Update, Review, & GO FALCONS!!

Now that the holidays are over, I am officially back at work attempting to land a literary agent, reading as many memoirs as I can, and cheering on The Atlanta Falcons during the NFL playoffs.  No, I haven't found a literary agent yet; however, I sure hope I land one soon as I am now starting on a third manuscript and the two already in the can are quite intriguing.  I just learned of a brand new literary agency looking for authors in a major way so as soon as they open to queries for the new year, my query and book proposal will be landing in their "In" box. 

I did read the memoir Pale Girl Speaks:  A Year Uncovered by Hillary Fogelson during my holiday break.  This narrative speaks to one woman's battle with melanoma or the worst form of skin cancer.  Since I have experienced basal cell carcinoma, I was intrigued to read about this gal's cancer experience.  First, it is told via conversations for the most part.  There are paragraphs of narration on the part of the author, but mostly, you will be reading and learning about her ordeal through conversations she has with her immediate family, friends, acquaintances, and doctors.  She does successfully take a no holds barred approach to informing the reader exactly what the excruciating experience of having a melanoma excised is like.  I appreciated the fact that she was able to relay a good deal of information about skin cancer, sun exposure, and and skin protection.  Interestingly, once this woman is diagnosed, her parents are encouraged to see a dermatologist.  It is then discovered that her dad has melanoma in a much more severe form than she displayed.  The book mainly discusses what happened once she was diagnosed as well as her father.  This came in the form of how each person's life was impacted by the diagnosis, a reflection on how he/she acquired the skin cancer, and how they deal with future recurrences of any form of skin cancer.

For the most part I liked this book, but I must say I was a little disappointed in the abundance of cursing throughout the book.  I think she could have gotten her points across without utilizing distracting expletives.  There was also a point in the book when I found myself recognizing that the author was actually suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder after her melanoma diagnosis, and I kept wondering why her therapist did not utilize more medications other than just Paxil.  For example, there were several times when I personally thought her panic attacks warranted Valium.  I say this only because I used to suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder myself, and I used to have severe anxiety attacks.  I'm not sure these issues were resolved for the author.  Additionally, I located five spelling and grammatical errors while reading this book which surprised me.  I could not endorse this memoir as required reading for middle school or high school due to the explicit language; otherwise, it would be a great source of information for young people about the consequences of unprotected sun exposure, genetic links to melanoma, and what you need to know in order to save yourself the horrific experience of having skin cancer.

I Request A Literary Agent

Well loved ones, I haven't read any memoirs that struck me as outstanding or that taught me any earth shattering new concepts.  I find this highly depressing too since it's so close to Christmas.  I spent Thanksgiving enduring viral pneumonia which was a real treat let me tell you.  It was so bad and highly contagious that my family didn't even get the opportunity to come visit.  Pneumonia would land my father
(who had a stem cell transplant) right back in the hospital.  He and I have dismal immune systems.  I even received the pneumonia shot two years ago for crying out loud!  Where's the justice?!

Okay, back to more urgent matters.  My quest to find a literary agent has been comical and highly disappointing.  First, I have an agent who has requested both book proposals for the two manuscripts that I have written and ready to go.  Problem is, she's so busy selling other people's work and teaching content classes that she hasn't gotten back to me.  Then I had a literary agent who recently sent me a rejection on my manuscript FROM THE WHOLE AGENCY!  I mean really lady?!  Maybe they can't handle liberal concepts or the really tough stuff in life.  If so, maybe they should think about putting that on their web site
so writers know they can't handle manuscripts dealing with the nuts and bolts of messy lives. 

I'm sure there's something I'm supposed to learn from this querying process.  First, patience is helpful, but something of which I am in short supply.  In the case of pursuing a literary agent, you don't get a choice but to be on their time schedule.  Second, I used to take rejection personally (and sometimes I still do), but for the most part I just let it roll and move on to my next potential agent.  And third, if all else fails I have persistence because Lord knows I have diligently pursued trying to become published in the traditional manner.  And that's still my goal.  Because something deep inside says I need to convince the right person or persons that what I have is in short supply.....a southern writer who tells it like it is and can laugh at all the chaos in the process. 

Update and Review

Well, I've had several requests for my complete manuscript recently regarding the memoir I am attempting to get published.  I had one agent tell me she wanted the life lessons in the memoir to be more universal which is difficult because to me the life lessons I included in the book are authentic to the circumstances I faced as discussed in the book.  A second agent never got back to me.  And a third agent said the market was flooded with memoirs at the moment and she could not pitch it to an editor.  I started to inquire if I could just go pitch the book myself, but you can't get in the door to the big six publishers unless you have a literary agent. 

In the meantime I read Deborah Feldman's memoir Unorthodox.  She discusses growing up in a Hasidic community in New York.  Since I've never known any Hasidic folks her story was revealing.  I was dismayed by her growing up in such a repressive community.  I mean, why can't girls go visit the library and read books in English as opposed to Yiddish?  I couldn't believe that she had to have her head shaved after getting married and then subsequently wear a wig.  Fortunately, she comes across an English instructor oddly at her school who challenges her on so many levels.  Sometimes when somone assumes you are unable to achieve something, you will go to new heights to then accomplish that one thing. 

I believe she thought that upon marrying in the traditional manner of her community she would also gain more independence; however, sadly, she becomes even less free.  She is sure of the notion that she does want to get a collegiate education, leave her Brooklyn community for a more Democratic, real world community, and also to ensure a better life for her son.  It was impressive that she was able to locate a literary agent and obtain a talented editor to assist her with the publication of this book.  And she is only 25 years of age which makes me feel ancient.  I think this book proves that if you want a new life badly enough you can definitely find a means to acquire it and also taking risks is essential to achieving what you want and value in life.