When we last left our hero (me), he was despondent and had just about enough of this crap. It felt like it had been at least a decade of close calls. Maybe if I would have got rejected all day long, both for my novels, and my short fiction, it might have been different. But instead, I had scored an agent, had a novel go on submission, and had several agents interesting in my new novel - one to the point of talking about pitching two books. 

I work really hard at my writing. I've taken courses...