Writing Achievement Unlocked

In the writing game, good news mostly comes in small measure. So you need to be grateful when something good happens. Imagine I'm typing this with my happy face on.

I finally signed with a new literary agent. Svetlana Pironko of the Author Rights Agency decided to take me on after reading my novel SHOT. The story goes a little bit like this:

"You can’t choose your family. This fact becomes a major career obstacle for DS Shannon McNulty when she takes up a post with the Police Service of Northern Ireland following a decade on the force in London. The move from England back to her hometown of Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland coincides with the untimely death of her gangster uncle, Brendan McNulty. Now Shannon must balance an unofficial investigation into her uncle’s shooting with her first official case for the PSNI. A swift resolution to the disappearance of a politician’s daughter could lay the tracks for a stellar career as a Belfast detective. But if she fumbles her family and career juggling act, she’ll lose everything."

I'm very happy about this development. Relieved too. One of my goals during the three-year career break I'm currently enjoying was to secure a literary agent. With only five months of that time remaining, it's finally happened. Many thanks to Les Edgerton, by the way, for introducing me to Svetlana. Pretty cool to share an agent with such a legend. The fact that she has worked with Ken Bruen -- a noir god -- is gravy.

Emerging writers, don't give up. I'd almost abandoned this book when Svetlana's email pinged through. I'd almost given up on writing crime fiction altogether, in fact. This current agent hunt began in June 2015 and I got really close with a few agents, but until last week I just didn't get close enough. Form rejections are almost kinder than those 'close but no cigar' emails. But it's a trial most writers will have to endure. I accept that.

I'm sure there'll be more disappointments ahead. Getting an agent is still no guarantee that they can get your work published. However, I'm a step further along than I was at the start of this month. So watch this space. Hopefully I'll have another bit of good news to share in the near future.