Road Trip Wednesday – My Memoir

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Yesterday, my fabulous agent got me in touch with some other writers she represents. It’s really neat having these new friends to talk to – to go through this crazy writing/editing/publishing trip with. That said, I noticed that a few run the website YA Highway. Each Wednesday the site hosts a blog carnival, so I’ve decided to participate this week. Here we go!

NAME YOUR LIFE: What would your memoir be called?

Let’s be honest – my memoir wouldn’t be that great. I’m 28. I haven’t accomplished that much. But let’s ignore all that for right now. Let’s pretend I’m super interesting and important. And my book, instead of being a normal memoir, will be a book of essays, a la David Sedaris or Sarah Vowell.

And it would be called: Ready, Hup.

And here’s why:

Joining a circus was much like visiting a foreign country – you had to learn the language first. Starting on day one I had to learn a slew of new words that eventually became part of my normal speech. But the most important word was hup. Hup meant go. When about to do a trick, our partner or coach would yell “ready…hup” and then we went, whether we were ready or not. We’d whisper it to ourselves when coaches weren’t needed. We always went.

Even though I’m not an acrobat anymore, I still use hup. Whenever I’m afraid, i’ll say it. Because I love taking chances and seeing what they’ll bring. When I realized that teaching wasn’t for me, , I said hup and went to library school. When S asked to marry me, I said hup and said yes (actually, I kind of went “…..” but that’s another story). And with my book – something I always dreamed of accomplishing – I said hup and wrote every single day. I said hup and sent it around. I said hup to my agent. (Not really. I didn’t want her to think I was weird.) With work, life, or even love I use hup because it’s what pushes me to do the things I want to do, but may be too scared to try. My body was trained to go and I’m all the happier for it.

Because, really, what’s the worst that could happen? I’m not 30 feet in the air anymore and I know my limits. I know that, no matter how crazy my action is, there will always be a safety net waiting to catch me.

What would your memoir be called?

The End of an Era

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Back in 2008 I created the blog Half-Deserted Streets. Named after the T.S. Eliot poem, it started as a place to vent, and then a place to write stories, and then a book blog. Over time, It became more of a friend than a website. Seriously. At times I would catch myself saying “HDS would love this.”

As of today, I’m officially ending HDS’s run, and concentrating only on this blog (as well as my book). It’s really sad to say goodbye to a blog that meant so much to me over the years, but I know it’s time.

So here’s to one final goodbye to HDS. And one new hello to Lauren Writes.

And here’s to new beginnings for all of us.

I Have An Agent, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Querying

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As announced yesterday, I have a literary agent. A real live literary agent. I can’t even explain how excited I am about this. But I can explain how it happened!

After deciding my book was edited to perfection, I started querying. As it turns out, writing a query letter is much harder than I had imagined. I can write a cover letter in a few minutes, but a query? Yeessh. I made a few mock ones, but hated them. I read all the books, went to all the websites, but still, it wasn’t happening. It didn’t feel like my book. Thankfully, I have a friend who’s a published romance author. She showed me her queries, and gave me the one piece of advice that truly stuck – write it in your writing voice. Make it sound like the book. Okay.

So after a few more takes, I was finally happy with my query. I liked it quite a bit, and thought it not only summed up my manuscript nicely, but read like something you’d find on the back of a book. So from there, I started researching agents that I liked, and that represented books similar to mine. I made a very large Excel spreadsheet with all of their information (Name, agency, query specifics…), and did a ton of research, finding out what each agent liked, what they looked for, and the best way to format the query to fit their interest. And then I started querying.

At first, since I was still new, I only sent out five letters. I expected a) rejections and b) long dry spells. The former came true first. Within about four days I received my first rejection. I was actually more excited about it than upset. Agents are actually reading my emails! MY EMAILS! The next day I received my second rejection. Every time I received one, I sent a new query out to another agent so I always had five out.

At this time, I entered the two Cupid contests, which were exciting and fun. I met a lot of other writers, and learned more about what agents were looking for. Both times I made it to the second round (Yay!) so I figured my query was at least decent. (In the second contest, I got a partial request, too!) I upped my queries to having 10 out. Exciting!

The night of Grammys was the first Big. Moment. During the red carpet I received my first full request. I’m pretty sure I cried with joy, and then ran around the apartment screaming. Incidentally, by the end of the Grammys I received my second full request. More screaming. A few days later I received a third full request while I was at the reference desk. I tried not to get too teary eyed because apparently college students don’t like it when you do that.

Last Thursday was when my friend was in labor. I checked my phone every five minutes to see if there was any news. After work, I went to Publix with S and our friend Shannon. While there, I picked up my phone again and noticed I had an email.

It was The Email.

Short, friendly, it was from one of my top agents (!!!), saying that she loved my writing, and my book.

And then I cried in Publix because, really, what else is there to do.

We scheduled The Call for the following day. I kept telling myself that it might be nothing, that she might just be asking for it to be revised. That was possible. Anything was possible.

But that didn’t happen. Instead, I met the nicest agent in the world, who had the nicest compliments about my manuscript. She offered suggestions on what to improve, and referenced Jordan Catalano, which made me want to be best friends with her. (Let’s be honest – if she referenced Daniel Desario, I probably would have proposed marriage.) She was perfect for both me and my book; I was so happy to put TNWSY in her hands. And then she offered to represent me. And then I ran around my office, flailing my arms in the air like Kermit the frog.

I couldn’t say yes right away, though. I emailed all of the agents who asked for either a partial or full manuscript earlier (including one who requested it only that morning. Sorry!) They all got back to me within a handful of hours, either saying they’ll pass or they’ll read it quickly and get back to me soon. So I waited. And waited. And then finally yesterday I got my final response.

So I called Michelle – my agent – and let her know that I’d love to work with her.  There were exclamation marks in both of our voices. And then I cheered. And cried (because apparently I do that a lot). And then I ran around like a Muppet again.

Because what else are you going to do when something like this happens?!

The funny thing is, I started out writing TNWSY simply because I wanted to tell a story. Sure I wanted to have a book published one day, but it wasn’t for that. I just wanted to write a story that was constantly in my mind. I wanted to finish it, and have it out there. And then it turned into something so much more.

I’m so thankful for Michelle, and for all of my friends (including you blog readers!) who’ve been with me throughout the process. I’m so happy it’s all coming together. Who knows what’ll happen next, but I’m ready to see.

Oh, and since I’ve never really mentioned it, here’s the title of my book: THE NIGHT WE SAID YES.

I’m saying yes to whatever happens next. Because I know, no matter what, it’ll be new and exciting and different. And I think my characters would be proud.

And the other big news…

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This will be quick because I’m sort of freaking out.

You guys. As of today…I HAVE A LITERARY AGENT!!!!

Michelle Andelman of Regal Literary has offered to represent me and TNWSY. I honestly can’t believe it.

She’s the nicest person, and truly a great fit, and I can’t believe she chose me.

Best. Day. Ever.

(Longer post tomorrow when my hands stop shaking.)

Taken Librarian

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In my mind, this is the kind of librarian I am...only minus the gun. (Image via screwydecimal.com)

This has been a huge week. A huge week. I have so much to tell you all…but i’ll start with this: I have a new job!

If you recall, my current position as a Reference Librarian is temporary, so recently I’ve been applying to other jobs. A few weeks back I had an interview for a dream job. I didn’t hold my breath. But then they called me back for a second interview. I was getting excited. Then they called my references. I was panicking. Then they called me in for athird interview. I was confused, but also still totally on board.

So my third interview was today and as you may have guessed…I got the job!

I’m transferring from academic libraries to public libraries (a jump I’ve wanted to make). I’m going to be a Branch Librarian at our local county library, so we’re not moving. It’s a fantastic position at an amazing library. I’ll get to have my hand in a little bit of everything, including children’s programming, which is what I really want to do.

Woo hoo!

It’s bittersweet  because I really do love my co-workers. They’re all so lovely. But still – I’m so excited!