I first read Bliss in 2014. I loved it immediately. It was the first novel Mike* wrote that I could not put down. This book also jolted me into dark contemplation about what I was doing with my life as my partner wrote profound, poetic commentary on love in modern America. Half the time Mike was writing Bliss, I was eating cheese.
Bliss is a love story. It’s also ironically named. Marital bliss. Wedded bliss. Life is never that easy. Mike’s writing captures the tensions of heartbreak and joy, injustice and goodness, ignorance and clarity. No good love story is so removed from life’s painful circumstances that it can’t be real. Ah, Bliss is such a good book!
Later in the editing process, Mike will refine his synopsis for marketing the novel, so for now, I’ll share with you his query. This is the letter that goes out to many (oh-so-many) agents and publishers to pitch his work. Query-ing is a wild, painful, tedious process that I’ll tell you more about later.
My name is Fredrick Soukup, and I am seeking publication of my 63,700-word literary novel, Bliss, a story about love imperiled by socioeconomics and race.
In search of meaning amid America’s sedated upper middle class, a cynical college graduate forgoes medical school and moves to inner-city Chicago. When he falls in love with a woman uncompromisingly devoted to her underprivileged neighborhood, he finds himself caught between two lives, one he does not want and one he can not have.
I have published short stories in Fluent Magazine and Sou’wester and was a semifinalist for the 2017 American Short Fiction Prize. I based Bliss on my experiences working in criminal justice in St. Paul, Minnesota, during which I discovered my white privilege.
This is a simultaneous submission; the full manuscript is available upon request. I thank you for your time and consideration.
Thank you all for your love and support--Mike is thrilled to have you on this journey with him!
-Ashley
wAgent’s Take: Who wouldn’t want to publish this guy’s novel?
* Thinking to yourself, “Who’s Mike?” Ashley—the wAgent—calls Fredrick “Mike.”