John Cusick joined Greenhouse in January 2013 after several years
with a small New York agency, where he began as an assistant and rose
to be an agent with a fast-developing client list. As well as being a YA
author in his own right, John is a sought-after speaker on writing,
both at writers’ conferences and via webinars.
You can read his blog
here: http://johnmcusick.wordpress.com/
For more information, check out my friends Natalie Aguirre and Casey McCormick's wonderful blog, Literary Rambles.
And now John Cusick faces the 7 Questions:
Question Seven: What are your top three favorite books?
That’s a tricky one. To answer honestly I have
to break them into categories, like the New York Times bestsellers. In
children’s literature, Norton Juster’s Phantom
Tollbooth and Natalie Babbitt’s Tuck
Everlasting are genius. My all-time favorite is Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. My favorite book for
grownups is Ada or Ardor by Vladimir
Nabokov. It took me two reads to understand any of it, and I’ve since reread it
more than any other book except The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which takes second place. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is third.
Question Six: What are your top three favorite movies and television shows?
I have
a weakness for movies about writers and artists. Amadeus and Wonder Boys
are both up there. I’ve had many favorite movies over the years, but nothing
comes close to the pure bliss I experienced seeing Jurassic Park in theaters as a kid. For T.V., Mad Men is brilliant, the reboot of Battlestar Galactica was amazing (Politics! Religion! Robots!), and
on the other end of the spectrum, I’m down to re-watch Black Books anytime.
Question Five: What are the qualities of your ideal client?
My
ideal client works hard and writes a ton. He or she handles rejection like a
champ, and is always striving to improve. I feel some kind of bond with all my
authors; connecting on a personal level is vital for a positive professional
relationship. I like to joke around too, so a sense of humor is a bonus (I feel
like I’m filling out a personals ad!).
Question Four: What sort of project(s) would you most like to receive a query for?
I’d
love to see a middle-grade series for boys set in a truly original fantasy or
sci-fi world. I love page-turners, whether they’re adventure or contemporary
romance; anything fast-paced is up my street. I like high sci-fi, but I’m
especially interested in stories set in our contemporary world with a sci-fi or
fantastical twist. Think Eternal Sunshine
of the Spotless Mind. I love horror and suspense. I’d be interested to read
a sprawling, romantic historical. Tolstoy for teens.
Question Three: What is your favorite thing about being an agent? What is your least favorite thing?
I love
championing fantastic authors. I love listening to that little voice saying Holy cow this is really good! I love spotting things I know a certain editor will flip for. And
of course, the best moment is calling a client with an offer. Oh man, I wish
that feeling came in chewable tablets, I really do. My least favorite part is
having to part ways with a client or a house. Sometimes despite everyone’s hard
work and best intentions, the fit just isn’t right. It’s always painful, but a
necessary part of the job.
Question Two: What one bit of wisdom would you impart to an aspiring writer? (feel free to include as many other bits of wisdom as you like)
1).
Write a ton of books. It’s important to experience projects, a lot of them,
from conception to completion to revision to re-revision. Writing endings
changes how you think about first chapters, and starting from scratch teaches you
where you’re going. Write good books and bad books, short books and long ones.
But write as many of them as you can.
2).
Don’t try to be a normal, balanced, sane individual. You’re a writer. Give in.
This is what you do and it makes you crazy and obsessive and it often means the
dishes are piling up and your hair looks like a forest fire and you’ve missed
six dentist appointments. Oh well. Give over to it fully. Be a maniac. It’s
worth it.
3).
Have as many people read your stuff as possible, from friends to writing groups
to strangers on the internet. It’s important to get a mix of constructive and not-so-constructive
feedback. It will improve your craft and thicken your skin.
Question One: If you could have lunch with any writer, living or dead, who would it be? Why?
Definitely my all time favorite: Nabokov. From his
interviews and biographies, he seems like the kind of guy who could talk about
Russian literature, bad television, and the best place to grab a cup of coffee
in Vienna, all in the same breath. The one downside, I’d be so nervous he’d think I was boring!
