Thursday, 5 January 2006

I had an e-mail today from the Agency that is looking at Lord Alexander's Cipher; or, the Bridekirk Behemoth. It said:
[We have now] read the complete manuscript of LORD ALEXANDER'S CIPHER. We are in agreement that it has good potential, and has many of the right 'ingredients', but is still in need of work.

I suggest that, if you are willing, we meet soon to discuss things in detail.
I am not sure what Miss Snark would make of it, but I reckon that this is more of a "yes" than a "no". This is my first novel, after all. I would be suspicious if an agent suggested that it didn't need work.

With the post-Christmas backlog the meeting won't be for a couple of weeks. I am not counting chickens, but I am counting the days.

16 comments:

Amanda Ashby said...

Congratulations, Stephen! I love reading your blog and this is a great way for you to start the new year. Also, it's definitely more of a yes than no, so all fingers and toes are duely crossed and some lucky dust coming your way.

Alex Bordessa said...

Ooooh! Well done :-) An actual meeting sounds very promising indeed. Good luck!!!!

Anonymous said...

Excellent news! Of course it's a yes. Go and see them NOW.

Anonymous said...

I congratulate you Sir! and wish you luck with your interview.

Douglas Hoffman said...

Hey, that's great, Stephen. The Behemoth is that much closer to sitting on my nightstand. Best of luck with the meeting!

Annette said...

congratulations stephen,I hope this will be a good year for you.You deserve it after all the hard work you have done.

Liz Fielding said...

Oh, well done, Stephen! That's such a positive response.

Gabriele Campbell said...

That does sound quite promising. Good luck.

Bob & Muffintop said...

Belated congratulations & a sprinkling of pixie dust for luck to you~

Nell Dixon said...

Wow! Great news, it sounds very promising. I'm so pleased for you.

Saskia Walker said...

That does sound promising, wishing you the very best of luck for your meeting.

Anonymous said...

Well, as you already have two Amandas congratulating you, I'll congratulate you as Mandy and say well done. It's definitely more of a yes than a no. You probably just need to throw in an extra couple of elephants ;)

Carla said...

Congratulations! Getting a UK agent to read a whole manuscript is no mean feat in itself; you clearly had no need of Miss Snark's Synopsis Crapometer :-)
Good luck!

Stephen said...

Thank you for all the good wishes. The meeting is on 18 January - I'll let you know all about it soon afterwards.

Anonymous said...

Well done, Beau Bowden - that's a really, really positive sign. Go charm 'em.

Kate Allan said...

Great! No agent is going to bother to read and consider your ms, and invite you to discuss it unless they think it has serious potential.