I’m going to make this a short story since

I got an email last week from an agent: “would you be available to talk some time?”

Me, up until the phone rang:

I can’t tell you exactly what was said because as soon as she started saying nice things about my book, my brain started going like this:

But there is one particular thing she said that really grabbed my attention, showing me how she really “got” Kitty’s journey as a character. We talked for a while and had a great conversation, despite my deep aversion to talking the phone. Then she told me she’d really like to work with me on my book.

Now I know I’m not a very excitable person and don’t tend to emote very much, (something that drives my mother insane) so I probably sounded like

but I was definitely all:

After we hung up, I let the other other agents considering my work know I had an offer. Most of them responded quickly and I did have some other interest, but nobody was as awesomely excited about the book as the first agent. Nobody else had the thoughtful comments about my characters and story that she did. People have always said you want someone who loves your book, so you know they’ll be a strong advocate for it. Then I talked to one of her clients and she had phenomenal things to say about her.

So I made my decision.

Through the resulting emails I was all:

(haha! yeah, right. I’ve never been that cool about anything in my entire life)

But if we’re going to be honest, I was definitely like:

and

Because I am now represented by the super fabulous Rebecca Podos of the Rees Literary Agency.

Whew. That’s fun to say.

Special thanks to J.A. Souders, who gave me so much support and encouragement over the past week. Thank you for keeping me sane.