The journey from writer, to author

is ongoing, at least for me.

But, I am getting closer. This is what the path looks like:

On January 5, 2019 I sent a query letter and the first three chapters of BLOOD CREEK to a literary agent I respect, hoping she would take an interest in the manuscript.

On March 6, 2019 I received an email from her assistant stating the agent "would love to read BLOOD CREEK".

On March 7, 2019 I sent the full manuscript in a PDF.

On August 15, 2019 I emailed the assistant with a "nudge"(a brief email requesting an update on the agent's progress through BLOOD CREEK). Sending a nudge is a nerve-wracking endeavor. It could put the agent off and as a result your manuscript could automatically go into the crash and burn bin.

On October 29, 2019 I received an email from the agents assistant; what follows is an excerpt from the correspondence:

Thank you so much for your incredible patience as Stephanie and I took a look at BLOOD CREEK. We both admired the vivid setting and colorful characters you draw, and the murders of Aunt Beth and Aunt Luzerne totally hooked us. I'm afraid, however, that we both ultimately found the voice, while marvelously original, too distractingly strong to really connect with the protagonist and his story. We are sorry not to have better news. Given the subjectivity of this industry, we feel certain that another agent elsewhere will feel differently (indeed, we very much hope so!). Thanks again for the chance to consider. We wish you the very best in your search for representation.

October 29, 2019 Awww man! Crap!

October 29, 2019 Later the same day I sent an email to the agent's assistant (this can be seen as a no-no in the business) stating I was aware "voice" was strong in some areas of the book and when writing it, I committed to the voice all the way. (BLOOD CREEK came out of my mind in three months, I wasn't second guessing myself as I wrote. As writers often say, they don't do the writing themselves. The story writes itself.) I told them I am willing to revise the "voice".

October 29, 2019 I received a follow up email:

Certainly, if you ever revise it to that end, we'd be happy to look at a sample. It's great when a voice sounds true to its origins - for instance, the narrator's voice of John Larison's WHISKEY WHEN WE'RE DRY has a strong sound - but we ultimately just found this distractingly phonetically rendered and discursive. Perhaps it's just our taste, of course, but in any case, we'd be happy to read a revision.

October 29, 2019 Rejoice, with a great deal of trepidation.

October 29, 2019 I email my fantastic editor Val; HELP! I didn't even know what discursive meant. I do now. And I see it. Val thinks I should revise it.

There are simple things I can do do make it less discursive. And there are many things to do that are far from simple.

I talked to my wife that night. And thought about it. Am I willing to revise in hopes to have this particular agent take BLOOD CREEK on? Am I willing to change the voice, to back it down, to change the way the words come off the page, through the readers eye, into the readers own voice?

The answer is yes. I love this book. It is a fictional me. Another me. A life I never got to live. That makes it easier. I can still manipulate the world of BLOOD CREEK and find myself alive there.

October 29, 2019. Revision has begun. We'll see what happens. And go from there.