Looking For Ms. (or Mr.) Right

I've told a lot of non-writer people about the YA of mine that is has been making the rounds for a week or so. When they hear what it's about and how it's written, most of them think that it will sell in a minute. It's unusual and slightly edgy. Does that make it an easy sell? Not necessarily.

I was a little spoiled, because finding the right agent was a snap. I queried exactly one person, who turned out to be Agent E. We'd met at a conference and when the time was right, I sent her a manuscript (not the current one, BTW) and long story short, we signed a short time later. Now we're trying to match this manuscript to the one editor out there who will read it, love it and want to make it the best book it can possibly be. I'm more on edge about this book than any of the others I've written because even after countless revisions and rereadings, I still love it the most.

Finding the right editor is compounded by the fact that this MS includes death, a little bit of decay, maggots, mold and a love story that still gets me a little tingly when I read it over. It's the kind of book that will make one editor shudder and hold it carefully by the edges while the next one comes to the words "The End" and thinks "Yes. This is exactly what I've been looking for." I still believe that this second editor is out there, hopefully with a certain YA manuscript on the laptop screen as we speak.

On this date: In 1954, Elvis Costello was born.