I had rotten news this week. My agent is quitting and leaving Yates & Yates and Orange County (CA). To use the literary term, this sucks. I'm not going to find another one like her. First off, I'm the needy sort of client. Not in a demanding, show-me-the-money kind of way, but in the scratch-my-back-and-tell-me-I'm-pretty way. Who is going to put up with that?

Here's just a few things my agent has been through with me. I get really tired when I travel. This is not good for Jeana because it's usually to the East Coast and Jeana is in California. I called her once at six in the morning because a publisher had left me at the Cracker Barrel. My phone call went something like this, "No--sniffle -- no one came...and no one called me...and -- LOUD WAIL -- I AM THE ONLY ONE UNDER 300 LBS HERE!"

IT was hysterical later, but at the time, not so much.

Let's see, she has taken a publisher and me to Disneyland to satisfy my not-so-inner 12 year-old while we talked business. When I was writing that difficult non-fiction topic, she put me in a hotel across from the mother ship (South Coast Plaza) so I could chill afterwards.

After a mix-up in the hotel, she had to sleep with me in NYC while I tumbled nervously over my 3 a.m. (my time) Today Show appearance. Needless to say, I'm bummed -- and just think of what my new agent is going to think!?!

Jeana Ledbetter is a gem among women, and though she won't leave my life (hah, like I'd let her off that easily!), I am truly saddened for me, but thrilled for her and her new adventure!

Labels: literary agent, Today Show, Yates and Yates