A Legend

I was surfing the web and came across a brief bio about my agent, Sterling Lord. I've copied it below. He is attending the Paris Writer's Retreat as a featured guest and speaker. Check it out. I think you'll see why he is considered a legend in literary circles. I still haven't figured out why he picked me out to be one of clients...but I'm not complaining.

"MR. STERLING LORD is a legend. He is chairman of the prominent NY literary agency Sterling Lord Literistic. Among the great authors he represented:  Jack Kerouac ( On the Road, 1957), Ken Kesey, Howard Fast, Gloria Naylor, Jimmy Breslin, Nick Pileggi, David Wise, Dick Francis, Terry Southern, Walter Lord, and Stan and Jan Berernstein, authors of the largest selling children's books in the world. Lord began his career as a magazine editor in and publisher in Europe and the United States. Lord was one of the first agents to sell major autobiographical books as films (Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and Fear Strikes Out) (1957). He was also one of the first agents to break the book publishing tradition of single submission of materials, and move into multiple submissions and auctions. In the 1960's, with the demise of many national magazines (Look, Life, Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, etc.), Lord set up his own syndicate of Sunday newspaper magazines and also syndicated well-known daily newspaper columnists, including Jimmy Breslin and Dick Schaap). His syndication of Jimmy Breslin broke all newspaper traditions regarding payments, exclusivity, and use of his material in subscriber newspapers.  When Sports Illustrated named the 100 best sports books of all time in its December 15, 2002 issue, 16 of them were represented by Sterling Lord." 

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My First Uncorrected Proof

Snail mail delivered something I was not expecting, but am very happy to have received - an honest-to-goodness paperback novel with my name on it. It is the uncorrected proof. It's a real book. I can pick it up and feel it. It does not have the same cover art it will in the final version. Instead, it has some of the elements of the future cover, like Avery McShane on his bike and jungle foliage. On the back it has some text I had not seen before. It gives me an idea where the publishers want to go with the marketing of the book:


 - An action-packed, funny and fast-paced adventure story from an exciting new author

 - A remarkable insight into jungle life that will have readers on the edge of their seats

 - This brilliant blend of adventure and mystery will appeal to fans of Time Riders, Artemis Fowl and Percy Jackson


Aww, shucks.

Change of Theme: Music I listen to while writing

I've been posting so far about my development as a writer. I hope you've enjoyed the ride and - for you new writers - the lessons I've learned. I'll keep on with the overall theme over time, but I thought I'd jump away every now and then to let you inside my head a little more. I listen to jazz music via Pandora while I write. The music is on from the moment I arrive at the office until I leave for home. Here are my favorites, the ones that seeded my personal jazz station.

John Coltrane was, in my opinion, the most talented jazz saxophonist ever. He had a tendency to experiment with his music - a little too much for most people - but I absolutely love his musics's style, range and grace.

Few people will disagree with my assessment of Miles Davis as the best jazz trumpeter ever. Just YouTube him and play his most popular songs and you'll hear why.

Thelonius Monk was unique - a jazz pianist without peer.


My Music Genome is based on the talents of these three men.

The Proof

I received the proof pages yesterday from Bloomsbury. It is the first time I've seen Avery McShane and the Silver Spurs in the format that will be published. It is cool - 210 pages of cool. The pages numbers have little spurs next to them. The chapter headers are great. The only thing that the proof doesn't have is the cover art, which I've already received separately. I think the art is posted on this blog, but you can also find it posted on my website (www.gleighlyons.com), on Avery's blog (www.averymcshane.blogspot.com) and on the new Avery McShane Fan Page on Facebook. I hope you'll join the Fan Page.

The proof page for the map of Campo Mata is still blank, but my editor says that I'll be seeing it soon. I will be sure to post that when it comes out, too. This whole process has been a blast, and one helluva learning curve. When The Pirates of Xingu and Paleopeople find homes, and the same process starts for them, I'll be ready for it.

Bottom-line is that with each passing day I've been feeling more and more like real author. Now I have proof.

Snapping Out of It

Okay, I admit it. I was pretty down when I wrote my last post. That was about three months ago. I was tired of waiting to hear back from my agent about his progress marketing the 'epic' I completed in November. These things take time. The good news is that the rejection letters I've seen so far have been quite complimentary. The editors like the book, but they are having a hard time placing it into a specific genre. This is a problem with the modern day book business. Genres have been compartmentalized so much more now. I expect that in the future we'll have genres like 'Fantasy for Twenty-One year olds, not Twenty-Two, nor shall the age be Twenty, Twenty-Three is far too many...' You get the picture.

I'm coming out of the funk. Two things have happened to help extricate me. First, I have been working with Bloomsbury's copyeditors on Avery McShane and the Silver Spurs. It's looking good. I have also seen the first drafts of the cover art, and we are starting to work on the map of Campo Mata. My editor also informed me that the book will be put up for Waterstone's Children's Book Prize - so that's nice. Because of the prize rules, they have moved the publishing date to January 6, 2012 - also nice.

Second - bouyed by the Bloomsbury activity - I completed my sixth complete manuscript: The Pirates of Xingu. I am very happy with the story, the characters, the whole enchilada really. We'll see what my agent thinks of it. I sent it to him this week. It's another adventure story, set in the late 1800's. More on that later.

So, I'm snapping out of it - and it's about time.

Reality Check

I need to get a real job. That was the upshot of meeting with my agent in New York City.

I've done really well as a writer. I am way ahead of the curve. I have a legendary agent, sold my first book to Bloomsbury, and I've completed lots of other manuscripts. I did all of this faster than most, but I still need to get a real job.

The reality is that my first book will not be published until next February and my next books won't be published until well after that. The big money - if it's to be had - won't come for a while.

I don't want to leave my office by the marina, but it looks like I will. I don't want to change the writing routine, but it looks like it's going to happen. I can do it. I just don't want to.

So, I'm working on the resume. I will figure out a way to spin the last couple of years. I will call it "The Sabbatical", which it was. Kind of like the time I took off from college to play pro soccer. I had to get it out of my system - prove to myself that I could do it. Well, I did.

I won't stop writing. I'll just have to do it in my spare time, which is how most do it.

The upside to all of this is that the job will likely take me back overseas - hopefully to Latin America. I will again experience the life and adventures I love, and I will replenish the fodder for new stories and books. The downside is that I will leave the office by the marina and upset the family apple cart...again.

It's been good. It'll be good again.

Pace and Action

Those are two of the words my editor at Bloomsbury used the other day in her assessment of Avery McShane and the Silver Spurs, which we are in the final stages of editing. The next step is the more detailed editing and proofreading. That's where they look at and fix everything: the grammar, syntax, crossing each t and dotting each i.

Here are some snippets from that same email:

"...think it reads very well. I do think you have such a good, natural voice that boys will lap up!"


"...I do think it is reading so fluently and with such pace and action! Really (literally!) barnstorming."

Barnstorming because the protagonist actually blows up a barn.

I trust her opinion. I have started to come out of my shell a bit more lately - attending book readings and writers groups - and she's right. There are not a whole lot of easy read books for middle readers of the male persuasion. There is a noticeable gap between the more involved novels (such as the Harry Potter series) and the very simple reads (such as comic books). There are some out there, like Holes, but not many.

I can't wait to find out how the book (and the series) resonates with boys and, hopefully, with girls and other age groups too. It's pretty exciting.

She also said that I'll be seeing some cover art in the next month or so. I can't wait.

But I have no choice.