Posted by lifestyleagent under
Pleasure Reading [3] Comments
I spent the summer after my freshman year of college assistant teaching an English class for 5th and 6th graders through an organization that prepped underprivileged minority students to attend elite college prep schools. We spent the summer reading (among other books) The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros.
Andrea, the head English teacher, was amazing. She taught me to appreciate Cisneros’ work and how to connect with others through literature. I had read House on Mango Street in high school and didn’t like it then. With Andrea, the book took on so many more layers of meaning. I’ve since lost contact with her, but at the end of the summer, she gave me two gifts that I always keep handy: Loose Woman by Sandra Cisneros and the copy of Strunk and White that I still work from today. I find myself reading Loose Woman in its entirety every year (if not every six months).
My favorite poem from that book: You Like to Give and Watch Me My Pleasure
You like to give and watch me my
pleasure. Machete me in two.
Take for the taking what is yours.
This is how you like to have me.
I’m as naked as a field of cane,
as alone as all of Cuba
before you.
You could descend like rain,
destroy like fire
if you chose to.
If you chose to.
I could rise like huracan.
I could erupt as sudden as
a coup d’etat of trumpets,
the sleepless eye of ocean,
a sky of black urracas.
If I chose to.
I don’t choose to.
I let myself be taken.
This power is my gift to you.
— Sandra Cisneros
Thus far, I’ve avoided offering advice on query letters because there are already plenty of industry blogs out there that give quality information on that topic. Besides, let’s face it, querying an agent is a lot like going on a blind date. You can put your best foot forward (wear your best dress, flash your best smile) and still, for some reason, the chemistry isn’t there. There’s no spark.
Often my rejections are based on just that, the lack of a spark. Your story sounds good, your writing seems strong, but it’s just not the project for me. If I reject you it’s not the end of the world. Just the end of our short date. You wouldn’t want someone who had no attraction to your work as your agent anyway. Trust me on that one.
Alright, that’s all I’ll offer in the way of query “advice.” But if you’re curious about what I think as I review queries, I’m Tweeting my responses for the next 4 queries I review this afternoon. Tweet, Tweet!
Twitter Username: Lifestyleagent
When I first joined the L Perkins Agency as an intern, Lori Perkins gave me an invaluable piece of advice: dust off and re-read your old copy of Strunk and White. No, really read it, even if you think that you’ve got that punctuation thing down.
So now, I pass that advice along to you, dear reader. Read Strunk and White. Love it. Hold it close to your heart. And actually use the lessons you find there.
My blog is an S&W nightmare, but don’t let your manuscript be one. You’d be amazed how many partials I read where the author seems to have no clue what to do with quotation marks, and if you’re writing dialogue that can be a fatal flaw. The meaning and art behind your prose can be completely sabotaged by horrible formatting. You don’t want a potential agent cringing and reaching for a red pen as they read your partial. Or worse yet, completely missing your intention.
Good thing is that this is one of the easiest writing weaknesses to fix. Less than $10, S&W is cute, easily fits in your purse and can exponentially increase your odds of getting an agent.
I admit it, I’m guilty of blog fade. Posting on a regular basis, even to say that you won’t be able to post on a regular basis, is much harder than I thought. Oh well….
I may not be blogging, but I’m still reading. Right now, in those few stolen moments of “free time,” I’m reading The Art of Possibility by Ben and Rosamund Zander.
The Art of Possibility is the latest addition to my self-help library. I’m sucker for that genre, though I never do what those books recommend. Just reading them makes me feel like I’m doing something useful. And watching yoga DVDs makes me feel more flexible. That’s good enough for me.
