Found out today an incredible dream agent wants to read the first 50 pages of the manuscript. But I'm going to take it slow and take the advice of another incredible dream agent I loved and lost.
Will now cut to the chase. My college writing professor (and mentor), Amy Bloom, used to say that the first pages are just you clearing your throat. I suppose I knew that the real juice of the story -- the restaurant scenes -- arrived pretty late. But I took comfort in the fact that so many other books don't hit their stride until a hundred or so pages in.
But why bother with all that. I'm going full speed from page 1. As Faulker said, "In writing, you must kill all your darlings." So this weekend, there will be blood!