And the agent is. . .

Nephele Tempest of The Knight Agency!

I am thrilled to announce that Nephele will be representing me as a literary agent.

An agent/client relationship is a little like a marriage in that communication and compatibility are extremely important to its success. Based on my conversations with Nephele, both via email and via telephone, and in talking with several of her current clients, I believe this is a good fit.

She certainly understands the heart of "The House of Many Doors" and I know her feedback will only make a strong story stronger.

The contract is signed and will be in today's mail. After nearly 3 years of querying, this suddenly feels so very fast! And while I know there will be hurdles and hard work ahead, I am enjoying this feeling. It is a mix of stunned disbelief, relief, and deep satisfaction.

I initially queried Nephele in September of 2007, as part of her Back to School query contest on her blog. She was specifically looking for YA urban fantasy and I had a completed manuscript. That was "The House of Many Doors."

She liked the query and asked for sample pages. Then shortly after (about a year ago), she requested the full manuscript.

After not hearing back from her for several months, I sent a polite status check email and Nephele was quick to respond that she had been swamped by new work several of her clients had turned in all at the same time. Her current clients needed to be her priority and I understood that. About every 3 months, I would correspond with her, asking her about the status of the manuscript.

In the meanwhile, I had the good fortune to be asked to submit the manuscript to an editor at a big publishing house. While she loved the story, it was ultimately not right for her imprint. But, she sent me wonderfully detailed editorial notes on her impressions. Those notes translated into a further revision of the manuscript.

I emailed Nephele asking her if she hadn't read the full as of yet, could I send her the revised manuscript. She agreed and that, as they say, is history.

So while it took from September of 2007 to January of 2009 from query to acceptance, the process was worth the wait.