A Master Class

I finished the edit, and now feel much better about the comma content of my manuscript. Phew!

It’s time to move forward, and concentrate completely on my WIP. I’ve promised myself, I will no longer keep going back and forth between the new work and -- I don’t even like to say it -- the old.

I wonder how experienced and prolific authors such as Amélie Nothomb, who wrote the best book I read in 2007, handle such transitions? (She writes three novels a year, publishing only one.)

Perhaps she tells us in this interview for Spanish TV. But I didn’t quite catch it. Perhaps when she draws in marker pen on a plastic globe, she is explaining by using a diagram. Perhaps the word Bangladesh is code for “move forward".  

Let’s see:

The best book I read in 2007...

Fear and Trembling by Amélie Nothomb














I’m in awe of this little book (132 pages). It is so well written, acutely observed, interesting, funny; such a good story, beautifully told.

From the back cover: “Amélie, a well-intentioned and eager young westerner, goes to Japan to spend a year working at the Yumimoto Corporation. Returning to the land where she was born is the fulfilment of a dream for Amélie, but once there her working life quickly becomes a comic nightmare of terror and self-abasement. Disturbing, hilarious and totally convincing, Fear and Trembling displays an elegant and shrewd understanding of the intricate ways in which Japanese relationships are made and spoiled.”

I’ve read reviews that describe this novel as “simplistic", and the characters “stereotypical”. But Amélie has a chid-like view. Nothomb pulls it off with verve!

Happy New Year!

The Next Step

My hideous cold has gone -- yippee!

And my agent submission package is done! The pitch is probably the most difficult thing I have ever written. It’s taken countless versions and umpteen drafts to achieve something with which I’m happy; to reach a point where I know I’ve done my best.

Each agent I’m interested in submitting to has a different set of guidelines. In the first instance, Agent A requires a query letter via email. Agent B asks for a query letter and a specified number of pages via email. Agent C prefers a query letter, a synopsis and pages via email. While Agent D likes to receive a large manila envelope containing a letter, a synopsis, the first three chapters, and an SAE.

No problem. It’s nice to follow the guidelines and know you’ve done the right thing.

But I’m still biting my toes, my desk, and the rim of the bath, over the length of the dreaded synopsis. Particularly when asked for a ‘short’ or ‘brief’ synopsis -- because how long is a piece of string? On the longer end, some agents will accept two or three pages, and on the shorter end, a half page synopsis is specifically requested. Now that’s what I would class as brief, but I’m just guessing.

I’ve honed mine down to one page (double spaced), but I also have a two-page version that's smoother to read.

I’m submitting a short YA novel (22,000 words / 101 pages), and am aware that, for many agents, it will be an automatic rejection because of the length. But I’m a fan of short fiction -- Beligian author Amélie Nothomb being one of my favourites -- and the length feels right for the story. It's humorous, suspenseful, fast-paced -- with lots of action, limited locations, and a time frame of 24 hours.

We’ll see…!