If publishing is serious about wanting to be a more accessible industry for non-neurotypical people, we should really be talking more about issues like this: As an agent and as an author, I deal with this on a daily (or actually, more accurately, an hourly) basis. RSD can be distracting, debilitating—even sometimes galvanizing (sometimes in a less-than-healthy way) but it's never a non-issue for a neurodivergent person in publishing.

To every author querying in 2020, please know that queries are often the first thing to fall off the Must Do List when everything is in crisis and our current client list needs us. Also, every agent I know is aware of this and feels SUPER guilty about it. Please remember this: 1. In publishing, whether you’re waiting on an agent or an editor, no news most often = no news. Not necessarily bad news. If you see an agent or editor doing other stuff than emailing you back, that doesn’t mean we’re ignoring you. It means we’re people who can’t work 24/7/365.

I just realized that all of my favorite RomComs are the ones where MCs realize they’d rather be with someone they can be silly/fun with, and who cares enough to listen to their weird rants. So far I’m really liking #Holidate for this reason. It’s the silly little things, I guess