"One's patience wears a bit thin against 100 degree temperatures with 100 percent humidity"--does this mean we should check the New York weather before sending our query?
Um.
That's an interesting thought.
But I'm not sure how well you can guess what's going on in each agent's head/office. Most offices are air-conditioned and comfortably heated. Some agents like heat. Some like cold. Some drink more tea/hot chocolate/coffee during the colder months, and those are all dopamine-boosters.
I don't know what to tell you. The microclimates--the "I just found a great query! How exciting! Can't wait to see what else there is today!" or the "I just broke up with my boyfriend and all romance queries are getting a form reject today" feelings--are probably more of a worry and, of course, not predicted by Weather.com.
Incidentally--this is one of those books I can't stop talking about--did you know that the ancient Andean potato farmers found microclimates so small that certain varieties of potatoes could grow beautifully in one spot but wither four feet away? And that they dealt with uncertainty by cultivating thousands of varieties, a direct opposite of our "This Burbank Russet is the most robust so we will mass-produce it" approach?
I'm simply loving The Botany of Desire. I mean, you know I am, when I go from weather to potatoes.
Darn. Now I want one for lunch.
6 comments:
OT (but then again, so were potatoes, and that went quite nicely) ...
What do you make of agents who still insist on snail mail? I hesitate to send a query to someone who doesn't accept email. In this digital age, a tech-savvy agent seems like a must. On the other hand, I know that mass query types are probably saving snail mail for last, so maybe they get less queries?
I know you fancy old-fashioned correspondence just like I do, but in business, is that really a good idea?
What thinks ye?
When you're done with the book, the documentary for Botany of Desire is also quite good.
South American tribes also had a water clock, 98% accurate mathematical equations for astronomy (something we don't even have today), and successful open-heart surgeries. Seriously, they were way ahead of their time!
There's a National Geographic show titled the same as that book that I've been DYING to watch. I had no idea it was a book first.
I've often wondered how a prospective agent's mood would play into how much they like the query. If I spend months getting critiques, joining query chat groups and honing my query to a near-perfect specimen, would an agent toss it aside for the simple reason that my story deals with a thief and she/he just had their car broken into? I mean, we're all only human, right? Heck, I'd probably toss it aside myself!
Omnivore's Dilemma is great too, but I think Botany of Desire is Pollan's best book.
Omnivore's Dilemma was good too, but I think Botany of Desire is Pollan's best so far.
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