I got an agent! It took me two years and four books, but I finally snagged one for The Dragon's Song. I am now repped by Mel Stinnett of the Starlight Literary Agency (http://starlightliterary.com/). She loved The Dragon's Song!
This is a new agency and the agent has a background in TV and film, so her experience with editors is a little different, but I was impressed by her knowledge of the business. Plus, no one else would touch this story (over 200 rejections). I mentioned here when I first started writing it that having a main character who 11 years old and Vietnamese is going to be a tough sell. We've gone over the manuscript and it's even better than before. Now all she has to do is find a major publisher who loves it.
Here is the premise of The Dragon's Song (a middle grade adventure):
With only a change of clothes, eleven-year-old Bao Dang begins his journey out of South Vietnam to escape the oppressive government, circa 1980. Years earlier, he watched in horror as Communist soldiers dragged his parents from their house and sent them to a re-education center.
He covertly travels at night by small boat down the Saigon River to the South China Sea, where he and over 100 other "boat people" pack into a trawler designed to hold fewer than thirty. For six grueling days they avoid police and pirates and face the constant threat of capsizing while living only on rationed rice and water.
Bao and the others find refuge at a camp in Indonesia. Bao harnesses the power of music to endure months of harsh living as he awaits word from relatives in the US. Finally, he is united with them in Rhode Island, leaving behind everything for the ultimate gift: freedom.
Even better news:
I've been in writer mode the past several months, so I wasn't sure if I could pull it off. Now, it looks like a go...
Spoiler
Decades returns next month!
All new and better than ever.
Where are those crappy promos when you need them?
All new and better than ever.
Where are those crappy promos when you need them?
