Dear Agents and Colleagues...

Yesterday I sent off my first batch of postal submissions to literary agents; with quaking I hands passed an indifferent man at the post office all of my hopes and dreams wrapped into A4 envelopes that looked no more important than a letter to my Gran in South Africa. Though somewhat thicker and a little lumpy on account of the big grips I'd used to secure all the pages, since they all specified "no binding or stapling".

Most of the preceding two days I spent drafting and redrafting covering letters, synopses, an autobiography and a CV - "not the likes of which you would use for a job application" as specified by one agency's website - and then going through it all again just before sending it off via email or printing it (hundreds of pages, including the sample chapters!) for the purpose mentioned above. I can truly say that I spent the last few days in a permanent state of pre-heart attack, so anxiety-inducing such a process becomes.

The fact that agents are just so particular with the specifications of their submissions process is utterly daunting, and indeed almost soul destroying. One wants a synopsis that is up to two pages long, one says it can't be more than a page, while yet another says 500 words. And that's without mentioning the fact that it all has to be double-spaced with decent margins on all sides. It becomes very difficult to condense one's masterpiece into the roughly 300 word space that a single page holds, especially as you know that this is your one chance to really grab their attention. The chances of getting an agent are ridiculously slim, but for the thousands and thousands of submissions they receive each year, usually they will only take on two or three new authors because that is all they can realistically gain publication for as well as continue working with their current clients. So they have the right to be picky. Though one could argue that "picky" doesn't quite cover it...

Even if one was to find an agent, it does not necessarily mean a publishing deal. And even if you get a publishing deal, there's no guarantee you'll make a big enough name for yourself to be more than a flash-in-the-pan. Or one of those genuinely great books sitting on the shelf, that no one knows about unless their friend recommended it to them or they happened to read a review somewhere. It was for this very reason that I loved working in a book shop so much: I got to review the books I enjoyed, that were not necessarily big-name authors, but whose work deserved so much more than just dust-collection rights.

Submitting your first book to agents is one of those moments in life that even someone who has been there before couldn't adequately explain it to someone who hasn't. There are just no words to describe the fear, the anticipation, the hope, the thrill, the utter desperation to get it just right in the hope they might actually read your submission that you've just spent the last three hours polishing to their exacting standards... It's the same as the first time you drive a car, or have a baby, or get married. People can explain it to you, describe it to you, but until you go there yourself, they cannot begin to make you understand what it's going to be like. It's one of those moments you just have to experience for yourself.

I can only sit back now, and wait for them to receive, hopefully read, and (Please Lord!) respond kindly to my submissions. In the meantime, I am designing my website and waiting for my wonderful sister-in-law; who happens to be an English teacher; to finalise the proofing of my manuscript so that I can upload said manuscript onto Amazon and hopefully make a few pounds. Once that's been done, I will (possibly, if I can stand it) take a week's break and then begin drafting book 2, which, as yet, is very cleverly named "Volume 2". Thank you, thank you, please hold your applause till the end...

Should anyone who happens upon this rambling care to take a look, you can read the first three chapters here http://www.wattpad.com/user/TLJ550 and please do be kind enough to put me as a fan if you enjoy it, and even more gratefully received would be a vote! I'm not entirely sure what all the voting is about, but it seems to make me more inclined to read others' works if they have not only many reads of their story, but many votes as well. I imagine if this is the effect on me, that possibly it might be the same for others too. Either way, if you then decide you like my wattpad page, be a darling and go and Like me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/TamarynLJohnson

I always respond to any Comments, Liking, Fanning or Voting and will be sure to publicly thank you! And maybe, just maybe, your fan/vote/liking of my pages will encourage any passing agents to reconsider sending my proposal straight to the recycling bin. You just never know.

The Story...

If you read my other two posts you probably know more about me than you ever wanted to, and I can only humbly apologise, and then kindly point out: that no one had you strapped to a chair with your eyes held open by tiny hooks in front of your screen. Just saying. However, if you were reading my other posts you may be interested in knowing a little more about the story. Here is a rough idea.


Borne of a virus spread by mosquitoes, Vampires believe it their given right to cull the human race and keep the over-population of Earth under control. The Hunters are the human race’s evolutionary response, banding together to keep the ruthless, killing machines under control, but there is little they understand about their foe...and themselves.

Sonia is young Hunter, but with her father long dead and no other Hunters to guide her training, she is lost in a confusion of fact and fiction, with only her father’s journals to help her. When she meets Lee, the attraction between them is unstable, yet undeniable and she finds herself suddenly far deeper into the world of her enemy than she had ever imagined possible. She faces the ultimate choice: join her rivals...or die alone.

Lee belongs to Jódís' Host, an old Nordic Vampire who escaped the short summer nights of Norway by moving south into Africa with her brother, Andersson. But his new position of power had corrupted his mind and she left him on the crossing to Morocco. Now his hunger to annihilate the Hunters drives his narcissistic existence, while his sister simply aims to live in balance with the predators and humans alike.

Andersson want Sonia’s blood; after losing Lee to his sister, he needs the next purest bloodline to create the most effective virus to eliminate the Hunters without harming the humans. But she’s proving to be hard to attain and when she shows up at his sister’s Host, he lays plans to take her back...


If you're interested enough that you want to read the sample chapters, hop along to www.wattpad.com/user/TLJ550 and please do fan and/or vote for me if you like it. Also have a look at my facebook page http://www.facebook.com/TamarynLJohnson and if you like it, then please Like it! It will also hopefully be on Amazon very shortly as an e-book for Kindle (or just about any e-reading device) to buy for under £5.00, though I'm not entirely certain exactly what the price will be and if I will be allowed to create an introductory offer. If I can, it'll start off at 99p. More details soon.

How to forget you have a blog...

I guess with the interruption of a third baby, giving up my job and becoming a stay at home mother and then dealing with the endless stress of having not two, but THREE children kind of makes it easy to forget you started a blog when the impetus to knuckle down and get your book done was upon you. Ironically, said third baby was already in-situ but not yet discovered when I wrote my first - and up until now, only - post. I found out six days later, and promptly declined into a state of panicked anxiety surrounding the how, why, when, of the situation, and got to pondering the enormous question of "what the hell do I do now?!" 

The how and why, I was later rational enough to realise I had the answers for, it was the when that truly stumped me. And for a woman who was very determined to get her life back on track, had just begun a new exercise regime and was just about learning to cope with two children, an unexpected pregnancy was not on the wish list, at all. It was not a fun few weeks. Nor was the incredible difference in morning sickness, in contrast with the very mild case of said affliction with my two other pregnancies. Yes...it was a girl this time.

But I knew from the moment I found out, despite a bit of an internal debate on the matter, that I could never give up such a gift, no matter how ill-timed and ultimately devastatingly impactful the gift was to be upon our finances. My little girl is like a ray of sunshine in our lives, and has been since the moment she arrived. She truly was a blessed surprise. 

And then we made the delightful mistake of giving her a name that means "playful", a name she has lived up to very well since her second birthday. The fact that she was named after a purple-haired, one-eyed, self-righteous, stubborn and compassionate cartoon character makes it just that little bit worse. If you guessed Leela, from Futurama, then you'd be right. Well, it's not like we actually expected her to become her namesake! But, bizarrely, she has done just that. A true madam in every sense of the word, right down to coveting shoes since she was six months old; something I have never done. It can only mean that she has more of her father's (and by default, his three sisters') genes, and hence will be a true pink and fluffy girly-girl even though her mother is very much not!

Anyway, enough about the, er, distraction. I started this blog to get my name around a bit and keep myself focused on my writing, something it has done very well thus far...not. But although I had totally forgotten about it, I had not forgotten about my book, and in the January of this year, decided it really was high time I finished it. I scrapped nearly everything from the original story, rewrote the plot, scrapped more bits from what I'd written pre-third-pregnancy, and got down to it. 

I finished on Saturday, the 20th of October, created my Facebook page for it, updated my Wattpad account with a few sample chapters and started spreading the word to my friends and family. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback and well wishes already, and it's only Monday. Of the few people privileged enough to have gotten a copy gratis, they are apparently hooked and staying up too late because of it. I take this as encouragement to move forward, put it on Amazon and actually start contacting that list of prospective agents I've compiled. Now that is daunting.