Aw, Richard, you are too kind!

(And LOL on the dazzling looks and charm--I wish!

)
My personal belief regarding getting agented (and this is me speaking generally!) is that it's heavily dependent on luck. This isn't to dismiss my writing (I'm not that modest, heh!), but there are a lot of truly fantastic writers out there who have issues getting an agent (or selling a book). Briefly, the book I was agented for first time round never sold and my agent and I eventually parted ways (she's a fabulous agent, btw--it's just that she was going in a different direction regarding what she wanted to acquire at that point). Re: agent number two, she's also fantastic--unfortunately for me she quit agenting about a year after she signed me (it was for a second book which didn't sell either). Which is kind of a roundabout way of saying luck plays heavily into the whole deal--your book might well be good enough to get an agent, but if it doesn't sell (and that's dependent on a whole bunch of other factors, many of which are outside the writer's control!) you may end up writing something new and (possibly) needing a new agent. It's the long game!
(And sorry, mysticalgal--didn't mean to hijack your post!) I'll just close by saying I had wonderful experiences with both my agents and I'm working toward getting agented again (hopefully, anyway!

) And all the best to you, Richard, on your journey!!!!!!!