congration! you done it

I’m beyond thrilled to tell you that I’m now represented by Claire Friedman at InkWell Management.

Claire read my entire manuscript in a single sitting, picked up everything I was hoping I’d put down, and was subsequently gracious enough to tolerate my cold-medicated self on a phone call during which I definitely spoke the words ‘reality vore.’ (Her reaction was to suggest that we could put it in the blurb, which told me definitively that I was placing myself in the right pair of hands.) I’m so fortunate to have her insight and her vision in my corner, I’m in love with the future she sees for my work, and I’m excited beyond words to start calling it into being.

The inevitable Pinterest mood board, feat. the Neon Genesis Evangelion title card generator.

I owe so many people a debt of gratitude — too many to list, really, but I’m going to make an attempt and hope that anyone I’ve neglected will forgive me. My thanks to A.K. Larkwood, Tamsyn Muir, Jennifer Giesbrecht, Arkady Martine, and A.M. Tuomala for industry wisdoms and vast professional generosity. My thanks to Talitha Kearey, Livali Wyle, Ariella Bouskila, and Frances Watson for sustained moral support; and to Margaret Crumb and Scout of the Woods for cheering me on as I dragged myself through the valley of the shadow of querying.

I am particularly indebted to the Lambda Literary Fellows of the YA class of 2019, and to Benjamin Alire Sáenz and William Johnson, without whom I would not be in a position to thank anyone.

I started working on the book I pitched to Claire, The Last Testament of Ethel Zhao, in January 2016. I don’t think the Waverly I was back then would have dared to imagine anything like this. Thankfully, the Waverly I am now is sharp enough and self-aware enough not only to imagine it, but to pursue it — and, evidently, to make it happen. I am proud of myself and I’m hopeful for the future, and that is just about all the holding-forth I wish to do on the subject. Forward momentum! Watch this space.