The Vision of Possibility

Monday, January 22 ~ San Luis Obispo, California

I'm sitting in the cafe at Borders Books watching the timer on my new computer as it takes in data from the old one. What I was assured would take no more than an hour is now looking as though it might take two.

I've had lunch. I've read for a bit. And now I'm bored. I can't stray too far with two computers on my cafe table. But I figure it's safe to run to the writing section and see if they have any interesting directories of literary agents.

They do. And what a find!

Jeff Herman's 2007 Guide to Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents, which wasn't in stock at my local bookstores, offers quirky details no other directory has. It also lists agents I haven't seen elsewhere. One of those, it turns out, not only welcomes fantasy but lists in its mission statement the desire to publish books that transform consciousness.

Wow! It feels like a perfect match!!

Is that why I drove more than two hours north from Ojai to deal with this particular computer store? I thought I came to SLO because this is where I bought my last computer and they gave me a really good trade-in deal. This time, though, the deal isn't quite as attractive and I've been wondering why I felt so called to drive all the way up here.

Of course, I still have to approach the agency, and they still have like my pitch enough to want to see the book and the book enough to want to represent me...

What if they don't? Acid-like trickles of fear and self-doubt eat into my joyful confidence.

And then I realize the Greater Truth: whether or not this agency is a match, I have been gifted with the Vision of Possibility. I have seen that there are agencies specifically interested in this kind of book. And if there agencies, there must be publishers.

I breathe again. This agency is still my first choice. But even if they give it a pass, this is the year of The MoonQuest. I claim it and see it as done.

Drawing by Mark David Gerson: "Freeing & Expanding Your Vision"