I mentioned earlier that an agent requested my manuscript Pet. Last Tuesday, she turned it down in a kind and personal way. I am disappointed but grateful for and pleased by her kindness. I’m also a little relieved.
I’m growing increasingly dissatisfied with Pet itself. I’m doubtful about the quality of the verse; I am definitely interested in writing semi-narrative poetry, but I want to achieve a much higher degree of density and sophistication in my writing than I have here. Also, I think the topic and style is sufficiently far from being representative of what I do and what I hope to do that the whole novel feels a little disingenuous.
I may continue to seek representation, but (likely) not with this manuscript. I grant this could be some intellectualized version of being unjustly discouraged by a response that strove not to be unjustly discouraging…but I still can’t help but want to
- forget about the manuscript,
- self-publish the manuscript, or
- release it for free in chunks on this website.
I probably won’t make any decisions soon, but thoughts would be welcome.
Finally, it’s National Squirrel Appreciation Day. If I were a rodent, I would be a squirrel. If you want to see extreme cuteness, do an image search for Japanese dwarf flying squirrels. Or, if you prefer ugly-cute black and maroon awesomeness, check out Indian giant squirrels. In any event, squirrels are the best and should be appreciated.
Of Elsewhere 