I am not published yet. I do not have an agent yet. But I feel like I’m making progress because two things that have never happened before happened recently.

But first, an update. I am rewriting the beginning of THROWN as per the recommendation of Sara Megibow, the agent who looked at it a coupla Sundays ago. It’s not QUITE there yet, but it is coming along nicely.

And now the first new thing. I emailed Gail Fortune, the agent from Talbot Fortune who is reading THROWN. I couldn’t help myself. I had to do something because although I am learning more patience from doing natural horsemanship (and that may well be the topic of a future post), I am going slowly mad. It’s a good lesson though, since the world of publishing moves at a glacial pace. In a way, it’s rather pleasant, since so much of our world is about instant gratification, with e-books, smartphones and just about everything “on demand.” Or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I asked Gail about querying Sara, and also asked, in a roundabout way, about THROWN. That wonderful Gail emailed the very next day and said she’d likely finish in two weeks and would call me to talk about it. I couldn’t ask for more than that. VERY excited to talk to her—well excited and scared, as Little Red Riding Hood sang in Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.” (Pardon that reference, but Stephen Sondheim turned 81 this week. And I love him.)

The other nice news. My friend Joanne Kennedy, whose third novel COWBOY FEVER just came out, graciously asked to read THROWN. She asked this, knowing full well she had looming deadlines for her own novels, since she is a full-time writer (how jealous am I??). She hasn’t finished it yet, but thought it might be a good fit for her publisher, Sourcebooks. Apparently they like horses and humor (well, not like Mr. Ed…), and I know my book has horses (five), and I pray that readers will think it has more than five giggles in it. This means that I have to write a synopsis—the dreaded synopsis—but I am up for it. Needless to say, I was completely flattered.

More steps along the path.

Thanks for your support.