So there's this story we tell in our family, the story of my father's legendary love of books.  My father was an English professor at the University of California, Irvine and growing up our house was literally padded with books - floor to ceiling.  Bent spines, pages full of slanty pen markers, with long lost electricity bills for bookmarks, these books passed through my father's gaze and found a place in wall length book shelves, closets, pantries, boxes under the bed, cabinets in the bathroom, or strategically placed in recommendation stacks outside my bedroom door so I would be forced to tumble past them on my way out.  Growing up, my father would pick me up from school and take me to the university book store for one of his near daily browsing sessions.  These sessions usually lasted 2-3 hours.  I would while away my time first checking to see if there were any new exciting cartoon or comic books and then I would hang around the checkout counter.  The clerks would always ask me "But where does he keep all these books?”  “Everywhere,” I would sigh as my father finally emerged, holding two or three new prized titles. 

I look back on these memories as some of the happiest of my life and see now how lucky I was to have that passion – a zealous enthusiasm for books of all genres, sizes, and colors – passed on to me.  My favorite part about working at a literary agency is being able to share this enthusiasm with both clients and coworkers and to have a part in helping an author see their book to fruition.