A Q&A with Agent Kathryn Willms
We wanted to get to know The Rights Factory’s newest agent, Kathryn Willms, a bit better. So we decided to subject her to a version of the famous Proustian Questionnaire. It’s fascinating what you can learn about a person from their greatest regret...
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A summer day. Craft beer. My husband. A good book. Feet in Lake Huron.
What is your greatest fear?
Falling off the chairlift. I’m not even afraid of heights, but I am afraid of public humiliation and having time to think through the consequences of not lowering the safety bar. Also, anything touching my leg while in a deep body of water. When I left home one of my major fears was my parents would throw out all my favourite childhood books. Well, they just moved, and they packed the storage container with so many books that the crane tipped over when it tried to lift it onto the truck. What a relief.
Who are your favourite writers?
Ha, this is a really unfair question. Already with the agency, I’ve encountered some new “favourite” writers. The list is out of control. I plead the fifth. Here are a few books though that I can’t get enough of:
Unless by Carol Shields; The Sellout by Paul Beatty; The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin; Coventry by Rachel Cusk; The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles; Among the Thugs by Bill Buford; Lincoln by Gore Vidal; Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
What or who is the great love of your life?
It’s my husband, but he would say it’s “sleep.”
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Honestly, I don’t think I can live through another Game 7 loss to Boston in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thank you, Canadian Bubble! Auston, baby, let’s do this! [Editor: Toronto Maple Leafs fans are the worst.]
Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
Fictionalized Abraham Lincolns. Oooh, or Thomas Cromwell.
Which historical figure do you most identify with?
Catherine the Great. Let’s put me in charge and see what happens.
Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability the best writers have to create a world we fall into and never want to leave. The great part of this gig is now I get to work with those writers! Also, I would love a caustic wit – to be able to really devastatingly insult someone. Not that I would do it, of course – I would just like to know I could.
What is your greatest regret?
Not owning a hot tub. People who pandemic-purchased a hot tub, invite me over! This is not a regret because I love where I live, but I wish I could see my family more often. They are the funniest and weirdest people I know.
How would you like to die?
In a canopied bed, surrounded by paid staff, wealthy and bored with too much stuff. That’s why I’m in book publishing! We live above a fruit store and I imagine one day we’ll fall through due to the weight of our bookshelves. Might not be my first choice, but seems apt.
Interested in pitching Kathryn? Click here to submit a query on Query Tracker. You can also follow Kathryn on Twitter @knwillms.
https://qq88.fun/ cho mình một góc quan sát khá rõ khi muốn biết các khu vực được sắp xếp theo logic nào. Mình chọn Thể thao và Bắn cá làm hai điểm bắt đầu, nhìn vị trí trên menu trước khi mở vào từng phần. Sau đó mình quay về trang chung bằng một hướng khác để xem những mốc ban đầu có còn dễ nhận ra hay không. Mình không cố ghi nhớ từng lần bấm mà chủ yếu dựa vào tên danh mục và thứ tự hiển thị. Qua vài lần thay đổi như vậy, mình vẫn nắm được phạm vi đang xem và có thể chọn hướng tiếp theo khá chủ động.
I love that her idea of perfect happiness is so simple and specific—feet in Lake Huron with a craft beer sounds pretty ideal right now. Also deeply relatable that her greatest fear is public humiliation on a chairlift rather than the actual falling part.
I spent way too long last weekend down a rabbit hole of idle games and ended up on Scritchy Scratchy trying to figure out if the automation gadgets were actually worth the Jack Points or if I should just prestige already.
Lovely to see Kathryn's bookish answers — Wolf Hall and The Three Body Problem are favourites here too, and the hot tub regret is very relatable. For anyone who keeps submission spreadsheets and reading lists organized, a handy json to excel converter makes tidying up data so much easier. Welcome to The Rights Factory, Kathryn!
Loved this Proustian questionnaire — Kathryn’s reading list is fantastic (Wolf Hall and The Three Body Problem are favourites here too), and her hot tub regret made me smile. For anyone who collects the small joys that make a good life worth writing about, 1000 little things is a lovely reminder of what to savour every day. Welcome to The Rights Factory, Kathryn!
Lovely Q&A — it is always fun to see the person behind the query letters, and Kathryn’s reading taste is spot on (Wolf Hall is a favourite here too). On a practical note, for anyone who values an accurate fit, this Bra Size Calculator gives quick, reliable measurements in seconds.