THIS IS WHAT I KNOW ABOUT MY LITERARY AGENT:

She gets a lot of emails.

Recent tweets:

-First day back in the office after over a week of conferences and travel is like #answeremailsuntilidie

-the office looks like a row of empty coffee cups and me powering through a thousand emails.

She is very busy.

Recent tweets:

– looking for one more agency intern at Donadio & Olson

– closed to queries until…

– I guess the fact that it’s 4:45 and I haven’t eaten lunch is pretty standard for Day 2 back in the office post-holiday

She volunteers.

The New York Junior League

Meatloaf Kitchen

Project Muse (mentors third grade artists)

*****

I admire her and respect her time.

I limit the emails I send, careful not to burden her.

When she informed me that she was ready to submit my manuscript to editors, I was on vacation and had no service (or so I thought) and, of course, wanted to let her know how thrilled I was.

But every time I hit send on my response email, my computer told me it was experiencing technical difficulties.

I hit send countless times before finally retyping the message, a slightly different message, on my phone.

The next morning, she responded normally.

I realized she responded to the first message I’d written and sent by computer, not the one I’d sent by phone.

“It might’ve gone through more than once,” my husband warned.

“No way. No way,” I panicked.

I checked my sent messages.

And there they were—eighteen messages!!

I immediately sent (yet) another email apologizing for the email bombardment.

She was totally cool.

She wrote back, “Haha, I figured the eighteen emails just meant you were really excited!!”

I am. I really am!!!

But I didn’t answer.