Monday 11 April 2016

Yay! Whoo Hoo! And Whoopy Do!

by Maureen Lynas Who is celebrating! 

I may be odd but I love going to the tip and on Friday our car was packed with bags of shredding, old computers and cardboard boxes. Tidy house! Hurrah! Geoff was ready and waiting, I was putting my boots on, and the phone rang. I nearly didn’t pick it up - the tip was awaiting! But I did. Right choice!  

Amber Caraveo from the Skylark Literary Agency was ringing with an offer of representation! We talked for an hour, we agreed our terms, we discussed editorial suggestions and happily said our cheerios. Amber went on to share the news with partner Joanna Moult and announce it on twitter. I went to the tip.

Then out for a celebratory lunch. I was a jumble of emotions as I tried to fill Geoff in on all the details. This has been a long time coming and it was a bit overwhelming. By the end of the weekend I realised there had been quite a few emotions at play.
Elation, relief, exhaustion, acceptance, fear and - determination
Elation - the whoopy doops, the yay’s, the yahoo’s, the twitter and facebook storm of congratulations and new friends. It’s exciting. A happy dance must be done. Prosecco must be drunk. Chocolate must be consumed. It was. By both.

Relief - JOB DONE! No more agent rejections, no more fingers crossed, no more searching and hoping that one day someone will ‘Get me’. Relief that Amber loves my work so much she’ll invest her time and effort into my career. Thank you!

Exhaustion - This has been a long journey! I once climbed a seemingly never ending mountain called Ingleborough, in Yorkshire. It had many false peaks and I was convinced that each rise was the top. That the torture would be soon be over. My writing journey has been similar. There’s been a number of false peaks and sometimes it’s been difficult to get back up from them. Songs have helped. Especially this one from Chumbawumba. 

Acceptance - This may take some time but I think using these words as often as possible should help - My agent. As in: When I was talking to my agent. My agent is lovely. My agent is going to be pitching soon.  My agent said… (I intend these sentence endings to be something wise and intuitive to show she is the best agent a writer can get.)  

Fear - Amber is going to pitch my book! It’s not ready! It’s not good enough! I have three pages of editorial suggestions. What if I can’t do it! What if I end up with a big mess of a muddle?

Determination - There’s been a lot of determination over the many years of writing and learning and hoping. Now it’s needed even more than before. Because getting an agent is a huge, wonderful step but it isn’t the end. The end is one of my books in a child’s hand and, hopefully, a lot of laughter.

Here's a song that says it all. Thanks Rod!

Now I'm off to come up with a plan of action for Witch School Sucks! Because MY AGENT is waiting. 

Maureen 

You can see the first half of how I got MY AGENT through the Slushpile Challenge on SCBWI BI's Words and Pictures

35 comments :

  1. Well done, fantastic news Maureen. Skylark is a good agency.

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    1. Thanks David. It does feel like a good fit.

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  2. Excellent news, all the very best.

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  3. I am so thrilled for you AND for Skylark Maureen - what a team!!!

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    1. At last, Kathryn! I'm really enjoying working with Amber already. She knows what she's about!

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  4. Fantastic news.
    I know those hills wellI even posted about them: http://kmlockwood.com/mapping-out-the-territory/
    You'll have lovely time with Amber & Jo

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    1. Exactly! Getting lost is such an important (and annoying) part too isn't it. Going down the wrong path, ending up in the bog. Great post.

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    1. Thanks, lovely Louise. You are one of those who keeps me going! And i first met Amber at your scooby do!

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  6. You are an absolute inspiration, Maureen! Congratulations!

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    1. I'm so so pleased for you, Maureen you wonderful inspiration you xx

      (Love the Rod song and especially loved Chumbawumba sadly now disbanded. I tried to leave a very distracting link to Chumbawumba but fortunately my html is terrible!)

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    2. Thanks Jan. I'm sure there's a host of songs. We should make a playlist for the scoobie conference! Or not.

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  8. Wonderful news Maureen, so pleased for you. :)

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  9. This is fab news. Lovely person A meets lovely agent B. Simples - and yet such a long journey there. Mega congrats again.

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  10. I am delighted Maureen. Really, really pleased for you. From what you've written on your blogs, you've just kept going, developing your craft as you go long.

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    1. Luckily I love learning and analysing, Elaine. I just keep going back to that when things are disappointing. Thank you so much again for organising the Slushpile Challenge.

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  11. I'm so happy for you!!!!! Reading this brought back when it happened for me, not that long ago, really - such a lovely feeling, isn't it?
    ((((hugs))))

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    1. It is! Now I really have to get on with it though. All this announcing does not get the book done!

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    2. Allow yourself to enjoy the moment: the book will get there even if you're smiling like a goofy the whole time (actually, knowing the kind of stuff you write that would probably help...).

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  12. Congratulations, Maureen. Wonderful news and I completely sympathise with all of those as I'm querying literary agents with my first novel at the moment. Skylark seem like a wonderful agency.

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    1. Good luck Fi. And don't worry about rejection. It's harsh but it's normal.

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  13. How wonderful for you. In the quantum world where cause and effect are linked in non-classical ways, this is probably the reason you love going to the tip.

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    1. Ana, in an alternative universe where I am a Sheldonite I would respond to this comment with understanding and intelligence. But I'm this version of me. So I can't.

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  14. Brilliant news Maureen, really happy for you. Good luck. x

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  15. Whoo Hoo, indeed! Well done!

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