Looking good (and I don't mean just me)

My agent liaison just emailed me. He (I think it's a he) told me he's near the end of the ms, and likes it so far. Hello? ...pff-pff-pff... Is this thing on? Did you hear me? He likes it.

Looks good, but I'm not there yet. I'm going to start on the next story anyway. Not a bad thing to have a few irons in the fire. If you're interested in the plot, send me an email. You should have me email address already. If you don't, post yours here and I'll let you know.

No news.

Doesn't mean it's bad news.

I checked with the prospective agent. It turns out his/her (not sure, unisex first name) is a bit overloaded. At his/her request, I'll check back in a couple of weeks.

Like I said, this is the hardest part.

So for now, I'll tell a bit about the last book I read. State of Fear, by Michael Crichton. The thing I like about MC's books is I learn something. He writes fiction based on his research, and this book is no different. The main theme is

**** Spoiler warning ******





to debunk the idea that global warming is an impending scourge to the planet. Some people, as is the case with almost any thesis, love to argue the points with scientific articles, graphs, and any other references they can find. But nevertheless, I found the book entertaining as usual. Plus, the 14-15 page bibliography and multitude of footnotes made a pretty good argument for me.

I'm not sure I believe in the threat of global warming, but I'm also not sure it's a nonissue. I think the book's point was to try to draw attention to the possibility of problems, but not to go and build yourself an underground bunker any time soon.

As with most of the latest MC books I read, it seemed written with the purpose of a future movie. Timeline was the same way. Is that bad? Nah. Works for him. A wise high school teacher once told me, "Nothing succeeds like success."

The wa-eee-ait is the hardest part...

Well, it is now beginning the third week after submitting my full manuscript, and I haven't heard anything. That's fine, it can take a while. Agents are busy people. In the mean time, I've been giving some thought to the next story, which I'll probably start soon. It's never a bad idea to have something cooking, you know what I mean?

In the mean time, I've been reading Michael Crichton's latest work, State of Fear. I usually like his books, and this one seems pretty good.

Yeah, sure I could pester the agency about their progress, but I'm going to wait at least the eight weeks conventional wisdom tells me the reading process could take. Also, manuscripts (so I hear) can sometimes circulate around an agency to different readers.

So just hang tight. Trust me, I'll tell you if anything happens.

The Invisible Man

While on the topic of a first novel, did you know "The Invisible Man" is Ralph Ellison's first novel?

I was shocked when I read that. The man paints with words. You would have thought it was his hundredth work.

If you decide to read this book, don't make the mistake I made in ninth grade. I had to do a book report, which I loathed, and I thought, "Hey! A book about an invisible dude, just like those horror movies I saw on TV!"

Nope, not like that at all. I got a few hundred pages in before I realized that the term "invisible man" was a metaphor. Oh well, I liked it much better this time around. And I didn't skip tens of pages at a time like I did in '86.

A nameless black man, his life chronicled from his illusioned days in college to his sobering, premature adulthood. I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to be a black man in the '50s, but this book did a pretty good job of giving me the jist of it.

Read it for the imagery. Ellison's prose is elegant and incisive.