How I Got an Agent

by Jude McGee

Last winter my beautiful artist friend, Marina, was headed to Manhattan to see her agent! She had an agent!

Her cute cookbook/memoir/photos of gay divorcees cavorting around the kitchen was designed to get you through divorce with homespun chat and yummy recipes.

I could have used it when my first marriage was ending. Never mind. She had an agent for it!

So, while I was biting back envious nigglings, we were discussing the fun things New York puts on for the holiday season — Mayor Bloomberg lighting the Christmas trees along Park Avenue, churches putting on caroling concerts, Handel’s Messiah and the fabulous windows along Fifth and Madison Avenues. It might even snow.

“Don’t you remember what it‘s like there in December?” I asked, aghast, when I saw the light-weight coat she planned to take. “Take my mother-in-law’s mink.” I said.

I know. I know. Many resist the charms of fur on humanitarian grounds — or should that be animalitarian grounds?

Anyway, it’s a beautiful old coat that I inherited. (And aren’t minks little animals that only truly fulfill their destinies as coats?) Mine has a large sable collar. (I have nothing against sables; maybe they're sweet. But what a collar!)

Out of animalitarianism, or other concerns, Marina demurred. I pressed.

Finally, I got her to actually try the coat on. When she put on its full-length magnificence – and when I pointed out that it was drying up in my closet and needed to be worn before its inevitable demise, she took it.

Luckily the coat distracted me and kept me from revealing my fundamental issue at that moment – envy that she had an agent and I didn’t.

Sweetly, Marina said she would mention me to her agent. Yada, yada, yada.

A day later, she sent me her agent’s info, saying the agent would like me to contact her. Because of my poor attitude, I didn’t move on it right away.

A few days later, imagine my surprise when I got an email from the agent:

“Dear Jude,” the message said. “I just met your coat. Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself and your novel?”

It turned out that we were kindred spirits.

I sent her a copy of my PI thriller, Prey for the Church. She asked to rep my book – and I hope the rest will soon be history.

"Death is Golden," a short story by Jude McGee, can be found in the anthology Murder in LA-LA Land.

Photo courtesy of Amanda Kennedy.

Things You Don't Know About S.J. Rozan

SinC: What are your favorite shoes?

SJR: A semi-hightop semi-sneaker called the Soho Walker by Propet. They don't make them anymore but I buy them up on cheap shoe sites whenever they pop up.

SinC: Is there anything you'd never leave home without?

SJR: My keys. Because I've done it, and it involves climbing out the window of the nice people upstairs and down the fire escape... It ain't pretty.

SinC: What do you wish you had more time for?

SJR: Reading.

SinC: Is there anyone from the past you would like to talk to for just 15 minutes?

SJR: My past? Or our communal past? From my past, that guy I dated freshman year. I'd like to give him a 15-minute piece of my mind. From our communal past, Genghis Khan.

SinC: What word do you absolutely hate?

SJR: Not a word, a phrase: "No problem." As in, "Thanks for doing that for me." "No problem." The implication is, if it HAD been a problem, the doer might not have been so generous about it.

SinC: Do you dream in color or black and white?

SJR: Color. And Surround-Sound, too.

SinC: If the F.B.I. had to give you a new identity, what name would you choose?

SJR: Jane O'Brian. Every non-Irish New Yorker secretly wants to try it.

SinC: Favorite food?

SJR: Bread and cheese.

SinC: Favorite drink?

SJR: Bourbon. Or dark beer, if it needs to go with the bread and cheese.

SinC: Most embarrassing moment?

SJR: Are you kidding? This is the internet. No way.

SinC: First job?

SJR: Babysitting. I was damn good, too.

SinC: Worst job?

SJR: Babysitting. No, I just had to say it. I guess really, it would be when I was a janitor in grad school. But we sure had fun. Me and Kolawole Ajibola, from Nigeria, on the night shift.

SinC: Favorite dessert?

SJR: Gelato.

SinC: If you weren't a published author, what would you be?

SJR: Well, the truth is I'd still be an architect. But that's not what you're getting at. What I'd like to be is someone's gardener. I'd worry about the plants all day and live in the gatehouse.

SinC: If you could be one of your characters, who would it be and why?

SJR: Lydia Chin. Because she's young, and she's tough (no matter what she says) and because her family's there for her (no matter what they say).

S.J. Rozan is the award-winning author of 12 novels, including the mystery series featuring private investigators Lydia Chin and Bill Smith. Her most recent work, “On the Line,” finds Bill in a high-stakes chase to locate the kidnapped Lydia. You can find more things you don’t know about S.J. at www.sjrozan.com.

Photo courtesy of S.J. Rozan.

We Love Libraries: The Cary Memorial Library

Elizabeth Dickinson (left) and Robin Paul (right), Cary Memorial Library staff members, get into the October spirit in costumes inspired by crime fiction. The library is the 10^th winner of $1,000 in the monthly Sisters in Crime “We Love Libraries!” lottery. Photo courtesy of Mandy McClaine.

We Love... the Cary Memorial Library!

The Cary Memorial Library in Lexington, Mass. is the October winner of the Sisters in Crime "We Love Libraries!" lottery. The library will receive $1,000 from Sisters in Crime, to be used for the purchase of books for its collection.

According to staff member Elizabeth Dickinson, the library's entry in the SinC lottery came about as a result of a book display created for a "Mystery Night at the Library" event. The evening featured a panel of authors from SinC's New England chapter; their books provided the perfect focal point for the photo used in the library's lottery entry. The library staff snapped a number of shots of the display, included them with their “We Love Libraries!” entry – and learned this week that they’d significantly increased the library’s book-buying power.

"We're thrilled," Dickinson said about the award. "We couldn't be more happy about it. It's a lovely initiative for your group. It's a substantial amount of money."

As might be expected, the crime fiction community is a key element in the library’s programming. The library staff works with the SinC New England chapter on special events. The library also hosts “Death by the Book,” a mystery/crime fiction discussion group that meets at the Cary Memorial Library on the second Monday of each month from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

According to Dickinson, the recent Mystery Night at the Library was a great success. “It was a lot of fun,” she said. “We had a really nice program and a good turnout.”

And a photo opportunity that earned $1,000 for book purchases.

The “We Love Libraries!” Program

Since January 2010, the monthly Sisters in Crime “We Love Libraries!” lottery awarded $1,000 to a total of 10 libraries located throughout the U.S. The program, originally scheduled to end in December 2010, has been extended through December 2011.

To enter, complete the online entry form at www.sistersincrime.org and upload a photo of one or more of your staff with three books in your collection by Sisters in Crime members. A list of SinC author members can be found by clicking here.

The previous “We Love Libraries!” winners include: the Kingstowne Branch of the Fairfax County (Va.) Public Library in Alexandria, Va. (January 2010); the Kraemer Family Library, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, Co. (February 2010); Pineville-Bell County Library in Pineville, Ky. (March 2010); Cresco Public Library in Cresco, Ia. (April 2010); the Seminole County Public Library in Casselberry, Fl. (May 2010); the Bartram Trail Regional Library in Washington, Ga. (June 2010); the Newton Falls Public Library in Newton Falls, Oh. (July 2010); the St. Joseph Township-Swearingen Memorial Library in St. Joseph, Ill. (August 2010) and the Yuma County Library District in Yuma, Az. (September 2010).

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