watching PubMarket for your third. The Tin Box, The Penny Tree, how do you do it?

Unknown said...

Thank you kindly for your words of praise, Lisa. I'll be riding the inner tube of your praise (like my metaphor?) for months.

I wish all of you luck here. I think you're all doing a brave and generous thing for writers with this collaborative blog. I'm crossing my fingers for all of your success.

Lynne Griffin and Amy MacKinnon said...

Grace, thanks for stopping by to say hello. Now that Lisa (whose writing is also quite "sick")has introduced us to your work, I think I can safely say we're all fans.

Amy

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Amy!

Tish Cohen