Heather Thurmeier

OMG! I have an agent!

Yep. I’m still a little bit in shock. Can you tell? LOL!

I went to the RWA conference in NYC and it was wonderful. The workshops were very informative and entertaining. Meeting new writers and some online friends for the first time in person was a thrill. And let’s not forget the dreaded pitch…

Let’s start with the pitch, shall we?

I was nervous about pitching. I’d done a practice pitch with my RWA chapter girls a few weeks before and let’s just say it didn’t go well…if fact, I stunk. But I learned from my mistakes in practice and talking to what felt like a million strangers at the conference helped to prepare me. I was confident, and energized and ready to pitch my little heart out! Then I walked into the pitch room.

There were a few rows of scared faces and a woman with large handful of pages and an even larger voice yelling out names from the middle of the room. It was a little nerve wracking to say the least. But I waited for my turn and walked into the pitch with my confidence still in tact. I was determined not to risk this opportunity over a few silly nerves. No way. Nu-uh.

I pitched and I pitched pretty darn well if I do say so myself. After I pitched and had a good chat with an editor (who shall remain nameless at this point), she requested pages and outlines. Then she suggested I seek representation and pointed me toward the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. I yelled a giant *SQUEE* in my head and politely said thanks!

That was Friday, July 1.

Sunday I contacted Marsal Lyon Literary Agency and two hours later I had a request for a full. I sent in the full the following day after a quick read-through and then waited. I was sure that there was no point in getting my hopes up…

Then on Friday, July 8th…I got…THE CALL.

Well, a pre-call really. It was one agent explaining that another agent would like to call me. Of course I said “anytime!” too quickly to be considered cool. She said it would be later that day. I said okay and practically passed out when we hung up. I texted my husband “Can you call me?!?!?!” to which he did…because he thought something was wrong. LOL! He hung up on a call with work and I instantly felt like a heel. We spoke for a whopping one minute when my cell phone rang again. At that point I yelled “My phone is ringing!” and hung up unceremoniously on my dear, dear husband. LOL.

My head spun so fast I thought I might fall over. An agent was calling me. ME?! Not only did she say she loved my book, but she wanted to represent me. ME?!?! I think I rambled on with her for a few minutes—I hope I didn’t sound like a crazy person! Then after we hung up, I started jumping up and down in the middle of my kitchen while my kids looked at me like I really was a crazy person.

I’m super excited to announce that I am now officially represented by Jill Marsal of Marsal Lyon Literary. SQUEE! And, Jill, I promise I’m not crazy… Well, no crazier than any other writers I associate with. 🙂