Represented Again!

Hello On the Rocks Friends and Followers,

A couple of months ago, I sent a country-song-type update as my world crumbled below me telling you that life is sometimes hard. And while this still rings true, the beauty of when things tear away to shreds is that sometimes they rebuild into something magical.

Fast-forward to today…One of my challenges was figuring out what to do when my agent left agenting. For those of you who’ve followed along for years, you know the struggles and ghosting Ruthie and I faced when we tried to get an agent the first go around. For those unfamiliar, imagine if Dante had a 10th ring of hell in the Inferno, this would be it.

Part of my challenge was that I wasn’t mentally or even physically prepared to jump back into the querying game again. I was knee-deep (and still am) with On the Rocks events and was advised to keep that train going as long as passengers were on it. The busy travel-heavy and sleep-light lifestyle didn’t jive well with hunting for a new agent partner. Also, here’s another secret I know about agents… They normally only pick up new, unseen, highly polished material which again I didn’t have time to produce. Yet again, another strike.

However, the world works in mysterious ways. I was introduced to Najla Mamou through my old agent, and she thought we could work well together. Well, when we spoke today, there was an instant connection. I threw all my cards down and told her my goals not only for On the Rocks, but also my two future projects. She not only got it, but a tiny lightbulb went off in her head.

In a matter of minutes, she had a plan for what should be worked on, in what order, and when and where we should pitch. I feel like she was a nice version of Gordon Ramsey, but instead of remodeling a restaurant, she was rehabbing my writing career.

I breathed a sigh of relief because the lightbulb moment she had was what had been stopping me in my tracks for the past few months. It is truly paralyzing when you are a person who plans, and you don’t even know where to begin. Everything seemed to make perfect sense. The plan was so solid and obvious that after she spoke it, it already seemed to be coming to fruition. Pure magic. And the icing on top of everything is that I liked her as much as her plan for my career. So, I said, “Yes.”

And Voilà, I have now changed my writing career status from online dating to being in a serious commitment. All’s well that ends well.

Here’s where you can find us for the rest of this month.

Join me in NJ tomorrow at 6:30 pm at the Kinnelon Library. Click here or on the photo to register. You can come without registering, but librarians are much happier when you do.

Join me, Ruthie, and possibly some of your other favorite Costanzos at the Robinson Library on June 27th at 6:00 pm. No registration is needed for this one, but this event is as local as you can get for us. Hence, get there early to get a seat. The librarian is expecting it to be a full house.

In addition to this upcoming fun, I’ve also been getting around the first slice of bread and now, into the meat of the sandwich month. Here are some cool photos from recent events.

Joe and Maria at Rotary Club of Pittsburgh at the Omni William Penn 6/5/24

Maria and Gege (Donna C’s sister) took on the Open Air Market in Zelienople on 6/6/24.

Maria was a featured author at the Passaic County Festival of Books on 6/8/24. A bonus is that she met a super cool dog with a fohawk too.

Ok, that’s enough rambling for tonight.

With gratitude for all,

Maria C. Palmer :)