Wednesday, May 12, 2010

GRAND News from my Agent!

My agent sent me an email the other day that totally made my day. No, it wasn't a six-figure offer. It wasn't even a request for my full manuscript. He wrote to let me know that he passed Mind over Madi on to his all-time favorite first reader for some feedback and she was loving it so far! It's always awesome to hear that someone loves your work!

Oh - and I might mention that the first reader happens to be my agent's 97-year-old mother. Yes, I said NINETY-SEVEN.

Which is why it totally made my day!

Not only do I think it's a hoot that a senior citizen is enjoying a book that two years ago would have been labeled "Mom Lit," with references to boobs and tramps and other potentially iffy topics in Christian fiction, I LOVE the fact that she reads books for her agent son in order to offer her feedback.

Mind you, she was only just past the 200-page mark, which, at 24-pt. arial font is probably not all that far into the book. But just hearing that she is enjoying the story put a mega-smile on my face. AND it inspired me to make a large-print copy of my manuscript, put it in a 3-ring portfolio and give it to my grandmother tomorrow for her birthday. She turns 95!

I'll admit, I'm a little nervous. My grandma is one hip old lady, but she's pretty conservative, so I'm not sure what she'll think of the content or the tone. Then again, Grandma has been known to read some pretty racy romance novels, so I'm thinking nothing would probably shock her. Besides, my grandma worked for Zondervan and Baker Book House for many years and if there's one thing she knows, it's books.

Anyway, I just want to say thanks to my wonderful agent for passing along my book to Mom. Can't wait to hear her final thoughts!

10 comments:

Andrea said...

Congratulations!
Blessings and prayers,
andrea

Yvonne Blake said...

That's pretty cool !

I hope I'm that sharp and alert at age 97!

Jennifer Shirk said...

That is SO neat!

Jan Cline said...

That would make my day too! Awesome!

Debbie Dillon said...

Encouragement is encouragement regardless. How exciting:)
Debbie

Clementine said...

What a special compliment! I'd be thrilled too. You know, my grandmother is 89 and I never thought about printing my manuscripts in bigger font so she can read them! When I told her about my latest sale to Chicken Soup, she asked, "You did WHAT to chicken soup?" Thanks so much for sharing that tip!

Pam said...

That's great! I think no matter how old we get physically, if our minds are still sharp we still feel unchanged inside.

Was your grandma an editor? I've been looking into several editor openings at Z. but can't seem to get to the interview stage even with my writing background at work...

Terri Tiffany said...

YAY!!! I think it's nice he took the time to tell you too:)

Lynda Lee Schab said...

Pam - no, my grandma worked in the office, not as an editor. :-)

Pat Guy said...

Well, I remember loving it as your first reader from way back and I don't even LIKE ChicLit!

tehe -- awesome Lynda!