The Matrix, How I Love Thee.

So, despite the fact that I never used to write about this, here is yet another entry about my actual writing/career progress. (As soon as Wonder Pets stops stealing my attention.) Didja… didja see how my title was misleading, there? Catch that, didja?! *chucklesnort*

Well, Andy, no I did not buy Writer’s Marketplace or subscribe online. Neither did I try to figure out Toni Morrison’s  agent – though another author told me they share an editor.  And on both counts, I feel I should stay as far away from both individuals as possible. While my work may still have thematic or sociological relevance/purpose, I don’t see how her people work with anyone else’s literature! You’ve just read Toni Morrison’s genius, what’s gonna sound good after that? Is this idol worship? If you know me, you know I’m an unapologetically confident person who knows I am talented and where that falls on the general scale of other people. But you also know that I’m a realist. I have no problem with the fact that Toni Morrison is separate from every other literary artist of her time, to be generous to everyone born before her. O_o Seriously. Here’s the other thing, it’s of the utmost importance to know thyself, in my opinion – which is something that’s supposed to make things sound more gracious, I think? (If this Wonder Pets episode doesn’t stop centering around a parrot who keeps cry/singing, “Polly Misses Her Pirate” on a minor scale, I swear to the heavens above, children will weep for what I’ve done to her.)

Anyway, I know this is about writing but social observation is on the same page: as I was saying how important it is to know one’s self, to know where you are special and what is not your forte or gift, I got to thinking about those people who have no basis or interest in reality for making that determination. These are the people who feign introspection but give themselves away with such phrases as, “[Describe a ridiculous situation into which they've gotten themselves or some ridiculous desire they have for which they are unqualified or done nothing],…but I know it’ll work out.” See that word there? “Know”? Just sprinkling it throughout any conversation makes the subject real and plausible, apparently. It’s what makes real people with genuine self-confidence (backed up by preparation and consistent effort) – you know, the kind that doesn’t dissipate when the sun goes down – too irritated by “surface  similarities” to talk about their lives and aspirations in mixed company. Especially since a big part of my preparation and learning about myself is prayer, and not the kind that requires beads or “openmindedness”. I am a strong individual but I know the necessity of submission when it comes to a relationship with the God who made me and that’s where I go to inspect myself. I highly recommend it. I find my faith encourages me to tell it like it is, hard to believe as that may seem to people used to glass-eyed believers who think the sun is always shining. No use living in Fictitia (a magical land wherein everything is as you say it is) if I know God won’t buy it. What good will it ultimately do me?

And that, my friends, is how you take a detour. So, Andy, to actually answer your question. I started out on Poets & Writers (the same place I went to begin researching literary journals) and then, sort of as a double check, I used Agent Query – pretty much to see if I’d missed anyone in whom I’d be interested. So, after that – on both counts (journals/agents) – I made a matrix.

And I am made happy by this. I cannot helpt it. Anywho: after finding the agents I think would be interested in my work, I visit their blogs or websites and find out information particular to them that interests me, which I also add to the matrix so that I can personalize my query letter to them. One of the agents, for example, is an alumna not only of my Alma Mater but also of my particular college – which makes sense if you know how UC Santa Cruz is set up. (Porter, whatwhat!) Others were interested in work with social relevance, character-driven work, etc. There were plenty of people who might be right as far as the type of book I’m querying but who didn’t jump out at me, so I didn’t add them in the first pass. Aaand I could write about this all day since… I write all day. Oh and query. But instead I will get back to Margaret who has been sitting in that bathtub for several days now. Pruney goodness. That or get back to widdling away the wordiness elsewhere. Or just go over to Andy’s blog. Whatever.