DOGS Gets a Nibble

My trip to the 2012 edition of the SC Writer’s Workshop conference on October 19 turned out to be a banner day—for winning 2nd place in the Novel–First Chapter category, I received as a prize a complimentary 30–page extended critique from the faculty member of my choice. Sweet! Besides Fellow Traveler, which is already in print and for sale here and elsewhere, I have a number of unpublished manuscripts waiting to find their way out into the world, including what I considered to be my stab at writing ‘commercial’ fiction: DOGS OF PARSONS HOLLOW. This was the piece I chose to have critiqued, or rather, the first 30 pages.

And the result? A request from agent Michele Johnson for the full manuscript. This is another huge step in an author’s journey not simply to getting published, but to moving up to the big(ger) leagues. Even if Ms. Johnson doesn’t nibble any further, she felt that with the pitch and the level of writing I demonstrated that someone, somewhere, would most definitely take a chance on this project. Either way, I walked out of the critique with a wonderful feeling of accomplishment, another in an amazing series I’ve experienced this year. So, keep your eyes on this space for further news about DOGS. Like FT, I’d all but given up on this manuscript, but life may yet stir in its literary bones.