Secret Dead Blog rarely gets to break news. We were late on Watergate, completely missed the Iran-Contra thing, and unfortunately, Secret Dead Blog was dating Monica Lewinsky during the late 1990s, so that would have been a serious conflict of interest.However: Secret Dead Blog is able to bring you this fresh bit of literary news, and amazingly, I think we're even scooping Sarah Weinman. The news?
Meet Al Guthrie, literary agent (shown at left standing in front of the historic David Goodis house).
Yep, that's the same Al Guthrie who's already been lauded as one of the shining stars of noir, both here and in the UK. The same Al Guthrie who's an editor for cult fiction imprint PointBlank Press. The same Al Guthrie who portrayed Arthur Dent in the most recent adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. (At least, we think it looked like him.)
But it's true: Al has joined the prestigious Jenny Brown Associates. Secret Dead Blog asked Al to explain the newest peg on his hat rack.
Secret Dead Blog: Why did you want to become a literary agent?
Allan Guthrie: Cause I'm no good at plumbing.
SDB: No, really. why?
AG: Writers of dark material tend to get short shrift from agents, on a content basis alone. Happened to me enough times, and I know many other authors who've had the same experience. I think those agents are missing a trick. Crime fiction is expanding, and nowhere faster than the darker, harder-hitting variety. Dark crime fiction is, as you know, a particular area of interest (some might say, obsession) of mine. What with my editorial and writing experience, and my inability to shut up about books I love, along with my view that hard-edged crime fiction is about to blossom (it already is, it's just cleverly disguised), becoming an agent seems to make a lot of sense. Whether I'll be any good at it is another matter entirely, of course, but I'm delighted Jenny Brown Associates have given me the opportunity. It's very, very exciting.
SDB: What kind of clients are you looking for?
AG: Stunningly gifted writers of intelligent dark/comic crime/literary/thrillers (and if they can write great flap copy, even better).
SDB: Who's a better lover: you, David Hale Smith or Mark Stanton?
AG: That's not for me to say. You'd need to ask Paul Guyot.
[end]
If there's one thing you need to know about Al Guthrie: he conquers whatever he sets his mind to. If I weren't so googly-eyed in love with my own agent, I'd be tempted to jump on the Good Ship Guthrie. Of course, that would be another huge conflict of interest...
But I'm extremely jealous of the people he's going to be signing up. They have no idea how hard he's going to work for them.
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