My Life as an Agented Author

In the month since I signed with agent Tamar Rydzinski, I have done the following:

1. Waited patiently.

2. Visited Washington, D.C. with my family. Who knew there was such a thing as the Cherry Blossom Festival the same week as our spring break?

3. Concluded, reluctantly, that we will indeed have to pay twice for our granite countertops. (Note to others: always check that your contractor has an up-to-date license.)

4. Waited patiently.

5. Reinforced our family motto--"Just Don't Lie." Because if your husband decides to lie about where you live while in a U.S. congressman's office and then stands there like a deer in the headlights and leaves you to do all the actual lying, your 11-year-old daughter will, for the first time in months, listen to what you're saying and blurt out, "We're moving?!" at the worst possible moment. Just Don't Lie.

6. And Always Turn Right. We like three-word mottoes in our family.

7. Decided that I am, indeed, at heart a big city girl. I'm looking forward to the day when I can leave suburbia behind and live in a city loft with no yard and public transit at my doorway.

8. Waited.

9. Patiently.

10. Looked up the word "patience" in the dictionary.

11. Worked on another YA manuscript that I love but stalled out on during the cancer year.

12. Started basic timeline research for a possible (hopeful) sequel to SORROWS.

13. Waited.

14. Wondered why I bothered to put my boots and heavy sweaters away when it snowed. Today. The last day of April.

15. Paid more than 200 dollars for my 16-year-old son to take 3 AP tests in May.

16. Paid a lot more than that to pay off the same son's 3-week trip to Europe this summer.

17. Sigh.

18. Did I mention that the publishing business moves slowly?

19. Remembered that, when I asked what I could do to be a good writer client, Tamar's first answer was, "Be patient."

20. Waiting . . .