it's been a long time coming...

There have been many times where I've dreamed of being able to write this blogpost/announcement. Much proverbial blood and sweat and not a few tears have been spent over the process of searching for an agent who is as excited and eager about this project as I am.
And then that fateful day came. I'd just suffered a rejection (albeit an encouraging one) on a full manuscript the night before--one that was such a close call it brought tears of frustration. I spent the day in question recovering at the beach with my family and returned, sunburned and salty, to find an email in my inbox. It was from one of the other agents who'd had my full manuscript for a little over a week. The first line read: Dear Ryan, Thank you for giving me the chance to review your manuscript.
Since this is how many rejections are worded, I assumed that this was another rejection (I'm not always a pessimist, but trying to break into this business has jaded me a bit. It hurts less if you expect the rejections). Then I read on.
She thought the manuscript was indicative of my imagination and talent. She wanted to set up a phone call to talk about a possible author/agent relationship between us!
At this point my mouth dropped and I just stared at the computer screen. I read the words over again, to make sure that I wasn't just imagining them.
Yes. An agent, a real honest to God agent wanted a phone call with me.
I could no longer contain my excitement, so I dashed out into the front yard and ran in circles for a few moments, yelling my jubilation. My family was worried for a few minutes, until I gathered enough breath to tell them the news.
Like most agent-hunting authors, I was a ball of nerves before the phone call. I had a notepad and a pen ready and was hesitantly nibbling on the crackers and cheese plate my dear husband had prepared for me. When my cell phone lit up with a strange number, I sucked in my breath and acted like the complete, professional grown up that I am.
The conversation went well. The agent was super friendly, excited about my work and had a clear plan of action. We talked for the better part of an hour about my manuscript, what her vision for the book was and how she planned to see it through. By the end of the talk I was in love. I knew she was the one--there was that agent/author spark I'd heard so many other queriers and authors talk about. At the end of the conversation when she officially offered her representation, I wanted to jump up and down and scream. Instead, I calmly told her that I would contact all of the other agents with my manuscript and get back to her. (Of course, I was still internally screaming like a seagull going after a bag of Cheetos.)
For the next two weeks I went through the hoops of notifying the other agents, sending out last minute fulls and waiting for the responses to trickle in, even though I knew agent #1 was the one. I ended up receiving two offers, but the decision was quite clear.

She chose me and my manuscript from the slush, and I chose her to represent me: Alyssa Eisner Henkin of Trident Media

I couldn't be happier with who this long and grueling query journey has lead me too. I know my book will be well championed and protected in Alyssa's capable hands, and I can't wait to see what happens on the next step of this crazy adventure: revisions and submission to editors! Stay tuned!