Oscar Hokeah

Often we spend so much time looking down at our phones we forget to look up.  I catch myself looking at the stars at night and the moving clouds in the day, realizing I’m watching them like I had when I was kid.  Those were days before Reasor’s Grocery Store in Tahlequah moved from Choctaw Street to Muskogee Avenue, and back when there was a drive-in theater outside my aunt’s house on the southside of Lawton.  Back then, we never looked down.

I watch my kids and can see the pure optimism they carry in every moment, and I think that’s what we admire about children.  We say things like, “I wish I had just a little of their energy,” and I wonder if what we really desire is to live every moment with sheer optimism.  That’s where they get their energy.  Children have this way in the world which always holds onto the best in each moment.

Today I have some great news to share.  And it brings me some much needed optimism.  First, I’m going to have to apologize for having went a few weeks without posting.  I have great followers and each of you say profound things on my blog which blow me away.  Often I find myself contemplating new avenues of thought after an exchange of ideas.  For that I’m grateful, and for the same reason, I apologize for disappearing into the shadows.

I’d like to say it was for good reason.  I’ve been writing.  More importantly, I’ve been preparing my novel, Unsettled Between, for review by agents.  And that brings me to my news.

Without saying too much, I participated in a Twitter pitch event called #DVpit and had some amazing results.  I signed with a literary agent who will represent Unsettled Between.

I can’t believe my luck/fate/circumstances.  We’ve decided to make a formal announcement this upcoming Thursday.  I’ll post her name and the agency she works for and her social media outlets in a couple of days.  Look for the post here on my blog.  We signed the agreement on Friday so we’ve had just a few days to move things along.  I’ll say this:  She’s already given me the editorial letter and hands down the adjustments will make the novel better.

I’ll save the rest for Thursday.  I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.  But what a great day to look up.