Had an e-mail from my agent first thing this morning. He had five small suggestions for the most recent draft I sent him. I looked them over, made the appropriate revisions and sent it straight back to him. After several rounds of major revision, he now considers Missing Persons ready to market. I’m not sure what happens next. I’m embarking on new territory. I shopped around a novel by myself a few years ago. What an experience that was! I’m glad to leave it in the hands of a pro, especially since we’re dealing with a vastly superior manuscript.
I’ll report back when I hear more about the process. I’m prepared for rejections, because that’s the nature of the business. In the interim, it’s time to get on with the next book. I can finally clear my desk of Missing Persons marginalia and concentrate on a book-in-progress that I haven’t touched in a month. Push the travails of Eric, Julie, Mary, and Sam from my mind and take on those of a new batch of characters.
Got my tickets to Harry, Carrie and Garp this morning. My daughter is very excited at the prospect of going to New York. It’ll be just a month before she returns to university in the fall, so it will be a nice end-of-summer vacation event for us.
Last night: Survivor: Terry finally loses some challenges. He was definitely off his game, judging by how snippy he was on the way back from last week’s council. At this point, I don’t care much who wins as long as it’s not Aras. A million bucks would ruin him, I think. Though she’s schemed and plotted a lot, I’m tending toward Cerie as the person who might do the best with the money. She played the game well. After week one, I wouldn’t have given her a hope in hell, and now she’s in the final four.
CSI: I guessed a couple of weeks ago which character would be shot, so it came as no surprise. I liked the scene where Brass explained to a suspect the effect shooting another person has on someone. It seemed like throw-away, manipulative dialog unless you remember that Brass killed one of his colleagues in a friendly fire incident earlier in the season. Got a big kick out of Grissom’s story about the only time he proposed marriage.
Without a Trace: An excellent way of handling a subject that people are peripherally aware of—how race impacts the way media cover certain crimes. The Natalie Holloway syndrome. The ending—one dead, one alive—was especially poignant since they didn’t resolve which was which. The message was clear. It doesn’t matter which missing person died. It’s a tragedy either way.
