• About verysincerely

verysincerely

~ letters from novelist to world. the rest at kellysimmonsbooks.com.

verysincerely

Tag Archives: Tom Wolfe

Dear Man in White Suit,

16 Wednesday May 2018

Posted by Kelly Simmons in Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

agents, Kelly Simmons cries in public, Tom Wolfe, Writing

Of course I knew who you were, but you did not know me.  I was just a young writer crying in the Amtrak waiting room at Penn Station, rejected by her agent, watching the melting snow stain my suede boots.

You did not have my problems. You were published. You were famous. You had spats.

I had just been told, after toiling over a novel for two years, a manuscript my agent had approved chapter by chapter, that she didn’t like what she had “approved”. That my first novel should really have a character closer to my own persona.

Write what you know? Please. How cliche. How trite. How asinine that I took the Acela, thinking we’d be celebrating with champagne.

But the Acela is what led me to you, Tom Wolfe. Who sat near me in the station and offered me a kind smile.

I didn’t speak, didn’t dare ask you for advice through my tears. I feared the way my day was going, you would say something even more banal, like “show, don’t tell!”

The White Suit, however, was the ultimate show.

Because on the train home, my heartbreak turned to fury.  “I hate her” turned into “I’ll show her.” I came up with a new plot based on my own flaws and secrets.  I wrote it in a fever. It nabbed me a new agent who sold it in an auction in ten days.

Because I was smiled on by angel. An angel in a white suit.

Sincerely,

Woman in a Black Suit

 

 

 

 

 

Recent Posts

  • Dear God,
  • Dear Man in White Suit,
  • Dear Refrigerator,
  • Dear Hot UPS Guy,
  • Dear Man With Gun,

Archives

  • March 2019
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • October 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • April 2016
  • December 2015
  • July 2015
  • February 2015
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • January 2014
  • August 2013
  • April 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012

Categories

  • Uncategorized
  • Work

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.