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[linnea]

wow.

I found so many ID cards. It never occurred to me to keep them as a way to meet the girl on them. I turned both ID cards and the credit card I found into the police station.

I guess my Game is not up to that level.

(and oh, by option three, I meant "this is what actually happened, she told me to recycle it.")

No, you did the right thing.

I don't know what you guys think, but I feel that what the smarmy bastard did was creepy as hell. "Heyyy, I've got your photo ID and your real name, why don't you come meet me for drinks and I'll think about giving it back." NOT COOL.

[smick]

A month or so ago I tried to do the right thing with a credit card that ended up in my possession.

I was checking into my hotel, after an all day concert festival.  We gave the desk clerk our card, and she put it into a prehistory card machine.   The machine jammed.  She was flustered, so I started trying to figure out how to open the machines steel jaws.   It turns out there was another card already in there.   About a half and hour later, I extracted both the cards.  The card that was in there was pretty chewed up, but still serviceable.

I decided that I would be an upright citizen and destroy the credit card.  I folded it in half a couple times.  The clerk stared at me, mouth agape. 

"Why did you DO that?!"

"I...well... I figured this guy was down the road, and he probably reported it lost, and the card was turned off."

"No. He's upstairs sleeping!"

"oh...I... sorry."

[AugustWest]

No, you did the right thing.

I don't know what you guys think, but I feel that what the smarmy bastard did was creepy as hell. "Heyyy, I've got your photo ID and your real name, why don't you come meet me for drinks and I'll think about giving it back." NOT COOL.

Blindingly creepy.

[side_show]

Wombat,

This is great news!
 
When it comes to an agent, remember you are hiring them and not the other way around.  If they're both open to representing you, it is completely legit to 1) let each of them know this, and 2) ask them for a couple references of other authors they represent and to then call these folks to gage their general satisfaction.  If they balk at this, they're either messed up ego-wise or have something to hide, and that should be a flashing red light.  It would also be useful to ask each of them which publishers they'll be targeting with your book (then look into these publishers to ensure you like what they do too), their track record of getting work published with said publishers, and any info they can share about their overall success rate with getting work published.    Other than that, you'll want to check into what sort of cut they'll be taking and if it is standard.  You likely have a local writers collective of some sort, and if so you should join if you haven't already - they will likely be able to advise you as to this and also provide additional support.  Also, they'll likely have the inside goods on these agents and may have had experiences with them that authors provided as reference wouldn't likely share.

[theinevitable]

oh, I forgot this one:
I found a credit card, consulted the guy who was at the next gas pump, and ended up calling the credit card company. The guy on the other end basically cried with joy that I had not spent any money on the card. He was so happy about me not stealing any money.

so. This is the part where suddenly it clicks that wombat is talking to agents about a book. that she wrote.

Good job. You know, on the being awesome thing. The thing you do where... you're awesome.

[jaydub]

One time I found a lady's driver's license in the street.  Since her address was right there, I mailed it back to her.  She sent me a nice thank you card.  Other times I've dropped things off at police stations.  I found a guy's wallet with a couple hundred bucks in it (in 20's).  I gave that one to the cops, as I didn't want to deal with him if there had been, like, a thousand in there when he'd lost it.

Yes it was a struggle not to take a finder's fee.  I left contact info in case the guy either didn't pick it up or wanted to reward me in some way.  No dice either way.  I got a nice smile from the desk sergeant though.

[wombat]

Ha, of course I don't belong to a writer's group because I am a socially inept geek who spends all her time on internet messageboards. But of course if I do need to ask for advice about the agents, I know where to ask on an internet messageboard.

And there is also a famous author in the neighborhood who I could ask if I had the nerve to move our relationship past the dog-stalking phase...

But, really, probably the second agent will say no.  It is statistically likely.

[Nabubrush]

I decided that I would be an upright citizen and destroy the credit card.  I folded it in half a couple times.  The clerk stared at me, mouth agape. 

"Why did you DO that?!"

"I...well... I figured this guy was down the road, and he probably reported it lost, and the card was turned off."

"No. He's upstairs sleeping!"

"oh...I... sorry."

Good times. Congratulations all 'round, folks.

[wombat]

noooooo....  BOTH agents want me. And they both seem really nice....

Someone on the writer's messageboard said "We all wish we had this problem."  But seriously, this is so miserable. I don't want to make the wrong choice. I don't want to reject someone really nice who loved my book and who I had a lovely conversation about tapirs with.

I have to call the first one again - I didn't ask her enough business questions because I was assuming I didn't have another choice - but I think I have to sleep on it and wait till tomorrow. My brain hurts.

[Nabubrush]

Good luck, Wombles - I'm pulling for everything to work well for you!

[side_show]

If they are the sexy intellectual type, I suggest you have them oil wrestle for it.  This is what all literary agents should do.

[V-Adore]

That's a hard choice, wombat, and not one I envy you, but I know whatever happens, you'll get a great agent out of it. Good luck.

[wombat]

If they are the sexy intellectual type, I suggest you have them oil wrestle for it.  This is what all literary agents should do.

I was trying to think what would be the Iron Chef equivalent for literary agents. But all I could think of was stuff that writers could do - you get one ingredient of a plot and have to finish a story in an hour, and such. 

The Technical Staff pointed out that I should not complicate matters by feeling so horrible about having to reject one when they both seem so nice, since basically what agents do is sit at their desk all day and reject 99% of the people whose stuff they read. I am trying to take this to heart.

[Doc]

Great news W. But yeah, don't sweat their feelings too much, I am sure they are professionals.

Miss Snark is a pretty good blog written by a literary agent that might give you some ideas for questions to ask. It's inactive now but trawling the archives is entertaining enough for me as someone who has never had any literary aspirations so you might find something to like in there.

This one for instance is quite similar to the advice already given by SS.

[wombat]

Oh, I know about Miss Snark - I didn't know she quit the blog - how unfortunate.

Hmm, Miss Snark would certainly sneer at the idea of feeling so personally bad about rejecting one of these agents, I think.  But perhaps instead of working I should search the archives to see if she discusses this specifically...