CONQUERING VENUS - AN EXCERPT: Only a few people have ever read my novel Conquering Venus. This is the novel that landed me a top New York literary agent back in 2001, but since the story hinges on terrorism and gay boys in love, not a single publisher would touch it. My agent described it as one of the worst cases of bad timing she'd ever seen. She fought to find this book a home for more than a year, and I really do appreciate it. My agent loved this book and believed it would find an audience. Here we are five years later, and I'm still searching for that audience.So, without much explanation, here is the first half of Chapter 2, which introduces one of the main characters, Irenne Laureux. This is fairly self-contained, so I won't set it up. The formatting might look a little weird (blame Blogger), but I really would appreciate any and all feedback...even from you lurkers. I'll leave it up for a week, then it's coming down.
Thanks to everyone who read the excerpt and commented here, as well as the dozen back-channel emails I received. All were appreciated.
Comments
I found your agoraphobic lead very intriguing.
As I neared the end of the excerpt, I found myself asking the following questions:
What was the PRECISE moment when she manifested symptoms of this?
What will it take for her to "conquer" this fear?
Is it possible SHE is guilty of some unpardonable thing--and not only a victim of such?
Hope this helps...
GAV
Hope you get the book taken soon.
Happy New Year!