Today is a big day.  It follows a big email last Wednesday, a big meeting over cocktails Monday evening,* and a big exchange of correspondence regarding a draft agreement yesterday afternoon.  And then, just a few minutes ago…

I received a countersigned contract from Matt Bialer of Greenburger Associates!

Greenburger (officially known as Sanford J. Greenburger & Associates) is one of the more storied literary agencies in the business, with long-time roots in the practice of editorial scouting (bringing European clients such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, and Franz Kafka to the United States), and a roster today that boasts some of the most popular authors in publication.  More importantly (to me anyway), the firm, and Matt in particular, represents some of those I consider to be the very best fantasy novelists currently writing, including one of my early influences, Tad Williams, and perennial bestseller, Patrick Rothfuss.  Oh, and as an added bonus, based on my dealings with Matt so far, he also appears to be one heck of a nice guy.

It’s only one step on the author’s journey to success, and there are no guarantees that I’ll make it any further along the path than where I am now.  But it’s also a step that not every author is lucky enough to reach, and I find myself in the best of company as I strive to achieve the next.  In a way it almost feels like I’ve come to the happy ending of book one in my own multi-volume series.

I can’t wait to start the sequel.

Now, if you’ll pardon me, I’m afraid I have to cut this post short – my agent had more than a few suggestions for my manuscript, and I have got to get back to work!

* Advantage of living in New York:  once you have a finished novel you can meet agents in person.  Disadvantage of living in New York:  the cost of living – and consequent pace of working – in the city make it bloody difficult to find the time to finish a novel in the first place.