Looking for advice regarding literary agents

[Tobin S.]

Should I submit a query letter or just walk through the door manuscript in hand? If I submit a query, should it contain some of my material?

I live in a small town in Indiana and we do have one literary agent here, but they don't have a web site and I know of no one who has worked with them. All I can find on them on the web is a listing in a directory. If I contact this agent, what are some things I should look for? Do you think I should try to contact an agent in a larger city?

What I have is a manuscript of short, short stories about 500 to 2000 words in length each. They are about my time on the road as a trucker and are, of course, non-fiction. I have about 50,000 words together.

When I was in college the last time, I was in my early 30s and I took a creative writing course for which I wrote a short work of fiction about a trucker. I'd been a trucker for about 8 years at that point. The professor loved it. He took me aside and told me that I should write more about trucking. He thought that some people would be "enthralled" by something like that. I didn't make it through college, but I took that professor's advice and now here I am with all of these little stories.

Another person who has been a source of inspiration for me is oneighty. He was he a wonderful person and a great writer, and I wouldn't be honest if I said he did not influence me.