Entry Nickname: If You Give a Girl a Redo
Title: The Art of Almost
Word count: 105,000
Genre: Upmarket Women’s Fiction
Query:
32-year-old Anna Marin already carries too many regrets. She’s still pining for the one who got away and can’t forgive herself for the fallout from her mother’s stroke. On a flight home to marry the wrong man, Anna realizes she must take control of her life and stop living in the past.
But when she wakes as her 20-year-old self en route to her semester abroad in Australia, it seems fate has a different idea: a second chance with Charlie Beckham, the older man she was drawn to but never pursued. This time Anna falls hard, and being with Charlie is even better than what she’s spent more than a decade imagining.
Yet if the rest of Anna’s history plays out as it once did, in a few months her mother will suffer a debilitating stroke. And Anna’s baby sister will begin a downward spiral from which she never recovers. When Anna’s efforts to change the future from across the Pacific fail, it soon becomes clear that she must make an impossible decision: walk away from the love of her life—again—or stay with Charlie and abandon her family.
Adding to Anna’s distress, her on-and-off college boyfriend (and future fiancé) flies to Australia to win her back. Seeing him as the boy she fell in love with, Anna finally realizes she also played a part in their relationship’s unraveling.
As he shows a side Anna’s never seen, and complications emerge in her relationship with Charlie, Anna’s even more confused by what the past, present, and future hold. All the while she wonders when her time in the past will run out, or whether the clock’s been rewound for good.
First 250:
I would have given anything to be in a different moment. Any moment but that one.
I searched the audience surrounding us for red satin, careful not to let my gaze rise above neck level. To see his face. Finally I caught a flash of crimson and looked up. My eyes met my sister Claire’s and I immediately regretted it. Hers held a question; mine, a plea.
I had to look away or I’d cry. Or scream.
I tried to steady my breathing as Nick lowered down on one knee. A cool spring breeze blew petal confetti toward us, so gently that bits of white and pink remained suspended in midair before fluttering to the ground. Even the river, humming low and deep like a bass line just beyond the hotel courtyard, slowed to a crawl.
And yet I couldn’t hit pause, take a second to reflect on how I’d let it get so far.
“Anna Jane, you are my past and my future. You’re all of my best memories and the center of every great moment to come. And so to you I present—” here he paused to allow sufficient time to appreciate his pun—“this ring. It’s time we made it official!”
The choreography was perfect.
I tried to speak, to tell him it felt like I was disappearing. That putting a ring on my finger would sever the last threads tying me to the earth. But the words went sliding down some shadowy passage, piling on top of all the other things I never said.
Jun 8, 2015
QK Agent Round: YA Paranormal Fantasy--Best(iary) Western
Entry Nickname: Best(iary) Western
Title: Fugitive Motel
Word count: 90K
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
By day, fifteen-year-old Iris Vox sleepwalks through high school. By night, she plays a grown-up behind the reception desk of her father’s Kansas hotel, checking supernatural Others in and out and making sure they have live food, fresh blood, or a safe place to spin a web.
Keeping the Other world safe and secret is the only life Iris has ever known. She’s handy with dart guns and convenient lies. It was just safer when her dad didn’t spend so much time as a human smoothie - his curse makes him liquefy then pupate back to his normal shape. Dad’s metamorphosis used to happen on a schedule. Now it comes without warning, leaving Iris to hold everything together.
Just as sleep is a luxury to Iris, so is the truth. Her father won’t admit that something’s changed in his curse, or where her mother went. Deeply angry at her father’s silence, Iris turns to her guests for human contact. Consoling a vampire’s fading blood moll, soothing the self-hate of werewolves, and helping a handsome insect learn to fly, Iris finds her role as listener and solace. As Iris works through her anger, the Other world begins to change. The deeply buried magic that fuels it is coming close to the surface, bringing with it nameless creatures banished a millennia ago, creatures without the “humanity” that makes Others worth protecting.
Forced to bear witness to this change, Iris finally learns her father’s secret. Now she has to decide whether she wants to become the next Innkeeper and face this new danger, or leave the Other world behind.
First 250:
5:45 a.m.
A man staggers in through our automatic doors. Glad for some action, I slide last month’s National Geographic under the counter so I can focus on my customer. Nothing special about him, anyone else would see a regional salesman coming in after driving all night. An older man with skin like a re-used paper bag.
But the stagger…it’s not quite right. Drunks weave. This guy lurches forward like he’s got an absolute goal. Our desk. Me.
Yep. Pale, sullen, haggard with a side of desperate determination? Definitely looks like one of ours.
“Can I help you, Sir?”
“Have you got a room, Miss?”
The man grips the rim of the counter to steady himself. His well-groomed fingernails point toward me. With a great effort he lifts his left hand and slaps it on the counter twice. That’s good. It’s half the sign. Still, he’s not finished performing.
“What are you looking for exactly, Sir?” I prompt.
You have to say it or you can’t come in!
There’s a long anxious pause as he tries to remember. He grips so hard that his nail beds turn whitish gray.
“Rest and feed,” he answers finally, fishing the words out of some hard-to-access place in his brain, laying them out heavily on the counter.
Bingo.
Although the words before the knocks would have been better. Doing it backwards means he’s starving. Keeping a watchful eye on my guest, I check our availability.
“Have you stayed with us before?”
Title: Fugitive Motel
Word count: 90K
Genre: YA Paranormal Fantasy
By day, fifteen-year-old Iris Vox sleepwalks through high school. By night, she plays a grown-up behind the reception desk of her father’s Kansas hotel, checking supernatural Others in and out and making sure they have live food, fresh blood, or a safe place to spin a web.
Keeping the Other world safe and secret is the only life Iris has ever known. She’s handy with dart guns and convenient lies. It was just safer when her dad didn’t spend so much time as a human smoothie - his curse makes him liquefy then pupate back to his normal shape. Dad’s metamorphosis used to happen on a schedule. Now it comes without warning, leaving Iris to hold everything together.
Just as sleep is a luxury to Iris, so is the truth. Her father won’t admit that something’s changed in his curse, or where her mother went. Deeply angry at her father’s silence, Iris turns to her guests for human contact. Consoling a vampire’s fading blood moll, soothing the self-hate of werewolves, and helping a handsome insect learn to fly, Iris finds her role as listener and solace. As Iris works through her anger, the Other world begins to change. The deeply buried magic that fuels it is coming close to the surface, bringing with it nameless creatures banished a millennia ago, creatures without the “humanity” that makes Others worth protecting.
Forced to bear witness to this change, Iris finally learns her father’s secret. Now she has to decide whether she wants to become the next Innkeeper and face this new danger, or leave the Other world behind.
First 250:
5:45 a.m.
A man staggers in through our automatic doors. Glad for some action, I slide last month’s National Geographic under the counter so I can focus on my customer. Nothing special about him, anyone else would see a regional salesman coming in after driving all night. An older man with skin like a re-used paper bag.
But the stagger…it’s not quite right. Drunks weave. This guy lurches forward like he’s got an absolute goal. Our desk. Me.
Yep. Pale, sullen, haggard with a side of desperate determination? Definitely looks like one of ours.
“Can I help you, Sir?”
“Have you got a room, Miss?”
The man grips the rim of the counter to steady himself. His well-groomed fingernails point toward me. With a great effort he lifts his left hand and slaps it on the counter twice. That’s good. It’s half the sign. Still, he’s not finished performing.
“What are you looking for exactly, Sir?” I prompt.
You have to say it or you can’t come in!
There’s a long anxious pause as he tries to remember. He grips so hard that his nail beds turn whitish gray.
“Rest and feed,” he answers finally, fishing the words out of some hard-to-access place in his brain, laying them out heavily on the counter.
Bingo.
Although the words before the knocks would have been better. Doing it backwards means he’s starving. Keeping a watchful eye on my guest, I check our availability.
“Have you stayed with us before?”
QK Agent Round: YA Fantasy--Fake Heirs
Entry Nickname: Fake Heirs Do It Better
Title: The First Law of Loyalty
Word Count: 97k
Genre: YA Fantasy
Query:
Every night, seventeen-year-old Arun climbs above the mud and grime of the streets into the grand hotels to steal the foreigners’ gold. The gang she serves follows the old philosophies, demanding strict obedience to elders and superiors. Arun is proud to serve them loyally, as her father does, too.
When her cousin, Jaruk, is one of several boys kidnapped by a Grand Duke as part of a plot to put a fake prince on the throne, her loyalties are torn. Gang rules forbid her from meddling with nobility or politics. Disobedience means death for her and dishonor for her father. But Arun loves Jaruk like a little brother, and the duke is torturing the boys in his attempts to recreate the long dead royal family’s magic.
What the gang doesn’t know, they can’t punish. Behind their backs, she trades information with some nobility, but she quickly realizes that even if she gets Jaruk out of the Grand Duke's hands, there will be nowhere to hide when his "prince" controls the country. To protect Jaruk, Arun must outwit the duke and discredit his prince with her own more convincing fake heir. It's a con too high-profile to hide. If she fails she's dead, and Jaruk will suffer, but success will bring the gang's wrath down on her, Jaruk, and her father.
First 250:
I would've rather been with my brothers, slinking through darkened hallways and snatching treasures from empty rooms. Instead, I sat at the back bar of a dockside inn. The stench of booze and sweat strangled me, the pressing heat like chains. Through the smoky haze, I stole glances at the unfortunate pair of foreign sailors beside me, their misfortune being they were idiots about to lose a bunch of money. At least, that was the plan.
They watched my accomplice, Petch, move three cards in circles on the bar top. Their thick, hairy arms folded across their chests gave them an intimidating edge, but the ignorant curiosity plastered on their pale faces indicated they'd make fine marks.
Petch stopped shuffling the cards. "Which one is the queen?" he shouted. The din of the off-key piano and the men bellowing along nearly swallowed his words. I placed a silver coin on the middle card. He flipped it, showing me the face of our country's first queen. Black smudged the edge of her gold headdress. I sent a silent apology her way for Petch shoving her face into the bar’s grime like that.
Petch pushed me two silver coins. Now came the part where I persuaded these sailors to throw money at the game, and therefore convinced Boss Suttirat I wasn't a completely incompetent con artist.
"You look intrigued." I turned to the sailors, tried to make my voice feathery and cute—not so easy with all the noise.
Title: The First Law of Loyalty
Word Count: 97k
Genre: YA Fantasy
Query:
Every night, seventeen-year-old Arun climbs above the mud and grime of the streets into the grand hotels to steal the foreigners’ gold. The gang she serves follows the old philosophies, demanding strict obedience to elders and superiors. Arun is proud to serve them loyally, as her father does, too.
When her cousin, Jaruk, is one of several boys kidnapped by a Grand Duke as part of a plot to put a fake prince on the throne, her loyalties are torn. Gang rules forbid her from meddling with nobility or politics. Disobedience means death for her and dishonor for her father. But Arun loves Jaruk like a little brother, and the duke is torturing the boys in his attempts to recreate the long dead royal family’s magic.
What the gang doesn’t know, they can’t punish. Behind their backs, she trades information with some nobility, but she quickly realizes that even if she gets Jaruk out of the Grand Duke's hands, there will be nowhere to hide when his "prince" controls the country. To protect Jaruk, Arun must outwit the duke and discredit his prince with her own more convincing fake heir. It's a con too high-profile to hide. If she fails she's dead, and Jaruk will suffer, but success will bring the gang's wrath down on her, Jaruk, and her father.
First 250:
I would've rather been with my brothers, slinking through darkened hallways and snatching treasures from empty rooms. Instead, I sat at the back bar of a dockside inn. The stench of booze and sweat strangled me, the pressing heat like chains. Through the smoky haze, I stole glances at the unfortunate pair of foreign sailors beside me, their misfortune being they were idiots about to lose a bunch of money. At least, that was the plan.
They watched my accomplice, Petch, move three cards in circles on the bar top. Their thick, hairy arms folded across their chests gave them an intimidating edge, but the ignorant curiosity plastered on their pale faces indicated they'd make fine marks.
Petch stopped shuffling the cards. "Which one is the queen?" he shouted. The din of the off-key piano and the men bellowing along nearly swallowed his words. I placed a silver coin on the middle card. He flipped it, showing me the face of our country's first queen. Black smudged the edge of her gold headdress. I sent a silent apology her way for Petch shoving her face into the bar’s grime like that.
Petch pushed me two silver coins. Now came the part where I persuaded these sailors to throw money at the game, and therefore convinced Boss Suttirat I wasn't a completely incompetent con artist.
"You look intrigued." I turned to the sailors, tried to make my voice feathery and cute—not so easy with all the noise.
QK Agent Round: YA Space Opera--Stellar Twins
Entry Nickname: Stellar Twins Kickin it Cosmic-Style
Title: Emergence
Word Count: 66k
Genre: YA Space Opera
Query:
The year is 2088. Solar flares have turned Earth to a dusty red planet, and mankind has terraformed Mars into utopia. So far, only the lucky have migrated to a brave new world…or so it would seem.
Sixteen-year-old Joey Westen never thought she’d go to Mars. Her life of painting murals on the walls of her lead-lined home was good enough, until a golden letter arrived in the mail. She and her twin brother, Jesse, won a spot in the Emergence Program. They’ll be jetting off on the next flight to humanity’s new home, and the shuttle leaves tomorrow.
It takes only minutes in space for Joey and Jesse to realize something’s wrong, as a total ship lockdown was not in the brochure. After meeting their roommates, the Matsuda twins (notorious hackers and shady secret-keepers), they discover an extremist plot to sabotage the Emergence Program. No other shuttles made the trek to Mars, their lush paradise waits empty, and the terrorist responsible is loose onboard their ship. They didn’t travel to the deepest pits of space to be slaughtered by a psycho in a high-tech tin can. These two sets of siblings will lie, hack, even kill to survive the attacks and make it to their promised land.
First 250:
Joey pulled a helmet over her head and fastened the latch to her anti-radiation suit. So much work, just to get the weekly post. Her art kit waited, the sketch of an ocean left unfinished, but chores don’t do themselves.
After flipping on her oxygen tank, she hit a red button on the wall. A buzzer sounded and the outer door of her home crept open, sucking all air from the room. Light glared off metal, shocking her eyes for a split second. The sun’s flare raged today, no different from yesterday, and the same forecast as tomorrow.
She slid down her visor. A reflection of the deep crimson sky colored the lens of her old spacesuit, which still bore the tag from Goodwill. Her boots scattered dust with each step, a cloud of scarlet haze kicking up when she stopped. While peering through tinted glass, she imagined the land as her mother described it. The reddish tint, which covered the parched countryside, transformed to crisp green meadows and pools of turquoise shaded water. Heavy layers of gray smog gave way to puffy white clouds.
Her fantasy ended when a ray of sunlight pierced through her visor. She lifted her arm, blocking the shimmer that bounced from a monstrous glass dome. Hard soil crunched as she neared the edge of a steep drop-off. She gazed down, spying into the elite A-Sector. All those people, strolling along without radon-suits, safe inside a UV bubble of riches.
Title: Emergence
Word Count: 66k
Genre: YA Space Opera
Query:
The year is 2088. Solar flares have turned Earth to a dusty red planet, and mankind has terraformed Mars into utopia. So far, only the lucky have migrated to a brave new world…or so it would seem.
Sixteen-year-old Joey Westen never thought she’d go to Mars. Her life of painting murals on the walls of her lead-lined home was good enough, until a golden letter arrived in the mail. She and her twin brother, Jesse, won a spot in the Emergence Program. They’ll be jetting off on the next flight to humanity’s new home, and the shuttle leaves tomorrow.
It takes only minutes in space for Joey and Jesse to realize something’s wrong, as a total ship lockdown was not in the brochure. After meeting their roommates, the Matsuda twins (notorious hackers and shady secret-keepers), they discover an extremist plot to sabotage the Emergence Program. No other shuttles made the trek to Mars, their lush paradise waits empty, and the terrorist responsible is loose onboard their ship. They didn’t travel to the deepest pits of space to be slaughtered by a psycho in a high-tech tin can. These two sets of siblings will lie, hack, even kill to survive the attacks and make it to their promised land.
First 250:
Joey pulled a helmet over her head and fastened the latch to her anti-radiation suit. So much work, just to get the weekly post. Her art kit waited, the sketch of an ocean left unfinished, but chores don’t do themselves.
After flipping on her oxygen tank, she hit a red button on the wall. A buzzer sounded and the outer door of her home crept open, sucking all air from the room. Light glared off metal, shocking her eyes for a split second. The sun’s flare raged today, no different from yesterday, and the same forecast as tomorrow.
She slid down her visor. A reflection of the deep crimson sky colored the lens of her old spacesuit, which still bore the tag from Goodwill. Her boots scattered dust with each step, a cloud of scarlet haze kicking up when she stopped. While peering through tinted glass, she imagined the land as her mother described it. The reddish tint, which covered the parched countryside, transformed to crisp green meadows and pools of turquoise shaded water. Heavy layers of gray smog gave way to puffy white clouds.
Her fantasy ended when a ray of sunlight pierced through her visor. She lifted her arm, blocking the shimmer that bounced from a monstrous glass dome. Hard soil crunched as she neared the edge of a steep drop-off. She gazed down, spying into the elite A-Sector. All those people, strolling along without radon-suits, safe inside a UV bubble of riches.
QK Agent Round: Adult Urban Fantasy--Paranormal Fear
Entry Nickname: Paranormal Fear, An Exorcist's Murder Trial
Title: King of Skins
Word Count: 91,500
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
Query:
Zhao Ling, a flippant St. Louis criminal defense attorney, faces the toughest case of his career: acquitting an accused murderer who only has a supernatural alibi.
His client, Wayne Liebesman, is a professional exorcist whose only crime was banishing a spirit from an already dead body. So it only looked like he bludgeoned an old man to death. Who wouldn’t believe that? Zhao certainly doesn’t until he’s visited by his client’s employer and paranormal mob boss, The King of Skins. As a body lender, The King allows anyone to take a ride in someone else's body for a price. Knowing that Wayne might cut a deal with the FBI’s classified, paranormal task force, he threatens to add Zhao to his collection of skins unless Wayne is found innocent.
As if things couldn’t get worse, Zhao is kidnapped and taken to St. Louis’s hidden supernatural underground, a bizarre place of preternatural street thugs, obsidian guardians, and emotion brokers. There he is confronted by a rival paranormal gang leader, a broker by the name of Lady Sorrow. She reveals that Zhao’s life isn’t the only one on the line. The King has made a deal with a horror from outside our reality, and if left unchecked, he’ll unleash a plague of otherworldly monsters upon humanity. Now Zhao must be prepared to sacrifice his own life and the freedom of an innocent man to prevent all of mankind from joining the King’s collection.
First 250:
The King of Skins strolled into my office late one night, the lingering scent of death his cologne. I had forgotten to lock my office door. Not that it would have made a difference, not to him. I’ve dealt with murders, rapists, and gang lords, and yet something about the man made the lizard part of my brain scream at me to flee in horror.
Of course, when confronted with such an auspicious character it’s only appropriate to address him correctly, “Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my office at eleven p.m.?” No one has ever accused my mouth of coordinating with my brain.
He stared down his nose at me as if I were a nasty stain on his alligator skin suit. I felt a flash of heat. No one disrespected me in my office no matter how piss your pants scary I found him. Without as much as a “may I?” he sat in the chair opposite mine. Off came his fedora. The dim light glinting off his brown skin stretched too tightly across his clean-shaven skull.
“Mr. Zhao Ling?” he asked. I nodded in response. “You recently agreed to represent Wayne Liebesman in his murder trial. He is a very useful contractor of mine, and you will acquit him.”
“Well Mr.—”
“I am called The King.” His eyes glowed faintly in the dark like two smoldering coals, “The King of Skins.”
“Okay, that’s just plain weird,” I muttered under my breath.
Title: King of Skins
Word Count: 91,500
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
Query:
Zhao Ling, a flippant St. Louis criminal defense attorney, faces the toughest case of his career: acquitting an accused murderer who only has a supernatural alibi.
His client, Wayne Liebesman, is a professional exorcist whose only crime was banishing a spirit from an already dead body. So it only looked like he bludgeoned an old man to death. Who wouldn’t believe that? Zhao certainly doesn’t until he’s visited by his client’s employer and paranormal mob boss, The King of Skins. As a body lender, The King allows anyone to take a ride in someone else's body for a price. Knowing that Wayne might cut a deal with the FBI’s classified, paranormal task force, he threatens to add Zhao to his collection of skins unless Wayne is found innocent.
As if things couldn’t get worse, Zhao is kidnapped and taken to St. Louis’s hidden supernatural underground, a bizarre place of preternatural street thugs, obsidian guardians, and emotion brokers. There he is confronted by a rival paranormal gang leader, a broker by the name of Lady Sorrow. She reveals that Zhao’s life isn’t the only one on the line. The King has made a deal with a horror from outside our reality, and if left unchecked, he’ll unleash a plague of otherworldly monsters upon humanity. Now Zhao must be prepared to sacrifice his own life and the freedom of an innocent man to prevent all of mankind from joining the King’s collection.
First 250:
The King of Skins strolled into my office late one night, the lingering scent of death his cologne. I had forgotten to lock my office door. Not that it would have made a difference, not to him. I’ve dealt with murders, rapists, and gang lords, and yet something about the man made the lizard part of my brain scream at me to flee in horror.
Of course, when confronted with such an auspicious character it’s only appropriate to address him correctly, “Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my office at eleven p.m.?” No one has ever accused my mouth of coordinating with my brain.
He stared down his nose at me as if I were a nasty stain on his alligator skin suit. I felt a flash of heat. No one disrespected me in my office no matter how piss your pants scary I found him. Without as much as a “may I?” he sat in the chair opposite mine. Off came his fedora. The dim light glinting off his brown skin stretched too tightly across his clean-shaven skull.
“Mr. Zhao Ling?” he asked. I nodded in response. “You recently agreed to represent Wayne Liebesman in his murder trial. He is a very useful contractor of mine, and you will acquit him.”
“Well Mr.—”
“I am called The King.” His eyes glowed faintly in the dark like two smoldering coals, “The King of Skins.”
“Okay, that’s just plain weird,” I muttered under my breath.
QK Agent Round: MG Contemp--Middle Grade Leverage
Entry Nickname: Middle Grade Leverage
Title: Team L.O.S.E.R.
Word count: 49,000
Genre: Upper Middle Grade Contemporary
Query:
I am seeking representation for my upper middle grade contemporary novel complete at 49,000 words. When the world fails you, Team L.O.S.E.R. has your back.
Eighth grade president, Corbin Webster is used to hard work. But when he’s forced to accept the position as mentor to a team of outcast sixth grade delinquents, reality smacks him upside the head. It is one thing to be told to teach his team right from wrong. It’s quite another to discover that they’re a car thief, a pick-pocket, a hacker, and a girl who cosplays a different character each day and who refuses to answer to her real name.
To foster kindness and team spirit, Corbin has them find a student who needs their help. When they choose a boy whose lunch is stolen daily, Corbin stages an intervention. There they find that this bully has his own bully at home, and that his father controls his family by starving them. In order to get proof of the real abuser’s criminal activities, and to put him away for good, Corbin must use the illegal skills that landed his group on Team Loser in the first place.
First 250:
The early morning light hit the small, old houses in my neighborhood until they glowed like pastel jewels. Gramp’s scrambled eggs were a perfect bright yellow so I scooped them from the pan, and onto his plate. “Come and eat before I throw it away,” I yelled.
“Corbin Webster, do I look like a track star to you?” His cane made crabby thunks on the worn linoleum but he had to duck his head to hide a smile. He might fool the salesmen at the front door, but I knew better. Gramps put the great in great-grandpa. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be in some random person’s foster home.
“I don’t need any eggs,” he said. “Coffee is fine.”
“You’ll eat them and like it.” I tried to sound stern instead of worried. “Besides, there’s plenty.” If I didn’t watch him, he’d starve himself to make sure I didn’t go hungry. “Mrs. Sanchez brought over a dozen this morning when she dropped off the suit. She said her chickens lay too many for her to eat.”
“That’s different.” He picked up his fork and shoveled some into his mouth. “It would be a crying shame for food to go to waste.” I finished my coffee and carried my plate to the sink. Two birds perched in the mimosa tree outside the kitchen window and sang like they were in the opening credits of a Disney movie.
Gramps whistled low. “Dang boy, you look sharp. Turn around.”
Title: Team L.O.S.E.R.
Word count: 49,000
Genre: Upper Middle Grade Contemporary
Query:
I am seeking representation for my upper middle grade contemporary novel complete at 49,000 words. When the world fails you, Team L.O.S.E.R. has your back.
Eighth grade president, Corbin Webster is used to hard work. But when he’s forced to accept the position as mentor to a team of outcast sixth grade delinquents, reality smacks him upside the head. It is one thing to be told to teach his team right from wrong. It’s quite another to discover that they’re a car thief, a pick-pocket, a hacker, and a girl who cosplays a different character each day and who refuses to answer to her real name.
To foster kindness and team spirit, Corbin has them find a student who needs their help. When they choose a boy whose lunch is stolen daily, Corbin stages an intervention. There they find that this bully has his own bully at home, and that his father controls his family by starving them. In order to get proof of the real abuser’s criminal activities, and to put him away for good, Corbin must use the illegal skills that landed his group on Team Loser in the first place.
First 250:
The early morning light hit the small, old houses in my neighborhood until they glowed like pastel jewels. Gramp’s scrambled eggs were a perfect bright yellow so I scooped them from the pan, and onto his plate. “Come and eat before I throw it away,” I yelled.
“Corbin Webster, do I look like a track star to you?” His cane made crabby thunks on the worn linoleum but he had to duck his head to hide a smile. He might fool the salesmen at the front door, but I knew better. Gramps put the great in great-grandpa. If it wasn’t for him, I’d be in some random person’s foster home.
“I don’t need any eggs,” he said. “Coffee is fine.”
“You’ll eat them and like it.” I tried to sound stern instead of worried. “Besides, there’s plenty.” If I didn’t watch him, he’d starve himself to make sure I didn’t go hungry. “Mrs. Sanchez brought over a dozen this morning when she dropped off the suit. She said her chickens lay too many for her to eat.”
“That’s different.” He picked up his fork and shoveled some into his mouth. “It would be a crying shame for food to go to waste.” I finished my coffee and carried my plate to the sink. Two birds perched in the mimosa tree outside the kitchen window and sang like they were in the opening credits of a Disney movie.
Gramps whistled low. “Dang boy, you look sharp. Turn around.”
QK Agent Round: Adult Eco Thriller--Polar Rush
Entry Nickname: Polar Rush
Title: FLOW
Word Count: 93,000 words
Genre: Adult Eco-Thriller
Query:
John Barrous is out to stake his claim on the rich, virgin continent of Antarctica—up for grabs after a catastrophic global warming has melted the polar ice caps.
After the random murder of his wife, John decides to swap urban strife and his stifling corporate career as an environmental engineer for the freedom to live or die on his terms. Despite his trepidation, his daughter insists on accompanying him on the daring venture. He risks his life, and hers, against ruthless—and armed—competitors in a perilous overland race during the Antarctic Land Rush.
John meets a captivating woman, Lowry Walker, a geophysicist and authority on Antarctica, with deep links to Antarctica’s underbelly. He is attracted to her beauty and intelligence, but still mourns his wife’s death and hesitates to start a relationship with a woman he barely knows, though their lives become entangled in a warren of political intrigue.
Lowry warns him of a shady syndicate, ANT, who pays sham homesteaders to claim tracts, in order to control key land near the proposed capital city, Amundsen. To derail them, she persuades John to infiltrate and expose the nefarious ring, only to discover that ANT is now trying to steal the presidency. Lowry convinces John to run in the special election for president, drawing him away from his simple life, into a maze of power struggles to control this new land.
First 250:
John Barrous and his daughter pushed their way through a crowd of saris and Bedouin robes intermingled with plain western clothes. His ears rang with the deafening uproar and he wrinkled his nose at the stench of body odor. Desperation etched their faces—these were not the meek, waiting to inherit the Earth—these were the ones to seize it.
Men leered at Ginnie’s fresh face. John wrapped his arm around her. She was only fifteen. He spotted two seats together and they made a dash for them.
Young men, couples, and families with children flowed into the packed hall. Two Bedouin men argued in a row in front of them. John shifted on the hard metal chair and glanced at Ginnie.
“Dad, why would the UN open Antarctica with a crazy Land Rush instead of a lottery?”
He shrugged. “Publicity stunt, I guess. Less land in the world forced them to open new territory for the human race to spill into, or more likely, to screw up.”
The quarrelling Bedouins dropped their traditional robes and circled each other in a ring of shouting comrades. One man feinted towards the other, who struck him in the face. More men gathered, tightening the knot around the fighters. John sucked in his breath at the dull glint of a blade. The first thrust missed, but the second hit its mark. Shrieks echoed in the hall. The crowd heaved away as the combatants fought over the knife. John lunged forward to shield Ginnie.
Title: FLOW
Word Count: 93,000 words
Genre: Adult Eco-Thriller
Query:
John Barrous is out to stake his claim on the rich, virgin continent of Antarctica—up for grabs after a catastrophic global warming has melted the polar ice caps.
After the random murder of his wife, John decides to swap urban strife and his stifling corporate career as an environmental engineer for the freedom to live or die on his terms. Despite his trepidation, his daughter insists on accompanying him on the daring venture. He risks his life, and hers, against ruthless—and armed—competitors in a perilous overland race during the Antarctic Land Rush.
John meets a captivating woman, Lowry Walker, a geophysicist and authority on Antarctica, with deep links to Antarctica’s underbelly. He is attracted to her beauty and intelligence, but still mourns his wife’s death and hesitates to start a relationship with a woman he barely knows, though their lives become entangled in a warren of political intrigue.
Lowry warns him of a shady syndicate, ANT, who pays sham homesteaders to claim tracts, in order to control key land near the proposed capital city, Amundsen. To derail them, she persuades John to infiltrate and expose the nefarious ring, only to discover that ANT is now trying to steal the presidency. Lowry convinces John to run in the special election for president, drawing him away from his simple life, into a maze of power struggles to control this new land.
First 250:
John Barrous and his daughter pushed their way through a crowd of saris and Bedouin robes intermingled with plain western clothes. His ears rang with the deafening uproar and he wrinkled his nose at the stench of body odor. Desperation etched their faces—these were not the meek, waiting to inherit the Earth—these were the ones to seize it.
Men leered at Ginnie’s fresh face. John wrapped his arm around her. She was only fifteen. He spotted two seats together and they made a dash for them.
Young men, couples, and families with children flowed into the packed hall. Two Bedouin men argued in a row in front of them. John shifted on the hard metal chair and glanced at Ginnie.
“Dad, why would the UN open Antarctica with a crazy Land Rush instead of a lottery?”
He shrugged. “Publicity stunt, I guess. Less land in the world forced them to open new territory for the human race to spill into, or more likely, to screw up.”
The quarrelling Bedouins dropped their traditional robes and circled each other in a ring of shouting comrades. One man feinted towards the other, who struck him in the face. More men gathered, tightening the knot around the fighters. John sucked in his breath at the dull glint of a blade. The first thrust missed, but the second hit its mark. Shrieks echoed in the hall. The crowd heaved away as the combatants fought over the knife. John lunged forward to shield Ginnie.
Jun 5, 2015
Query Kombat Agent Round Entrants
Please have your revised entries to us by Saturday, June 6th at 5 pm EST. Use the same format and send to the contest email: QueryKombat (at) gmail (dot) com.
A full 32 entries out of the 64 lost in a valiant fight - you should have seen us hosts and the judges freak out over Twitter and in the comments of the entries about how hard it was to choose.
For those 32: good job. You gave the judges a hell of a job. Hopefully you got some amazing feedback as well!
For the 32 winners, CONGRATS!!!!!! YOU GET TO GO ON TO THE AGENT ROUND WHICH OPENS THIS Monday!!!
Below is the remaining members of Team Platypus:
Adult:
Zip
If You Give a Girl a Redo
Forget You, Stalin, We're Outta Here
Paranormal Fear, An Exorcist's Murder Trial
Young Adult:
Fed to the Crocodiles
Life Sucks--I'm Stuck in Podunk
Fake Heirs Do It Better
A Girl and Her Serial Killer
Skins of the Father
My Monster Twin is Rotting
Guinness
My Life as a Teenage Pirate Queen
Middle Grade:
Paper Girl in the Land of Yesterday
Middle Grade Leverage
Fallen Comrades:
Rustic Roots Burn Holes
Heartland of Alberta
The Wonderette v. The Real World
Polar Rush
The Past is My Future
TRIAC
Change the Alphabet, Please
Keep up the good fight!
CONGRATS!!! Of course, we still have....
the Host Saves
It was a really hard decisions to narrow my host save down to one choice. I love all my picks and would take you all if it was possible. Alas, I can only choose one.
With great humility and apologies to the rest, my host save is:
POLAR RUSH
Congrats everyone!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait to see you all at the agent round!
Jun 1, 2015
Round 1 Begins!
Get that thick skin in place because here we go! Round 1
Hop on over to Michelle's and SC's blogs to see the rest of the match-ups and entries! They are spread all over the place. Some here, some there. We've got a little bit of everything: Adult, NA, YA, MG, and PB! This round lasts until June 4th at 8 pm.
On Thursday the hosts will call out for extra judges to come and break ties, or in case of extra close votes to try and get a more decisive margin.
The entry with the most votes for Victory moves forward to the agent round on June 8th! Kombatants will have a chance to revise at that time. Entries must be revised and returned to the QueryKombat at gmail dot com email by Saturday, June 6th at 5:00 pm Eastern. Follow the exact same format.
Now before we begin:
Read this post again to remind yourselves of the rules and guidelines of commenting and judging. Below I've reposted the main ideas:
Reminders for the Entrants:
No commenting on your own entries!!!!!! Not until the last day of the round, so Thursday. If there is a problem with your entry, shout out to us on twitter as soon as you can. (@RavenousRushing) If you don't have a Twitter, you may comment on your entry telling me the mistake.
Also, we tried our hardest to make the match-ups as fair as possible and against as similar stories as possible. But, obviously, this is impossible to do perfectly and some match-ups may seen very random. We apologize for this but it's an evil of the system.
Kombatants should comment on 6 other match-ups to help share the love around!
Reminders for the Judges:
Wait until after one of us hosts comments on each entry first and reply to that comment to cast your votes. Try making your votes objective instead of subjective (but if you really love an entry subjectively, don't even feel bad about saying it was a subjective vote - subjectivity rules!).
Make sure to post under your nicknames!
And judges: seriously, thank you so, SO much for doing this. It's a very tough job and isn't for the faint-hearted.
Reminders for Everyone:
Try not to comment until after one of us hosts have made the first comment!
NOW THE FUN BEGINS!!! GO GO GO!!! We'll be Tweeting under #QueryKombat!
QK Round 1: Super Flynn's Super Fan V. Eavesdropping Monkey (New Matchup!)
Entry Nickname: Super Flynn's Super Fan
Title: You Can't Carry THAT on a Moto!
Word count: 836
Genre: Picture Book
Query:
Flynn isn't sure about his new home all the way across the world. His yard smells like pineapples and the grocery store only has gross, grown-up cereals. Worst of all, his toys are still sailing across the sea on a big boat. All Flynn has to play with are the red cape and small sword he brought in his suitcase.
Outside fighting imaginary bad guys, Super Flynn meets a noteworthy neighbor. Mr. Theo doesn't even have a car, just a motorcycle, and Flynn can't believe all the things Mr. Theo carries on it. A big bunch of bananas! Boxes of 6,000 bouncy balls! And more!
"You can't carry THAT on a moto!" Flynn exclaims. But day after day, Mr. Theo's moto carries crazier and crazier cargo. When Flynn shares these surprising sights with his family, they don't believe him. Even he starts to question what he's seeing. Then Mr. Theo lets him in on a seriously super secret, one so special that Flynn decides his new home might be all right after all.
YOU CAN’T CARRY THAT ON A MOTO! is an 800-word picture book with a super hero hook. It’s inspired by the experience of living in West Africa as an expat family.
First 50:
On Monday, Super Flynn swatted imaginary bad guys with a small sword. His red cape swayed with every skip through his new front yard.
"I didn't know Superman moved to the neighborhood," said a man from next door.
"Super Flynn,” Flynn corrected. “Are you a bad guy?”
“Nope, just your neighbor Mr. Theo.”
Entry Nickname: Eavesdropping Monkey
Title: Family Reunion
Word count: 650
Genre: Children’s Picture Book Funny
Query:
The elephants are planning a family reunion and when the monkeys overhear they decide to have one too. But they’re not the only ones, the whole family reunion concept is too good to miss out on and it snowballs throughout the jungle. Soon the watering hole is filled to capacity with animals of different species, and tempers begin to flare. Finally a wise frog speaks up and introduces a new concept. . . Block Party! FAMILY REUNION is an amusing tale of diversity and acceptance. It is approximately 650 words and lends to lots of fun illustration.
First 250:
On a hot, steamy day in the Jungle of Kree,
A sly, nosey monkey swung from a tree.
He was eavesdropping on a large elephant herd,
And he hung there and listened to every last word.
“We’ll invite all our cousins from near and afar,”
Said the matriarch queen named Ali Dalmar.
Niki Masse Schoenfeldt, Author
NATURE'S LULLABY, 2007 (Orchard House Press)
DON'T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE!, Available Now (Shenanigan Books)
Title: You Can't Carry THAT on a Moto!
Word count: 836
Genre: Picture Book
Query:
Flynn isn't sure about his new home all the way across the world. His yard smells like pineapples and the grocery store only has gross, grown-up cereals. Worst of all, his toys are still sailing across the sea on a big boat. All Flynn has to play with are the red cape and small sword he brought in his suitcase.
Outside fighting imaginary bad guys, Super Flynn meets a noteworthy neighbor. Mr. Theo doesn't even have a car, just a motorcycle, and Flynn can't believe all the things Mr. Theo carries on it. A big bunch of bananas! Boxes of 6,000 bouncy balls! And more!
"You can't carry THAT on a moto!" Flynn exclaims. But day after day, Mr. Theo's moto carries crazier and crazier cargo. When Flynn shares these surprising sights with his family, they don't believe him. Even he starts to question what he's seeing. Then Mr. Theo lets him in on a seriously super secret, one so special that Flynn decides his new home might be all right after all.
YOU CAN’T CARRY THAT ON A MOTO! is an 800-word picture book with a super hero hook. It’s inspired by the experience of living in West Africa as an expat family.
First 50:
On Monday, Super Flynn swatted imaginary bad guys with a small sword. His red cape swayed with every skip through his new front yard.
"I didn't know Superman moved to the neighborhood," said a man from next door.
"Super Flynn,” Flynn corrected. “Are you a bad guy?”
“Nope, just your neighbor Mr. Theo.”
V.
Entry Nickname: Eavesdropping Monkey
Title: Family Reunion
Word count: 650
Genre: Children’s Picture Book Funny
Query:
The elephants are planning a family reunion and when the monkeys overhear they decide to have one too. But they’re not the only ones, the whole family reunion concept is too good to miss out on and it snowballs throughout the jungle. Soon the watering hole is filled to capacity with animals of different species, and tempers begin to flare. Finally a wise frog speaks up and introduces a new concept. . . Block Party! FAMILY REUNION is an amusing tale of diversity and acceptance. It is approximately 650 words and lends to lots of fun illustration.
First 250:
On a hot, steamy day in the Jungle of Kree,
A sly, nosey monkey swung from a tree.
He was eavesdropping on a large elephant herd,
And he hung there and listened to every last word.
“We’ll invite all our cousins from near and afar,”
Said the matriarch queen named Ali Dalmar.
Niki Masse Schoenfeldt, Author
NATURE'S LULLABY, 2007 (Orchard House Press)
DON'T LET THE BEDBUGS BITE!, Available Now (Shenanigan Books)
QK Round 1: Life Sucks—I’m stuck in Podunk v. Learning to Love Tofu
Entry Nickname: Life Sucks—I’m Stuck in Podunk
Title: Middle of Knowhere
Word count: 70K
Genre: YA Contemporary
Query:
What could a seventeen-year-old girl from Chicago possibly have in common with truck-driving, tobacco-chewing rednecks?
When Hailey Nelson’s father decides to up and relocate their family from vibrant city life to the middle of God only knows where, it’s the final straw for Hailey. She plans to hate this small, rural three-stoplight town. But what she doesn’t anticipate is falling in love with a pepto-bismol colored vintage antiques store and the quirky woman who runs it. A woman who shows her more love and affection than Hailey's always absent, news-reporter mother.
But misery loves company, and when Hailey finds out her parents are getting divorced, anti-social Ryker Evans—the local outcast and bearer of hideous posture—is surprisingly supportive and understanding. Probably because his family is even more messed up than hers. When Hailey gets a glimpse of what Ryker could look like with a little TLC, Project Ryker is on. But she doesn’t expect Ryker to be hot with a capital “H.” Or sweet and fun, writing her songs and taking her dumpster diving for donuts. Now she has more to worry about than her parents divorce and her mother’s abandonment. She has her own stupid feelings for Ryker to work through too.
But what she doesn’t know about Ryker’s past and the secrets he’s been keeping could tear them apart. For good.
First 250:
This is what hell looks like, I think as I stare out the window of Dad’s Ford Explorer. Along the curvy road, dilapidated double-wide trailers that look like they belong in some independent film version of a horror flick, litter the sparse lawns. An old couch, unused tires, and even a rust-stained toilet lay strewn next to one particularly neglected trailer.
“Please tell me no one lives there,” I mutter under my breath.
Dad casts a quick glance in my direction, his mouth set in a firm, disapproving line. “Now, Hailey, try to remember that these people work hard. They aren’t as fortunate as you and I have been.” His eyes grind into me, like a pestle trying to turn me into bits of shame. “They do the best they can.”
I sigh and turn back to the window as another trailer comes into view, this one even more unkempt. Amazingly enough, one of the occupants is sitting on the sagging porch steps blowing a cloud of smoke into the humid summer air. The man is grease personified. Like if someone wrung him out, they’d have an entire vat of frying oil. I wrinkle my nose and look down when I make eye contact with him. Suddenly, my nails are desperate for attention.
“How long until Mom joins us?” I ask, digging at one particularly bothersome cuticle.
Mom’s been gone for weeks now. As a broadcast journalist, she jet sets around the world while Dad acts as homemaker extraordinaire.
Entry Nickname: Learning to Love Tofu.
Title: Perfectly Imperfect
Word Count: 67K
Genre: YA contemporary
Query:
Seventeen-year-old Brody Jacobs is a freak show. At least that’s what he’s been called for the past two years since an accident left burns over sixty percent of his body. When Brody moves next door to Maris McKormick, he’s convinced his new neighbor is just like every person who ridicules him on a daily basis. He’ll soon discover that Maris may be the one who can break down the bitterness he’s locked inside -- but only if he’ll let her. Doing so may mean getting hurt all over again.
Maris McKormick is at the top of the pyramid when it comes to the social hierarchy of high school. She has the perfect family, perfect friends, and the perfect boyfriend. But perfect girls don’t get pregnant at seventeen. Now Maris must make an impossible decision that will shatter her perfect image and destroy her reputation. Feeling isolated, she seeks comfort from the only person who could possibly understand what that’s like.
Each of them carries scars, but together they discover they just might have the power to heal each other.
Perfectly Imperfect is written in alternating POV.
First 250:
Most people would be pissed if their parents moved to another state during high school. I don’t really give a shit. A new school doesn’t mean I have to make new friends and start over. I’ve already started over, and I lost most of my friends two years ago. Was I particularly thrilled about moving from California to Georgia? No. I’ve lived the past almost eighteen years in Southern California and the thought of living in the South amidst Dixie-loving, sweet tea-drinking, grit-eating, “the South will rise again” slogan-sputtering rednecks was not ideal. I know this isn’t the most flattering description, but like I said, I’ve never been to the South so what do I know? The heat sucks and the ocean is too far away, but there are more trees and less smog, so at least I feel like I can breathe. I’m not angry we came here. I know it was necessary for my dad’s job and everything he’s ever done has been to benefit me and my brothers, so I’ll give him this.
Our new house is ten times bigger than our old one. The neighborhood even has a gate at the entrance with a grumpy-looking guy standing guard. I’m not sure why a nice neighborhood like this needs a gate surrounding it. If you want to keep questionable people out, these gates might be better suited in L.A., not Stepford row.
Title: Middle of Knowhere
Word count: 70K
Genre: YA Contemporary
Query:
What could a seventeen-year-old girl from Chicago possibly have in common with truck-driving, tobacco-chewing rednecks?
When Hailey Nelson’s father decides to up and relocate their family from vibrant city life to the middle of God only knows where, it’s the final straw for Hailey. She plans to hate this small, rural three-stoplight town. But what she doesn’t anticipate is falling in love with a pepto-bismol colored vintage antiques store and the quirky woman who runs it. A woman who shows her more love and affection than Hailey's always absent, news-reporter mother.
But misery loves company, and when Hailey finds out her parents are getting divorced, anti-social Ryker Evans—the local outcast and bearer of hideous posture—is surprisingly supportive and understanding. Probably because his family is even more messed up than hers. When Hailey gets a glimpse of what Ryker could look like with a little TLC, Project Ryker is on. But she doesn’t expect Ryker to be hot with a capital “H.” Or sweet and fun, writing her songs and taking her dumpster diving for donuts. Now she has more to worry about than her parents divorce and her mother’s abandonment. She has her own stupid feelings for Ryker to work through too.
But what she doesn’t know about Ryker’s past and the secrets he’s been keeping could tear them apart. For good.
First 250:
This is what hell looks like, I think as I stare out the window of Dad’s Ford Explorer. Along the curvy road, dilapidated double-wide trailers that look like they belong in some independent film version of a horror flick, litter the sparse lawns. An old couch, unused tires, and even a rust-stained toilet lay strewn next to one particularly neglected trailer.
“Please tell me no one lives there,” I mutter under my breath.
Dad casts a quick glance in my direction, his mouth set in a firm, disapproving line. “Now, Hailey, try to remember that these people work hard. They aren’t as fortunate as you and I have been.” His eyes grind into me, like a pestle trying to turn me into bits of shame. “They do the best they can.”
I sigh and turn back to the window as another trailer comes into view, this one even more unkempt. Amazingly enough, one of the occupants is sitting on the sagging porch steps blowing a cloud of smoke into the humid summer air. The man is grease personified. Like if someone wrung him out, they’d have an entire vat of frying oil. I wrinkle my nose and look down when I make eye contact with him. Suddenly, my nails are desperate for attention.
“How long until Mom joins us?” I ask, digging at one particularly bothersome cuticle.
Mom’s been gone for weeks now. As a broadcast journalist, she jet sets around the world while Dad acts as homemaker extraordinaire.
V.
Entry Nickname: Learning to Love Tofu.
Title: Perfectly Imperfect
Word Count: 67K
Genre: YA contemporary
Query:
Seventeen-year-old Brody Jacobs is a freak show. At least that’s what he’s been called for the past two years since an accident left burns over sixty percent of his body. When Brody moves next door to Maris McKormick, he’s convinced his new neighbor is just like every person who ridicules him on a daily basis. He’ll soon discover that Maris may be the one who can break down the bitterness he’s locked inside -- but only if he’ll let her. Doing so may mean getting hurt all over again.
Maris McKormick is at the top of the pyramid when it comes to the social hierarchy of high school. She has the perfect family, perfect friends, and the perfect boyfriend. But perfect girls don’t get pregnant at seventeen. Now Maris must make an impossible decision that will shatter her perfect image and destroy her reputation. Feeling isolated, she seeks comfort from the only person who could possibly understand what that’s like.
Each of them carries scars, but together they discover they just might have the power to heal each other.
Perfectly Imperfect is written in alternating POV.
First 250:
Most people would be pissed if their parents moved to another state during high school. I don’t really give a shit. A new school doesn’t mean I have to make new friends and start over. I’ve already started over, and I lost most of my friends two years ago. Was I particularly thrilled about moving from California to Georgia? No. I’ve lived the past almost eighteen years in Southern California and the thought of living in the South amidst Dixie-loving, sweet tea-drinking, grit-eating, “the South will rise again” slogan-sputtering rednecks was not ideal. I know this isn’t the most flattering description, but like I said, I’ve never been to the South so what do I know? The heat sucks and the ocean is too far away, but there are more trees and less smog, so at least I feel like I can breathe. I’m not angry we came here. I know it was necessary for my dad’s job and everything he’s ever done has been to benefit me and my brothers, so I’ll give him this.
Our new house is ten times bigger than our old one. The neighborhood even has a gate at the entrance with a grumpy-looking guy standing guard. I’m not sure why a nice neighborhood like this needs a gate surrounding it. If you want to keep questionable people out, these gates might be better suited in L.A., not Stepford row.
QK Round 1: Paper Girl in the Land of Yesterday v. Who Will Be Winter
Entry Nickname: Paper Girl in The Land of Yesterday
Title: THE LAST PAPER DAHL
Word count: 63K
Genre: MG Fantasy
Query:
On Monday, eleven-year-old Cecelia Dahl’s sorrows aren’t turning her into paper. Her little brother is alive, and her mother doesn’t blame her for his death then run off to The Land of Yesterday in search of his ghost. Cecelia has a pleasant house in Hungrig, Norway that doesn’t come to life, kidnap her father, or try to kill her. She has a soul she can’t see, not a small blue one that literally strolls out of her body, abandoning her like everyone else. That is Monday. Then Tuesday sweeps in with its terrible claws and rips her life to shreds.
Moments before Cecelia’s house—a dark and crooked thing called Widdendream—absorbs her father and tries to swallow her whole, a pair of mischievous gnomes arrive at her window in a hot-air balloon and carry her away. Outside, question marks rain from Norway’s sky, and Cecelia’s world no longer makes sense. Thank goodness the balloon’s keepers claim to know how to find The Land of Yesterday and save her father from Widdendream’s doom. Cecelia must survive the harrowing voyage over land, sea and stars, in order to find Yesterday and bring her mother and ghost-brother home. If she doesn’t, Widdendream will never give her father back, and Cecelia’s transformation to a Full Paper Dahl will be irreversibly complete.
First 250:
On Monday of last week, Cecelia Dahl understood the world. She resided in Hungrig Norway, in a crooked house called Widdendream. Daisies that bloomed in both grass and snow circled the shimmering lake outside her window. Sharp mountains loomed over her town. Dogs barked. Cats meowed. Cecelia’s midnight blue hair grew long and fast and cantankerous. Her skin was dark and bronze and oddly freckled, just like her mother’s. Widdendream loved her family, as all good houses should, and her family loved her the same way. Indeed, on Monday of last week, these were all hardboiled facts.
Then Cecelia did the bad thing. And just after midnight of Tuesday last, she understood only one fact: Tuesday hated Cecelia and Cecelia hated it back.
“Cecilia,” Miss Podsnappery asked while pushing up her horn-rimmed glasses. “What ever do you call that instrument in your hand?”
Every eye in class turned on Cecelia. Expressionless gazes traced her charcoal sweater and the black-and-gray striped dress beneath it, judging her frayed tights and scuffed boots too, no doubt. Her teacher, bewildered as always, loomed over her desk far enough to cast shadows. Cecelia forced a smile. She must keep her answer as succinct as possible, forgoing any miscommunications. Teachers were simple creatures, after all, and one had to be succinct, especially since Tuesday last week. Ever since, understanding had gone straight downhill.
“Miss Podsnappery,” Cecilia answered, speaking with extra care as not to confuse the poor woman, for she did try exceedingly hard to please.
Entry Nickname: Who Will Be Winter?
Title: Winter’s Breath
Word Count: 42K
Genre: MG Fantasy
Query:
WINTER'S BREATH is a MG fantasy of 41,000 words, exploring the mythology of nymphs and the seasons.
Teresina wishes she could do more than spin spidersilk or gather berries. Fall lingers on, bringing illness and deprivation to the land, and Rezka, Teresina's cruel mother and the nymph of Fall, has become sharp as the dry thorns of the overgrown brush. Suspecting a crystal she found is more than Winter's plaything, Teresina runs away, hoping to persuade Bruma, nymph of Winter, to restore the natural cycle of the seasons - and to teach Teresina her place in that cycle.
Losing her way in the ice forest, Teresina's first encounter with human folk leads her to rescue Gidon, a young boy enslaved by banditti. Grateful, Gidon vows to help Teresina find the way back to the path of ice. The two make their way to Winter's Castle only to find Bruma - dead. More discoveries - about herself and about others - soon follow, and Teresina must overcome ignorance and self-doubt to claim her place in the cycle and bring winter to her land.
First 250:
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
Mother's voice was colder than the slick of ice glazing the mud puddle. Teresina palmed the crystal, sliding it into a fold of her skirt. Had Mother seen it?
"I was playing." Teresina looked up. "I -"
"Playing? When herbs need sorting for tea and the meadow bower needs tidying - we're half buried in dead leaves - and worst of all, the moss of my bed is parched and scratchy? Bad enough that lazy witch of a nymph Bruma hasn't brought winter yet and I'm exhausted!" Mother scowled, prodding Teresina with her foot.
Teresina looked down at her lap. "I just wanted to see if I could make it snow. I kept a few of the snow seeds Bruma gave me." She willed her hands to be still, to not clutch at her skirt.
"You? Snow?" Mother laughed, and the cackles startled the nearby sparrows into flight. "Foolish child. You know nothing."
"I could do more if you taught me!" Teresina's cheeks grew hot. "It's not fair!" She clenched her fists in the folds of her skirt. Her legs ached with wanting to stand, to hold her ground before Mother. But if she should see the crystal…
"Fair?" Mother gestured toward the woods, thick and dark and deep beyond the meadow. "Is it fair the wolf devours the rabbit? If life were fair, you would not be here.” She bent, her face close to Teresina's, her breath dry on Teresina's cheeks. "You will never be a true nymph of the seasons."
Title: THE LAST PAPER DAHL
Word count: 63K
Genre: MG Fantasy
Query:
On Monday, eleven-year-old Cecelia Dahl’s sorrows aren’t turning her into paper. Her little brother is alive, and her mother doesn’t blame her for his death then run off to The Land of Yesterday in search of his ghost. Cecelia has a pleasant house in Hungrig, Norway that doesn’t come to life, kidnap her father, or try to kill her. She has a soul she can’t see, not a small blue one that literally strolls out of her body, abandoning her like everyone else. That is Monday. Then Tuesday sweeps in with its terrible claws and rips her life to shreds.
Moments before Cecelia’s house—a dark and crooked thing called Widdendream—absorbs her father and tries to swallow her whole, a pair of mischievous gnomes arrive at her window in a hot-air balloon and carry her away. Outside, question marks rain from Norway’s sky, and Cecelia’s world no longer makes sense. Thank goodness the balloon’s keepers claim to know how to find The Land of Yesterday and save her father from Widdendream’s doom. Cecelia must survive the harrowing voyage over land, sea and stars, in order to find Yesterday and bring her mother and ghost-brother home. If she doesn’t, Widdendream will never give her father back, and Cecelia’s transformation to a Full Paper Dahl will be irreversibly complete.
First 250:
On Monday of last week, Cecelia Dahl understood the world. She resided in Hungrig Norway, in a crooked house called Widdendream. Daisies that bloomed in both grass and snow circled the shimmering lake outside her window. Sharp mountains loomed over her town. Dogs barked. Cats meowed. Cecelia’s midnight blue hair grew long and fast and cantankerous. Her skin was dark and bronze and oddly freckled, just like her mother’s. Widdendream loved her family, as all good houses should, and her family loved her the same way. Indeed, on Monday of last week, these were all hardboiled facts.
Then Cecelia did the bad thing. And just after midnight of Tuesday last, she understood only one fact: Tuesday hated Cecelia and Cecelia hated it back.
“Cecilia,” Miss Podsnappery asked while pushing up her horn-rimmed glasses. “What ever do you call that instrument in your hand?”
Every eye in class turned on Cecelia. Expressionless gazes traced her charcoal sweater and the black-and-gray striped dress beneath it, judging her frayed tights and scuffed boots too, no doubt. Her teacher, bewildered as always, loomed over her desk far enough to cast shadows. Cecelia forced a smile. She must keep her answer as succinct as possible, forgoing any miscommunications. Teachers were simple creatures, after all, and one had to be succinct, especially since Tuesday last week. Ever since, understanding had gone straight downhill.
“Miss Podsnappery,” Cecilia answered, speaking with extra care as not to confuse the poor woman, for she did try exceedingly hard to please.
V.
Entry Nickname: Who Will Be Winter?
Title: Winter’s Breath
Word Count: 42K
Genre: MG Fantasy
Query:
WINTER'S BREATH is a MG fantasy of 41,000 words, exploring the mythology of nymphs and the seasons.
Teresina wishes she could do more than spin spidersilk or gather berries. Fall lingers on, bringing illness and deprivation to the land, and Rezka, Teresina's cruel mother and the nymph of Fall, has become sharp as the dry thorns of the overgrown brush. Suspecting a crystal she found is more than Winter's plaything, Teresina runs away, hoping to persuade Bruma, nymph of Winter, to restore the natural cycle of the seasons - and to teach Teresina her place in that cycle.
Losing her way in the ice forest, Teresina's first encounter with human folk leads her to rescue Gidon, a young boy enslaved by banditti. Grateful, Gidon vows to help Teresina find the way back to the path of ice. The two make their way to Winter's Castle only to find Bruma - dead. More discoveries - about herself and about others - soon follow, and Teresina must overcome ignorance and self-doubt to claim her place in the cycle and bring winter to her land.
First 250:
"Just what do you think you're doing?"
Mother's voice was colder than the slick of ice glazing the mud puddle. Teresina palmed the crystal, sliding it into a fold of her skirt. Had Mother seen it?
"I was playing." Teresina looked up. "I -"
"Playing? When herbs need sorting for tea and the meadow bower needs tidying - we're half buried in dead leaves - and worst of all, the moss of my bed is parched and scratchy? Bad enough that lazy witch of a nymph Bruma hasn't brought winter yet and I'm exhausted!" Mother scowled, prodding Teresina with her foot.
Teresina looked down at her lap. "I just wanted to see if I could make it snow. I kept a few of the snow seeds Bruma gave me." She willed her hands to be still, to not clutch at her skirt.
"You? Snow?" Mother laughed, and the cackles startled the nearby sparrows into flight. "Foolish child. You know nothing."
"I could do more if you taught me!" Teresina's cheeks grew hot. "It's not fair!" She clenched her fists in the folds of her skirt. Her legs ached with wanting to stand, to hold her ground before Mother. But if she should see the crystal…
"Fair?" Mother gestured toward the woods, thick and dark and deep beyond the meadow. "Is it fair the wolf devours the rabbit? If life were fair, you would not be here.” She bent, her face close to Teresina's, her breath dry on Teresina's cheeks. "You will never be a true nymph of the seasons."
QK Round 1: Librarians, Curses, and Mysteries v. A Spicy Caper
Entry Nickname: Librarians, Curses, and Mysteries – Oh My!
Title: The Curious Curse of the Lonely Library
Word Count: 56k
Genre: Upper Middle Grade
Query:
The smell of a book bewitches Theodore Plumford. By day he soaks up adventures in ink, by night he dreams of bold deeds. A library is his sanctuary.
But Theodore can tell that the Pickettsville library is different.
Not just any library is over two hundred years old.
Not just any library was founded by a madman.
Not just any library is despised by its town.
When Theodore, Hugo, and Lucy Plumford are left with relatives one summer, Theodore soon drags his reluctant siblings to explore the unusually grand town library. Though the rest of Pickettsville refuses to darken its doors, the majestic building and its lively librarians soon enthrall the children. But when they discover that characters from the books are haunting the halls, an investigation into the library’s secrets leads them deep into one family’s peculiar history and its founder’s mysterious past. When the books begin to fight back, Theodore, the boy who has always lived through others’ stories, must learn how to be his own hero to vanquish the library’s enemies.
First 250:
Theodore Plumford’s neck prickled when they drove past the building on their way into town. Its stony face blocked the drooping sun and drowned him in its shadow. Six white columns stood like sentinels before a wide double door. Cold, silent windows rose between the pillars, but they offered no glimpse of what lay inside. On top of the building was a glass dome, rosy light streaming through its panes. It looked like a ball of fire upon a mammoth block of ice.
Theodore wondered what the building might be. The rest of Main Street was a collection of shabby stores. This building stood apart like a wild beast among tabby cats.
“Mom, what’s that place?”
Mrs. Plumford twisted in her seat to follow Theodore’s pointing finger. She squinted into the sun. “I’m not sure. Mabel’s never taken us there. You’ll have to ask your aunt.”
Theodore’s younger sister Lucy squirmed around to look at the building before it disappeared from view. “It looks scary,” she whispered.
“It looks boring,” yawned Hugo Plumford, elbowing Lucy in the center seat to make more room for himself. “Are we there yet?”
“Almost,” said Mr. Plumford. He turned the car into a neighborhood of prim houses in tidy rows, each so alike they might have been pressed from the same mold.
Hugo squashed his nose against the glass and groaned. “Can’t I just go with you?”
“No,” said Mr. Plumford. “I’d prefer you weren’t eaten by a crocodile.”
“But I wouldn’t!”
“Hugo, you’d be trying to measure its teeth the minute I turned my back.”
Entry Nickname: A Spicy Caper
Title: A Less than Perfect Transformation
Word count: 63K
Genre: Upper Middle Grade Mystery
Query:
Having fought the stigma of The Girl with the Missing Father, thirteen-year-old Ginger Jones has finally earned a place at the top of the Bottlenose Beach High-erachy. But then a series of written clues arrive: all pointing to a father who’s not only alive, but one who is a covert government physicist, not a record producer as originally thought.
Ginger has her doubts. This wouldn’t be the first time someone’s used her sketchy past to make a fool of her. But the evidence continues to mount and the instructions from her father become clear: he wants Ginger to find and return the plans to his matter transformation machine.
Of course he does.
Ginger’s never been one for taking orders though, especially not from fathers who leave without explanation. Instead, she comes up with a better plan – one to lure her dad out of hiding, and extract some much-needed answers from him.
If only her success didn’t hang on sacrificing her newfound status for the fringe-dwellers she left behind: the local inventor’s daughter, and the odd-yet-sweet boy who once defended her. And if only she knew who to trust among the growing number of adults who seem a little too interested in her comings and goings.
The answers she seeks better be worth it. Building her father’s transformation machine and demonstrating it at the state science fair is going to take some serious smarts if Ginger wants to survive high school. Or survive at all.
First 250:
It started in her feet. That tingle. That prickly, want-to-scratch-it sense that something wasn’t right. They were restless, wanting to run away. From what, Ginger Jones didn’t know yet, but she sensed it was something significant. Out of the ordinary. Not Bottlenose Beach extraordinary, like the time there was a great white shark off the coast and the beach closed for a week. This was personal.
Over the past year Ginger had perfected a trademark saunter, a practised air of grace. Today her joggers slapped the asphalt like a toddler’s flip-flops. The lack of control left her sweaty and irritable, itching for a way to let off steam.
“Ginger Jones!” the year-eight supervisor, Mrs Van Der Koot, called out. “If you must lead the class, please do it responsibly.”
Ah, right on cue. It wouldn’t be Friday Beach Sports without Mrs Van Der Koot's – aka Kooties – customary snark.
Hair clung to Ginger’s face as she wove between parked cars, and away from the high school. She shrugged away the tightness in her lungs. This apprehension of hers was ridiculous. Nothing more than the familiar stranglehold of tropical heat. Nothing fresh air couldn’t fix.
She licked the salt off her lips, finding momentary bliss in the ocean taste. Forget Kooties. Forget the stream of students trailing behind her. Forget those letters…
“Are you absolutely sure we can’t swim, Miss?” she shouted to Kooties, flashing an over-the-shoulder wink. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Title: The Curious Curse of the Lonely Library
Word Count: 56k
Genre: Upper Middle Grade
Query:
The smell of a book bewitches Theodore Plumford. By day he soaks up adventures in ink, by night he dreams of bold deeds. A library is his sanctuary.
But Theodore can tell that the Pickettsville library is different.
Not just any library is over two hundred years old.
Not just any library was founded by a madman.
Not just any library is despised by its town.
When Theodore, Hugo, and Lucy Plumford are left with relatives one summer, Theodore soon drags his reluctant siblings to explore the unusually grand town library. Though the rest of Pickettsville refuses to darken its doors, the majestic building and its lively librarians soon enthrall the children. But when they discover that characters from the books are haunting the halls, an investigation into the library’s secrets leads them deep into one family’s peculiar history and its founder’s mysterious past. When the books begin to fight back, Theodore, the boy who has always lived through others’ stories, must learn how to be his own hero to vanquish the library’s enemies.
First 250:
Theodore Plumford’s neck prickled when they drove past the building on their way into town. Its stony face blocked the drooping sun and drowned him in its shadow. Six white columns stood like sentinels before a wide double door. Cold, silent windows rose between the pillars, but they offered no glimpse of what lay inside. On top of the building was a glass dome, rosy light streaming through its panes. It looked like a ball of fire upon a mammoth block of ice.
Theodore wondered what the building might be. The rest of Main Street was a collection of shabby stores. This building stood apart like a wild beast among tabby cats.
“Mom, what’s that place?”
Mrs. Plumford twisted in her seat to follow Theodore’s pointing finger. She squinted into the sun. “I’m not sure. Mabel’s never taken us there. You’ll have to ask your aunt.”
Theodore’s younger sister Lucy squirmed around to look at the building before it disappeared from view. “It looks scary,” she whispered.
“It looks boring,” yawned Hugo Plumford, elbowing Lucy in the center seat to make more room for himself. “Are we there yet?”
“Almost,” said Mr. Plumford. He turned the car into a neighborhood of prim houses in tidy rows, each so alike they might have been pressed from the same mold.
Hugo squashed his nose against the glass and groaned. “Can’t I just go with you?”
“No,” said Mr. Plumford. “I’d prefer you weren’t eaten by a crocodile.”
“But I wouldn’t!”
“Hugo, you’d be trying to measure its teeth the minute I turned my back.”
V.
Entry Nickname: A Spicy Caper
Title: A Less than Perfect Transformation
Word count: 63K
Genre: Upper Middle Grade Mystery
Query:
Having fought the stigma of The Girl with the Missing Father, thirteen-year-old Ginger Jones has finally earned a place at the top of the Bottlenose Beach High-erachy. But then a series of written clues arrive: all pointing to a father who’s not only alive, but one who is a covert government physicist, not a record producer as originally thought.
Ginger has her doubts. This wouldn’t be the first time someone’s used her sketchy past to make a fool of her. But the evidence continues to mount and the instructions from her father become clear: he wants Ginger to find and return the plans to his matter transformation machine.
Of course he does.
Ginger’s never been one for taking orders though, especially not from fathers who leave without explanation. Instead, she comes up with a better plan – one to lure her dad out of hiding, and extract some much-needed answers from him.
If only her success didn’t hang on sacrificing her newfound status for the fringe-dwellers she left behind: the local inventor’s daughter, and the odd-yet-sweet boy who once defended her. And if only she knew who to trust among the growing number of adults who seem a little too interested in her comings and goings.
The answers she seeks better be worth it. Building her father’s transformation machine and demonstrating it at the state science fair is going to take some serious smarts if Ginger wants to survive high school. Or survive at all.
First 250:
It started in her feet. That tingle. That prickly, want-to-scratch-it sense that something wasn’t right. They were restless, wanting to run away. From what, Ginger Jones didn’t know yet, but she sensed it was something significant. Out of the ordinary. Not Bottlenose Beach extraordinary, like the time there was a great white shark off the coast and the beach closed for a week. This was personal.
Over the past year Ginger had perfected a trademark saunter, a practised air of grace. Today her joggers slapped the asphalt like a toddler’s flip-flops. The lack of control left her sweaty and irritable, itching for a way to let off steam.
“Ginger Jones!” the year-eight supervisor, Mrs Van Der Koot, called out. “If you must lead the class, please do it responsibly.”
Ah, right on cue. It wouldn’t be Friday Beach Sports without Mrs Van Der Koot's – aka Kooties – customary snark.
Hair clung to Ginger’s face as she wove between parked cars, and away from the high school. She shrugged away the tightness in her lungs. This apprehension of hers was ridiculous. Nothing more than the familiar stranglehold of tropical heat. Nothing fresh air couldn’t fix.
She licked the salt off her lips, finding momentary bliss in the ocean taste. Forget Kooties. Forget the stream of students trailing behind her. Forget those letters…
“Are you absolutely sure we can’t swim, Miss?” she shouted to Kooties, flashing an over-the-shoulder wink. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
QK Round 1: Princess Charming Against the Beast v. Guinness
Entry Nickname: Princess Charming and the Beast
Title: The Gallant Princess
Word Count: 71K
Genre: YA LGBT Fantasy
Query:
PRINCESS CHARMING AND THE BEAST winds mythology and fairytales around the story of a princess who wants to be free of her abusive prince.
Seventeen-year-old Princess Rafi is sick of suitors eyeing her feudal kingdom – she’d rather practice sword-fighting with boys than kiss them. Too bad the neighboring kingdoms will never let an unmarried woman rule unmolested. Rafi devises a plan to stay single as long as possible by challenging each suitor to a foot race. Disaster strikes when Prince Frederick cheats. Without evidence of his guilt, she risks losing her throne or, worse, triggering a war if she breaks the engagement.
Forced to live at Frederick’s kingdom, she chafes under his restrictive rules and escalating threats. She can fight, but she can’t beat a castle full of guards. Frederick controls where she goes, what she wears, and even what she says. He’s determined to make her submit or destroy her trying. Rafi despairs until she discovers a magical passageway that allows her to sneak around with her companion Lady Bea, who she would like to kiss.
Even if Rafi wins the heart of her fair maiden and runs away, she won’t get a fairytale ending. The prince plans to use his army of mercenaries to force Rafi’s father to step down, whether their wedding happens or not. After all, cheating is fair in both love and war. Time is running out for Rafi to find a way of ending the engagement that gives Frederick no claim to her throne. If she falters in this race, everyone she loves will suffer, starting with Bea.
First 250:
Prince-what’s-his-name waited for me, slouched in front of the fireplace, chin on his hands. Firelight flickered over his sculpted face. Girls called him handsome, although I never noticed that sort of thing myself. A muscle twitched in his jaw. Probably rehearsing what he was going to say.
I coughed. He looked up, eyes wide under short black hair. “Rafaela!” Why did my suitors always refuse to call me Rafi? His voice softened. “You came.”
“What do you want?” I crossed my arms over my chest, legs shoulder-width apart, ready. The loose skirt over my trousers wouldn’t get in my way, but my hips felt naked with no sword. He wore his—as always—its ornate hilt peeking out under his cloak.
He pouted. “You’re cruel. I’ve been up all night thinking about you.” Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before. Nice try. He leapt up, reaching me in a couple strides, and nodded at Jean behind me. “Surely your servant can leave us alone for a lover’s chat?”
Jean had already slumped into an armchair near the door. Her head bent down and wisps of grey hair fell over her eyes, which closed. Usually I appreciated her naps. This one was poorly timed. “We’re not lovers, Prince…”
“Call me Reginald.” He grabbed my hand to kiss it.
I grimaced at the bristly skin above his lip. “I told you I wasn’t interested, I’ve asked you to go home.”
“Women always say that. You want to make the chase more exciting.”
Entry Nickname: Guinness
Title: Blacktop Oracle
Word count: 65,000
Genre: YA Paranormal/Fantasy
Query:
Cooper “Coop” Lambert is a disappointment to his parents. While mom and dad graduated college with honors in medical research, the only thing Coop excels at is trouble and convincing half the town he’s bonkers in the process. After a run in with Johnny Law, the solution the D.A. offers is diversion. Put it this way, community service is a vacation compared to this gig. He’s assigned to Mac, a crotchety piece of work who Coop swears is two days older than dirt, but the guy has a way with cars and owns a 1969 GTO that is bad ass. While working with Mac to restore her, Coop discovers the one thing he’s good at: refurbishing classic cars. What was supposed to be a punishment is now an escape, from his parents, from the law, from the rumors, until Coop arrives at the garage one afternoon to find Mac dead.
Days after burying his elderly friend Coop is still reeling, and things only grow more confusing when he finds out Mac left the GTO to him. Coop’s parents are less than thrilled, but seeing their son excel at something overcomes their reservations. Then Coop is ticketed three times for reckless driving. They think he’s regressing to his bad habits, but Coop isn’t the one causing trouble, it’s the car. If it even is a car. No vehicle he’s ever driven goes all funhouse mirror while he’s doing 80 on the interstate. The windows wash out and instead of the surroundings he sees visions, people in trouble, people causing trouble. If that wasn’t looney toons enough, those visions start coming true, and the cops are eyeballing Coop since he’s knows details of the incidents that haven’t been released to the public. He doesn’t have to tell anyone, he can keep it to himself, keep his own fat out of the fire. Until he witnesses a murder. If he keeps his mouth shut, someone he knows dies. If he talks, it’s a one-way ticket up crap creek, where his parents have a rubber room on reserve.
First 250:
Dust swirled around Coop’s head like pollution, clinging to his hair, his skin, and his eyelashes. Grit lined his nose and tickled his throat, but he loved it. Except for the tedium of bodywork.
He stopped the sander and ran his gloved hand across the fender. A grunt got his attention, and he turned to Mac, sitting with his cast up on a case of WD-40.
Coop placed the sander on the ground and pulled the dust mask from his face. “What?”
“Don’t go on many dates, do you?”
Mac was famous for causing whiplash with his topic changes, but Coop had learned to go with it. “Huh?”
“A car is like a woman.” Mac shifted in his chair to ease the pressure on his leg.
Coop wiped his arm across his forehead, mopping the sweat gathered there. What the hell did that have to do with anything? Mac’s wrinkled gaze had homed in on his, and he realized Mac wanted a response. “Yeah, how so?”
“A woman must be handled gently.” Mac ran his calloused hand lightly, almost lovingly, across the fender. “Stroked in a way that soothes rather than offends. A car is the same way.” Mac was full of…little bits of wisdom.
Coop looked down at the sanded spot, his mind struggling to follow.
“Take that blasted glove off.” Mac’s gravelly voice landed on Coop’s last nerve, but he ripped the glove off.
“Now, run your hand across that spot you’re sanding, from right to left.”
Title: The Gallant Princess
Word Count: 71K
Genre: YA LGBT Fantasy
Query:
PRINCESS CHARMING AND THE BEAST winds mythology and fairytales around the story of a princess who wants to be free of her abusive prince.
Seventeen-year-old Princess Rafi is sick of suitors eyeing her feudal kingdom – she’d rather practice sword-fighting with boys than kiss them. Too bad the neighboring kingdoms will never let an unmarried woman rule unmolested. Rafi devises a plan to stay single as long as possible by challenging each suitor to a foot race. Disaster strikes when Prince Frederick cheats. Without evidence of his guilt, she risks losing her throne or, worse, triggering a war if she breaks the engagement.
Forced to live at Frederick’s kingdom, she chafes under his restrictive rules and escalating threats. She can fight, but she can’t beat a castle full of guards. Frederick controls where she goes, what she wears, and even what she says. He’s determined to make her submit or destroy her trying. Rafi despairs until she discovers a magical passageway that allows her to sneak around with her companion Lady Bea, who she would like to kiss.
Even if Rafi wins the heart of her fair maiden and runs away, she won’t get a fairytale ending. The prince plans to use his army of mercenaries to force Rafi’s father to step down, whether their wedding happens or not. After all, cheating is fair in both love and war. Time is running out for Rafi to find a way of ending the engagement that gives Frederick no claim to her throne. If she falters in this race, everyone she loves will suffer, starting with Bea.
First 250:
Prince-what’s-his-name waited for me, slouched in front of the fireplace, chin on his hands. Firelight flickered over his sculpted face. Girls called him handsome, although I never noticed that sort of thing myself. A muscle twitched in his jaw. Probably rehearsing what he was going to say.
I coughed. He looked up, eyes wide under short black hair. “Rafaela!” Why did my suitors always refuse to call me Rafi? His voice softened. “You came.”
“What do you want?” I crossed my arms over my chest, legs shoulder-width apart, ready. The loose skirt over my trousers wouldn’t get in my way, but my hips felt naked with no sword. He wore his—as always—its ornate hilt peeking out under his cloak.
He pouted. “You’re cruel. I’ve been up all night thinking about you.” Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard it all before. Nice try. He leapt up, reaching me in a couple strides, and nodded at Jean behind me. “Surely your servant can leave us alone for a lover’s chat?”
Jean had already slumped into an armchair near the door. Her head bent down and wisps of grey hair fell over her eyes, which closed. Usually I appreciated her naps. This one was poorly timed. “We’re not lovers, Prince…”
“Call me Reginald.” He grabbed my hand to kiss it.
I grimaced at the bristly skin above his lip. “I told you I wasn’t interested, I’ve asked you to go home.”
“Women always say that. You want to make the chase more exciting.”
V.
Entry Nickname: Guinness
Title: Blacktop Oracle
Word count: 65,000
Genre: YA Paranormal/Fantasy
Query:
Cooper “Coop” Lambert is a disappointment to his parents. While mom and dad graduated college with honors in medical research, the only thing Coop excels at is trouble and convincing half the town he’s bonkers in the process. After a run in with Johnny Law, the solution the D.A. offers is diversion. Put it this way, community service is a vacation compared to this gig. He’s assigned to Mac, a crotchety piece of work who Coop swears is two days older than dirt, but the guy has a way with cars and owns a 1969 GTO that is bad ass. While working with Mac to restore her, Coop discovers the one thing he’s good at: refurbishing classic cars. What was supposed to be a punishment is now an escape, from his parents, from the law, from the rumors, until Coop arrives at the garage one afternoon to find Mac dead.
Days after burying his elderly friend Coop is still reeling, and things only grow more confusing when he finds out Mac left the GTO to him. Coop’s parents are less than thrilled, but seeing their son excel at something overcomes their reservations. Then Coop is ticketed three times for reckless driving. They think he’s regressing to his bad habits, but Coop isn’t the one causing trouble, it’s the car. If it even is a car. No vehicle he’s ever driven goes all funhouse mirror while he’s doing 80 on the interstate. The windows wash out and instead of the surroundings he sees visions, people in trouble, people causing trouble. If that wasn’t looney toons enough, those visions start coming true, and the cops are eyeballing Coop since he’s knows details of the incidents that haven’t been released to the public. He doesn’t have to tell anyone, he can keep it to himself, keep his own fat out of the fire. Until he witnesses a murder. If he keeps his mouth shut, someone he knows dies. If he talks, it’s a one-way ticket up crap creek, where his parents have a rubber room on reserve.
First 250:
Dust swirled around Coop’s head like pollution, clinging to his hair, his skin, and his eyelashes. Grit lined his nose and tickled his throat, but he loved it. Except for the tedium of bodywork.
He stopped the sander and ran his gloved hand across the fender. A grunt got his attention, and he turned to Mac, sitting with his cast up on a case of WD-40.
Coop placed the sander on the ground and pulled the dust mask from his face. “What?”
“Don’t go on many dates, do you?”
Mac was famous for causing whiplash with his topic changes, but Coop had learned to go with it. “Huh?”
“A car is like a woman.” Mac shifted in his chair to ease the pressure on his leg.
Coop wiped his arm across his forehead, mopping the sweat gathered there. What the hell did that have to do with anything? Mac’s wrinkled gaze had homed in on his, and he realized Mac wanted a response. “Yeah, how so?”
“A woman must be handled gently.” Mac ran his calloused hand lightly, almost lovingly, across the fender. “Stroked in a way that soothes rather than offends. A car is the same way.” Mac was full of…little bits of wisdom.
Coop looked down at the sanded spot, his mind struggling to follow.
“Take that blasted glove off.” Mac’s gravelly voice landed on Coop’s last nerve, but he ripped the glove off.
“Now, run your hand across that spot you’re sanding, from right to left.”
QK Round 1: A Quest for Crumbs v. Elephants Never Forget
Entry Nickname: The Quest for Crumbs
Title: The Statue Says Spring
Word count: 88K
Genre: Young Adult
Query:
As the daughter of a conquering tyrant, fifteen-year-old Ida has everything but freedom: freedom to make friends, to eat, dress, and sleep unwatched, and—when her father banishes her mother to the slums for defiance—to be with the only person she loves. But her father’s guards won’t stop her this time. She smuggles her mother food and valuables until she’s caught and thrown out too.
At first, Ida is enchanted with her new freedom. She explores the maze of streets, befriending beggars and crypt-dwellers. But slum life is harsh: her mother slaves in a factory, their lascivious slumlord leeches most of their money, and small-time parasites devour what’s left. Ida sells everything she smuggled to keep a locked door between her and the predators outside, but when her mother loses her job, only debt remains.
Desperate, Ida asks her father for help. She hopes for crumbs, but in a moment of twisted conscience, he offers a vicious deal instead: return to her old home of wealth and privilege, but give up her mother forever. If she accepts, she’ll live a lie, playing the obedient daughter for a chance to steal for her mother again. If she refuses, she risks starvation. With a simple yes or no, Ida must choose: father or mother, privilege or poverty, subservience or the freedom to live on her own terms.
THE STATUE SAYS SPRING is set in a world that blends elements of Victorian and medieval England.
First 250:
Ida couldn’t wait until dawn; the pillory would be frozen by now. She collected the bag of supplies, put on her glasses, and snuck past her sleeping mother. The hall was deserted and she reached the back door without trouble. Stopping only to tie her leather shoestrings around her ankles, she hurried into darkness.
The icy sea wind was a slap to the face and she pulled her long, lank hair over her ears. It didn’t help. Why was it so cold tonight, of all nights? It was mid-September, but it felt like February and Mr Hanson was confined in only a thin shirt and breeches. He would be frozen half to death.
“Ikshik,” Ida cursed as she passed the Basilica gates. Maybe he was frozen to death; it was cold enough. She cursed again and sped up. If only her mother hadn’t guessed she would sneak out, if only she hadn’t sat up to stop her, if only she had fallen asleep sooner, Ida would be wrapping Mr Hanson in a blanket right now.
Her mother never listened to reason.
“He’s your oldest friend,” Ida had argued. “We’ve got to do something.”
“No,” her mother said. “The streets aren’t safe at night and you can do nothing in the day. Remember that woman who was stoned to death for helping her pilloried husband?”
“But—”
“No. It’s too dangerous, you’re too young.”
“I’m fifteen. You were married at my age. If I left now—”
“I forbid it.”
Entry Nickname: Elephants Never Forget
Title: THE IVORY NEEDLE
Word Count: 72K
Genre: YA Magical Realism
Query:
Continents apart culturally, sixteen-year-olds Chessie Charlton and Daniel Jomo Olanga should never have crossed paths.
Which would have been just fine with Denver teen Chessie. Bad enough she’s stuck wasting a whole summer with her ancient grandmother in middle-of-nowhere, Kenya. No phone. No friends. No fair. But when Chessie finds a priceless ivory needle in Gram’s attic, things take a total left turn toward weird. Chessie is contacted by the spirit of the elephant matriarch who was murdered eons ago for its tusks. Filling Chessie’s head with cryptic songs—and totally flipping her out—matriarch Jhelani’s desperate plea emerges: save the last of her once-immortal tribe before their species vanishes forever and Earth pays the price.
Meanwhile, Kenyan teen Daniel can’t feed his family when the rains never come and their last goat is dragged off by a starving lion. Desperate for work, Daniel is coerced into a gang of poachers with their sights set on a huge payday: the remaining elephants of Jhelani’s tribe. Just one job, he swears. Then he’ll find honest work. Finish his education. And hold his head up again.
By the time Chessie gets over herself and agrees to help Jhelani, it’s too late. She finds the elephants but the poachers are closing in. With elephants charging and bullets flying, Chessie is taken prisoner and her world and Daniel’s collide. To survive this deadly situation, Chessie must conquer her fears and seize any opportunity to escape. And Daniel must decide just how much of his soul he’s willing to sell for a payday.
The IVORY NEEDLE is told from the alternating viewpoints of the two protagonists.
First 250:
When your family falls apart, I suppose you shouldn’t expect anything to be the same again. Not even your mother’s smile.
Mom’s goofy I-love-my-life smile hadn’t been seen in months, and I’d become all too familiar with the distant impostor that had replaced it. But the smile she was wearing right now? Pretty sure I’d never seen that smile before. Like something you’d grab at the mall without stopping to try it on, it was too tight and way too bright.
The incredible aromas filling the air pulled my attention away from the strange smile for a moment. The kitchen smelled so good, the table covered with our favorite foods. Mom’s cooking and smiling? My stomach rumbled, my mouth watered, and my heart clenched. Something wasn’t right.
“Roast chicken? Dibs on the drumstick,” Bent shouted, slamming his scrawny ten-year-old frame into the chair nearest the chicken. He leaned in, freckled nose practically up the bird’s butt, and took a deep melodramatic sniff. “Look, Chessie, your favorite mac-n-cheese, too.”
“Are you sure this isn’t a mirage?” I teased. I dropped into the chair the chair across from him and watched my mother, still in her nice work clothes. She pulled something from the oven, her hair frizzed out in all directions from cooking in the early summer heat.
“Mom? What’s going on?”
And don’t you dare say nothing.
She set a tray of steaming cornbread on the table and sat down, smile still on high-beam. “How would you kids like to meet your great-grandmother
Esther?”
Title: The Statue Says Spring
Word count: 88K
Genre: Young Adult
Query:
As the daughter of a conquering tyrant, fifteen-year-old Ida has everything but freedom: freedom to make friends, to eat, dress, and sleep unwatched, and—when her father banishes her mother to the slums for defiance—to be with the only person she loves. But her father’s guards won’t stop her this time. She smuggles her mother food and valuables until she’s caught and thrown out too.
At first, Ida is enchanted with her new freedom. She explores the maze of streets, befriending beggars and crypt-dwellers. But slum life is harsh: her mother slaves in a factory, their lascivious slumlord leeches most of their money, and small-time parasites devour what’s left. Ida sells everything she smuggled to keep a locked door between her and the predators outside, but when her mother loses her job, only debt remains.
Desperate, Ida asks her father for help. She hopes for crumbs, but in a moment of twisted conscience, he offers a vicious deal instead: return to her old home of wealth and privilege, but give up her mother forever. If she accepts, she’ll live a lie, playing the obedient daughter for a chance to steal for her mother again. If she refuses, she risks starvation. With a simple yes or no, Ida must choose: father or mother, privilege or poverty, subservience or the freedom to live on her own terms.
THE STATUE SAYS SPRING is set in a world that blends elements of Victorian and medieval England.
First 250:
Ida couldn’t wait until dawn; the pillory would be frozen by now. She collected the bag of supplies, put on her glasses, and snuck past her sleeping mother. The hall was deserted and she reached the back door without trouble. Stopping only to tie her leather shoestrings around her ankles, she hurried into darkness.
The icy sea wind was a slap to the face and she pulled her long, lank hair over her ears. It didn’t help. Why was it so cold tonight, of all nights? It was mid-September, but it felt like February and Mr Hanson was confined in only a thin shirt and breeches. He would be frozen half to death.
“Ikshik,” Ida cursed as she passed the Basilica gates. Maybe he was frozen to death; it was cold enough. She cursed again and sped up. If only her mother hadn’t guessed she would sneak out, if only she hadn’t sat up to stop her, if only she had fallen asleep sooner, Ida would be wrapping Mr Hanson in a blanket right now.
Her mother never listened to reason.
“He’s your oldest friend,” Ida had argued. “We’ve got to do something.”
“No,” her mother said. “The streets aren’t safe at night and you can do nothing in the day. Remember that woman who was stoned to death for helping her pilloried husband?”
“But—”
“No. It’s too dangerous, you’re too young.”
“I’m fifteen. You were married at my age. If I left now—”
“I forbid it.”
V.
Entry Nickname: Elephants Never Forget
Title: THE IVORY NEEDLE
Word Count: 72K
Genre: YA Magical Realism
Query:
Continents apart culturally, sixteen-year-olds Chessie Charlton and Daniel Jomo Olanga should never have crossed paths.
Which would have been just fine with Denver teen Chessie. Bad enough she’s stuck wasting a whole summer with her ancient grandmother in middle-of-nowhere, Kenya. No phone. No friends. No fair. But when Chessie finds a priceless ivory needle in Gram’s attic, things take a total left turn toward weird. Chessie is contacted by the spirit of the elephant matriarch who was murdered eons ago for its tusks. Filling Chessie’s head with cryptic songs—and totally flipping her out—matriarch Jhelani’s desperate plea emerges: save the last of her once-immortal tribe before their species vanishes forever and Earth pays the price.
Meanwhile, Kenyan teen Daniel can’t feed his family when the rains never come and their last goat is dragged off by a starving lion. Desperate for work, Daniel is coerced into a gang of poachers with their sights set on a huge payday: the remaining elephants of Jhelani’s tribe. Just one job, he swears. Then he’ll find honest work. Finish his education. And hold his head up again.
By the time Chessie gets over herself and agrees to help Jhelani, it’s too late. She finds the elephants but the poachers are closing in. With elephants charging and bullets flying, Chessie is taken prisoner and her world and Daniel’s collide. To survive this deadly situation, Chessie must conquer her fears and seize any opportunity to escape. And Daniel must decide just how much of his soul he’s willing to sell for a payday.
The IVORY NEEDLE is told from the alternating viewpoints of the two protagonists.
First 250:
When your family falls apart, I suppose you shouldn’t expect anything to be the same again. Not even your mother’s smile.
Mom’s goofy I-love-my-life smile hadn’t been seen in months, and I’d become all too familiar with the distant impostor that had replaced it. But the smile she was wearing right now? Pretty sure I’d never seen that smile before. Like something you’d grab at the mall without stopping to try it on, it was too tight and way too bright.
The incredible aromas filling the air pulled my attention away from the strange smile for a moment. The kitchen smelled so good, the table covered with our favorite foods. Mom’s cooking and smiling? My stomach rumbled, my mouth watered, and my heart clenched. Something wasn’t right.
“Roast chicken? Dibs on the drumstick,” Bent shouted, slamming his scrawny ten-year-old frame into the chair nearest the chicken. He leaned in, freckled nose practically up the bird’s butt, and took a deep melodramatic sniff. “Look, Chessie, your favorite mac-n-cheese, too.”
“Are you sure this isn’t a mirage?” I teased. I dropped into the chair the chair across from him and watched my mother, still in her nice work clothes. She pulled something from the oven, her hair frizzed out in all directions from cooking in the early summer heat.
“Mom? What’s going on?”
And don’t you dare say nothing.
She set a tray of steaming cornbread on the table and sat down, smile still on high-beam. “How would you kids like to meet your great-grandmother
Esther?”
Qk Round 1: Dolyn Pierce’s Headphones v. My Monster Twin is Rotting
Entry Nickname: Dolyn Pierce's Headphones
Title: OVERHEARD
Word Count: 97,000
Genre: Young Adult Horror
Query:
OVERHEARD tells the story of Dolyn Pierce, who can stand in any room and listen in on conversations that took place there days, weeks, even years earlier. She can tell you who cursed, who lied and, when the police summon her to a crime scene, who committed murder. Her gift, if you want to call it that, never gives her a moment's peace and she often teeters on the brink of madness. Her official records list a suicide attempt, electro-shock therapy and more than one stint in the psych ward, not to mention Juvenile Hall.
After numerous unsolved ritualistic stabbings puts the city’s residents on edge, Dolyn discovers a package containing eighteen seeds inside a trash can. As she shoves the seeds into her pocket, the trash can explodes into a pentagram-shaped bonfire, nearly incinerating her in the process.
Dolyn is soon tracked down by Eli Porter, a century-old immortal who knows more about Dolyn’s forgotten past than he’s willing to let on. He explains that the seeds were picked from a stolen shoot of the Tree Of Life, of which he is a guardian, and each represents the soul of one of the murder victims. Had Dolyn not rescued the seeds, the fiery pentagram would have merged with the souls to open a portal to the Underworld. Now, Dolyn must use her hyper-sensitive hearing as well as her unintended connection to the deceased to help Eli find the souls, which have taken refuge in new bodies. If they fail, the man who stole the Tree of Life will reclaim the souls and follow through with his world-ending plan.
In the midst of everything happening around her, Dolyn's repressed memories begin to resurface: her happy childhood with Eli, the troubled times during the Great Depression when they felt they had no choice but to Bonnie-and-Clyde a bank, how one of them died fleeing the scene of the crime, how the other got the electric chair.
But that's nothing compared to the fate of the daughter they left behind. For Dolyn Pierce, life is about to be Hell.
First 250:
“Somebody die up there?” I mutter under my breath.
I’m standing in line at a coffee shop in a part of the city I rarely venture. There are three people ahead of me, six behind. All of us moving like molasses up a steep hill.
Quit looking over your shoulder, Dolyn, I tell myself. He won’t find you here. Be patient and listen to the noise coming through your headphones.
Patient.
That’s something no one calls me unless they’re referring to the kind of ‘patient’ who has spent time in a psych ward.
Yeah, I’ll own up to it. Just don’t expect me to own up to being crazy.
I’m not. I was only trying to drown the voices.
It didn’t work. Nothing does.
The line shifts, and I take a step forward. Everyone is gawking at the menu board hanging on the wall behind the cash register. Well, everyone except for me and the guy in the next line. He’s staring down at the floor, hands thrust deep in his pockets and fidgeting like a high-octane squirrel. Not a bad-looking guy, though. Maybe twenty-one, twenty-two years old. Tall with curly black hair. Dressed in jeans, a Wasted Youth t-shirt and a black trench coat that looks like it was confiscated from his dead uncle’s closet.
I can’t say I’m in much better shape, what with my ratty jeans, dark gray hoodie and handmade leather wristband. But hey, I’m only seventeen. It’s my right as a member of Gen Whatever-Letter-Of-The-Alphabet-Is-Trending-This-Week to look scruffy.
Title: OVERHEARD
Word Count: 97,000
Genre: Young Adult Horror
Query:
OVERHEARD tells the story of Dolyn Pierce, who can stand in any room and listen in on conversations that took place there days, weeks, even years earlier. She can tell you who cursed, who lied and, when the police summon her to a crime scene, who committed murder. Her gift, if you want to call it that, never gives her a moment's peace and she often teeters on the brink of madness. Her official records list a suicide attempt, electro-shock therapy and more than one stint in the psych ward, not to mention Juvenile Hall.
After numerous unsolved ritualistic stabbings puts the city’s residents on edge, Dolyn discovers a package containing eighteen seeds inside a trash can. As she shoves the seeds into her pocket, the trash can explodes into a pentagram-shaped bonfire, nearly incinerating her in the process.
Dolyn is soon tracked down by Eli Porter, a century-old immortal who knows more about Dolyn’s forgotten past than he’s willing to let on. He explains that the seeds were picked from a stolen shoot of the Tree Of Life, of which he is a guardian, and each represents the soul of one of the murder victims. Had Dolyn not rescued the seeds, the fiery pentagram would have merged with the souls to open a portal to the Underworld. Now, Dolyn must use her hyper-sensitive hearing as well as her unintended connection to the deceased to help Eli find the souls, which have taken refuge in new bodies. If they fail, the man who stole the Tree of Life will reclaim the souls and follow through with his world-ending plan.
In the midst of everything happening around her, Dolyn's repressed memories begin to resurface: her happy childhood with Eli, the troubled times during the Great Depression when they felt they had no choice but to Bonnie-and-Clyde a bank, how one of them died fleeing the scene of the crime, how the other got the electric chair.
But that's nothing compared to the fate of the daughter they left behind. For Dolyn Pierce, life is about to be Hell.
First 250:
“Somebody die up there?” I mutter under my breath.
I’m standing in line at a coffee shop in a part of the city I rarely venture. There are three people ahead of me, six behind. All of us moving like molasses up a steep hill.
Quit looking over your shoulder, Dolyn, I tell myself. He won’t find you here. Be patient and listen to the noise coming through your headphones.
Patient.
That’s something no one calls me unless they’re referring to the kind of ‘patient’ who has spent time in a psych ward.
Yeah, I’ll own up to it. Just don’t expect me to own up to being crazy.
I’m not. I was only trying to drown the voices.
It didn’t work. Nothing does.
The line shifts, and I take a step forward. Everyone is gawking at the menu board hanging on the wall behind the cash register. Well, everyone except for me and the guy in the next line. He’s staring down at the floor, hands thrust deep in his pockets and fidgeting like a high-octane squirrel. Not a bad-looking guy, though. Maybe twenty-one, twenty-two years old. Tall with curly black hair. Dressed in jeans, a Wasted Youth t-shirt and a black trench coat that looks like it was confiscated from his dead uncle’s closet.
I can’t say I’m in much better shape, what with my ratty jeans, dark gray hoodie and handmade leather wristband. But hey, I’m only seventeen. It’s my right as a member of Gen Whatever-Letter-Of-The-Alphabet-Is-Trending-This-Week to look scruffy.
V.
Entry Nickname: My Monster Twin is Rotting
Title: A Savage Miscreation
Word count: 87,000
Genre: YA Gothic Horror
Query:
When Talmage True was born, the people said it was a mercy that his mother died for the child’s razor-sharp teeth would have torn her apart. He was born with a full set.
Now fifteen, Talmage hides his misshapen face and sinister eyes from those who condemn him for being unnatural. But a chance meeting with his uncle, a traveling curiosity peddler hawking the medically grotesque, brings Talmage a spark of hope within his dismal existence. For the first time, Talmage feels a kinship with the bizarre creatures on display--the taxidermied kitten with eight-legs and two tails, and the dog preserved in chemicals whose body ends in a shell. After all, Talmage, too, is an aberration.
Talmage is drawn into his uncle’s dark world and together they create a clockwork figure in his exact likeness--a mechanical boy made of metal, covered in the flesh of stolen corpses. Late one night, the figure comes to life and Talmage welcomes it as a brother.
Talmage finally has someone to love but soon he discovers the world is no place for a clockwork boy--a boy even more monstrous than him. His concerns deepen after meeting Alice, a girl scarred by fire, who shows him kindness and how to see beyond someone’s outward appearance. With Alice by his side, Talmage realizes the error of his ways and for the first time regrets building his clockwork brother. The mechanical boy, however, who has already begun to rust and rot, will fight to the death in order to live.
First 250:
I always supposed it would be difficult to kill someone you love. More than difficult. It would be impossible, a gut-wrenching, mind-numbing horror that, if achieved, would haunt your soul forever.
It has haunted me every single waking moment of my wretched life.
You see, I did.
But if I had the opportunity, I would do it again. I would tear his body limb from limb, extracting bone from delicate socket and shattering them into a thousand pieces. From those shards, I would grind what was left of him into powder and then bury it miles apart so that there would be no chance his body could ever come together again.
If only I had.
His chest weighed against the curve of my back, his breath rasping into my ear. Gripping one arm, I dragged him down the rickety stairs, his bare feet knocking against the planks. Outside, amorphous shadows clawed at the edges of the cobblestone street--only the moon would be witness to my heinous act tonight--and so, without looking back, we slipped into the trees.
He was not awake and yet his lips began to murmur. I must move quickly but how to do it? How to kill? A swift stone to the temple? His skull was too thick. Saw his head off his shoulders? The spinal column too wiry. A blade, then, through the center of his heart?
“But he has no heart,” I laughed a bitter cry.
Inside the metal brackets that held his body together, I knew his chest was empty.
Title: A Savage Miscreation
Word count: 87,000
Genre: YA Gothic Horror
Query:
When Talmage True was born, the people said it was a mercy that his mother died for the child’s razor-sharp teeth would have torn her apart. He was born with a full set.
Now fifteen, Talmage hides his misshapen face and sinister eyes from those who condemn him for being unnatural. But a chance meeting with his uncle, a traveling curiosity peddler hawking the medically grotesque, brings Talmage a spark of hope within his dismal existence. For the first time, Talmage feels a kinship with the bizarre creatures on display--the taxidermied kitten with eight-legs and two tails, and the dog preserved in chemicals whose body ends in a shell. After all, Talmage, too, is an aberration.
Talmage is drawn into his uncle’s dark world and together they create a clockwork figure in his exact likeness--a mechanical boy made of metal, covered in the flesh of stolen corpses. Late one night, the figure comes to life and Talmage welcomes it as a brother.
Talmage finally has someone to love but soon he discovers the world is no place for a clockwork boy--a boy even more monstrous than him. His concerns deepen after meeting Alice, a girl scarred by fire, who shows him kindness and how to see beyond someone’s outward appearance. With Alice by his side, Talmage realizes the error of his ways and for the first time regrets building his clockwork brother. The mechanical boy, however, who has already begun to rust and rot, will fight to the death in order to live.
First 250:
I always supposed it would be difficult to kill someone you love. More than difficult. It would be impossible, a gut-wrenching, mind-numbing horror that, if achieved, would haunt your soul forever.
It has haunted me every single waking moment of my wretched life.
You see, I did.
But if I had the opportunity, I would do it again. I would tear his body limb from limb, extracting bone from delicate socket and shattering them into a thousand pieces. From those shards, I would grind what was left of him into powder and then bury it miles apart so that there would be no chance his body could ever come together again.
If only I had.
His chest weighed against the curve of my back, his breath rasping into my ear. Gripping one arm, I dragged him down the rickety stairs, his bare feet knocking against the planks. Outside, amorphous shadows clawed at the edges of the cobblestone street--only the moon would be witness to my heinous act tonight--and so, without looking back, we slipped into the trees.
He was not awake and yet his lips began to murmur. I must move quickly but how to do it? How to kill? A swift stone to the temple? His skull was too thick. Saw his head off his shoulders? The spinal column too wiry. A blade, then, through the center of his heart?
“But he has no heart,” I laughed a bitter cry.
Inside the metal brackets that held his body together, I knew his chest was empty.
QK Round 1: Sand Dollar v. Change the Alphabet, Please
Entry nickname: Sand Dollar
Title: Sand Dollar Shopper
Word count: 200
Genre: Picture Book (humorous, lyrical)
Query:
A young boy’s imagination soars as he and his mother collect Sand Dollars at the beach. “Sand Dollar, Sand Dollar, what will I buy?” With his “dollars,” he imagines buying a
surfboard-turtle, a singing teacher seal, or a treasure boat to hoist up sunken jewels. When the boy discovers he can trade his Sand Dollars for real dollars at the beachside store, he makes a surprising and heartwarming choice that brings the story full circle. Sand Dollar Shopper is a humorous and lyrical 200-word picture book that would appeal to children ages 2-6.
First 50:
(Art: Beach, breezy. Mom presses hat to head)
The wind blows.
The waves push to the shore,
And pull out again.
Seashells sparkle on the sand.
I pick them up, one by one.
White shells, brown shells,
Scallops and snails.
My favorite is the Sand Dollar!
Sand Dollar, Sand Dollar, what will I buy?
V.
Entry Nickname: Change the Alphabet, Please
Title: Ben Franklin's ABDs
Word Count: 590 words
Genre: Nonfiction PB
Query:
"I before E, except after C." "The C is soft when followed by the E, I or Y." These rules wouldn't be necessary if Ben Franklin had gotten his way. Even in Colonial times, learning to spell wasn't easy. Ben had a solution: he proposed getting rid of six letters—the C, J, Q, W, X & Y—and adding six new letters to the alphabet so spelling would make sense.
First 50:
From the time Ben Franklin was a child, he devoured words. He borrowed books and bought them. He read words and wrote them. . . every chance he got. When he grew up, he printed them so more people could read words. But, as much as Ben Franklin loved words, he did NOT love the alphabet.
QK Round 1: Queen of Drones v. My Name is Poison on Your Lips
Entry Nickname: Queen of Drones vs Bunker Babe
Title: The Chimera’s Snare
Word count: 85K
Genre: YA Horror
Query:
Sixteen-year-old prodigy June grew up in a bunker, rarely allowed human contact; the streaming feed on her computer monitor her main window to the war-ravaged world outside. June’s only companion and link to her mysterious handlers is her stoic, infuriatingly tight-lipped and fiercely loyal guard Kyle.
June's isolation is shattered when vicious, genetically engineered mutants attack her enclave. Surrounded by the terrified survivors, who give wildly disparate accounts of the events, June must use her enhanced cognitive faculties to piece together the truth behind their conflicting memories of the attack before the people turn on each other. The enclave's damaged records could hold the key to reconciling their stories and finding a way to fight the chimeras, but with four other enclaves destroyed, the monsters are certain to return – and soon.
As June and Kyle navigate the mysterious subterranean passages, looking for the remnants of lost data, June discovers clues to her origin. She wasn't born, but grown, imbued with the power to turn the surviving humanity into a giant beehive of drones, where she would reign as queen. Now, June must decide if her all-too-human feelings for Kyle, who is hoarding deadly secrets of his own, are enough to keep her from fighting a program encoded in her DNA and turning the world into a twisted version of utopia. What June doesn’t realize is that another clone is vying to become the Queen of Drones.
First 250:
June woke up to the acidic shrieking of the siren. The sound passed through the thick layer of earth and reverberated against the bunker’s titanium bearings, making the walls and the ceiling of her cell tremble and moan. The holographic surface of the monitor flickered and silver chess figurines on the table knocked against each other with a clear, icy chime.
June slid out of bed and pressed her ear to the wall, trying to catch more familiar sounds beyond the piercing wail.
The main generator was silent.
She climbed on the table, licked her fingers and reached towards the air conditioning ducts. Nothing, other than a faint scent of mildew. And apples.
In the settlement, apples were a luxury. A shame. June liked their taste. Distracted by the puzzle of synthesizing an adequate substitute, she didn’t notice when the siren cut out. For several long moments the walls preserved its echo, fainter with each wave. But the air conditioning, the generator, and the intercom system didn’t come back online.
“Kyle?” June never liked the sound of her voice. It was high-pitched, and the discord between her chronological age and the actual development of her body made her acutely self-conscious. At sixteen, she was tiny and frail.
“Kyle, where are you?”
Not in the bunker. Otherwise, he would’ve already come.
As long as June could remember, Kyle had always been there. Almost three years now. Of course, the first four months of her confinement didn’t count: her memories of that time were too chaotic and vague.
Query:
Since the eruption of Yellowstone’s supervolcano, the Anathema Infection has turned a small percentage of the surviving world population into deadly superhumans, including sixteen-year-old Calynn Davitt.
Despite her attempts to evade the government’s purge program, Cal is captured and sent to Sanatorium, a sterilized city made to contain the Infection. However, waiting for a cure proves to be as dangerous as living with the disease. Sanatorium divides the Anathema into heroes and villains, and Cal is labeled a villain despite her integrity. In order to escape, Cal must trust backstabbing villains and evade overzealous heroes, including Solar Flare, the man who killed her father.
Even with her half-tamed energy manipulation abilities, Cal seems doomed to an early death until she finds an unexpected ally in the shy hero, Invisiboy. But when the villains begin hunting any heroes with information on Solar Flare, Cal is forced to choose between her fellow villains, and the only friend she’s known in Sanatorium, where not all is as it seems, and even heroes can be villainous.
I couldn’t see the stars.
Though it was late June, snow drifted past my window in enormous gray flakes. Mom said thirty years ago, before Yellowstone’s supervolcano erupted, the snow was pure white and came only one season a year instead of choking the planet in a constant ash-stained winter. With one foot of snow outside, her stories were hard to believe.
I tied the hem of my button up shirt under my ribs, and straightened my tank. When I was certain my loose clothing wouldn’t get in the way, I ground a violet pastel onto a chipped plate. In the flickering candlelight, my knuckles seemed to glow luminous and white, the bone too close to the skin.
I added a splash of water, and stirred the chalk with my fingers until it became a smooth paste. Barefoot, I stood on my bed. It didn’t matter if I spilled. The bedspread, speckled with fluffy pink sheep, was hideous at best.
On the ceiling, a purple smudge appeared everywhere my fingers touched. They danced with the other colors of my painting, transforming from mere fingerprints into stars and galaxies. A large moon, as white as an angel feather, glimmered over my bed. I ran my fingers along the edge, giving the crescent a pale purple glow. Luminous. Alive. Unlike everything else on this wretched planet.
I wiped my fingers on my frayed jeans, leaving purple smudges like shooting stars. With a sigh, I laid on my bed to admire my own personal heaven on Earth.
Title: The Chimera’s Snare
Word count: 85K
Genre: YA Horror
Query:
Sixteen-year-old prodigy June grew up in a bunker, rarely allowed human contact; the streaming feed on her computer monitor her main window to the war-ravaged world outside. June’s only companion and link to her mysterious handlers is her stoic, infuriatingly tight-lipped and fiercely loyal guard Kyle.
June's isolation is shattered when vicious, genetically engineered mutants attack her enclave. Surrounded by the terrified survivors, who give wildly disparate accounts of the events, June must use her enhanced cognitive faculties to piece together the truth behind their conflicting memories of the attack before the people turn on each other. The enclave's damaged records could hold the key to reconciling their stories and finding a way to fight the chimeras, but with four other enclaves destroyed, the monsters are certain to return – and soon.
As June and Kyle navigate the mysterious subterranean passages, looking for the remnants of lost data, June discovers clues to her origin. She wasn't born, but grown, imbued with the power to turn the surviving humanity into a giant beehive of drones, where she would reign as queen. Now, June must decide if her all-too-human feelings for Kyle, who is hoarding deadly secrets of his own, are enough to keep her from fighting a program encoded in her DNA and turning the world into a twisted version of utopia. What June doesn’t realize is that another clone is vying to become the Queen of Drones.
First 250:
June woke up to the acidic shrieking of the siren. The sound passed through the thick layer of earth and reverberated against the bunker’s titanium bearings, making the walls and the ceiling of her cell tremble and moan. The holographic surface of the monitor flickered and silver chess figurines on the table knocked against each other with a clear, icy chime.
June slid out of bed and pressed her ear to the wall, trying to catch more familiar sounds beyond the piercing wail.
The main generator was silent.
She climbed on the table, licked her fingers and reached towards the air conditioning ducts. Nothing, other than a faint scent of mildew. And apples.
In the settlement, apples were a luxury. A shame. June liked their taste. Distracted by the puzzle of synthesizing an adequate substitute, she didn’t notice when the siren cut out. For several long moments the walls preserved its echo, fainter with each wave. But the air conditioning, the generator, and the intercom system didn’t come back online.
“Kyle?” June never liked the sound of her voice. It was high-pitched, and the discord between her chronological age and the actual development of her body made her acutely self-conscious. At sixteen, she was tiny and frail.
“Kyle, where are you?”
Not in the bunker. Otherwise, he would’ve already come.
As long as June could remember, Kyle had always been there. Almost three years now. Of course, the first four months of her confinement didn’t count: her memories of that time were too chaotic and vague.
V.
Entry Nickname: My Name is Poison on Your Lips
Title: VILLAINOUS
Word count: 102,000
Genre: YA sci-fi/fantasy
Title: VILLAINOUS
Word count: 102,000
Genre: YA sci-fi/fantasy
Query:
Since the eruption of Yellowstone’s supervolcano, the Anathema Infection has turned a small percentage of the surviving world population into deadly superhumans, including sixteen-year-old Calynn Davitt.
Despite her attempts to evade the government’s purge program, Cal is captured and sent to Sanatorium, a sterilized city made to contain the Infection. However, waiting for a cure proves to be as dangerous as living with the disease. Sanatorium divides the Anathema into heroes and villains, and Cal is labeled a villain despite her integrity. In order to escape, Cal must trust backstabbing villains and evade overzealous heroes, including Solar Flare, the man who killed her father.
Even with her half-tamed energy manipulation abilities, Cal seems doomed to an early death until she finds an unexpected ally in the shy hero, Invisiboy. But when the villains begin hunting any heroes with information on Solar Flare, Cal is forced to choose between her fellow villains, and the only friend she’s known in Sanatorium, where not all is as it seems, and even heroes can be villainous.
First 250:
I couldn’t see the stars.
Though it was late June, snow drifted past my window in enormous gray flakes. Mom said thirty years ago, before Yellowstone’s supervolcano erupted, the snow was pure white and came only one season a year instead of choking the planet in a constant ash-stained winter. With one foot of snow outside, her stories were hard to believe.
I tied the hem of my button up shirt under my ribs, and straightened my tank. When I was certain my loose clothing wouldn’t get in the way, I ground a violet pastel onto a chipped plate. In the flickering candlelight, my knuckles seemed to glow luminous and white, the bone too close to the skin.
I added a splash of water, and stirred the chalk with my fingers until it became a smooth paste. Barefoot, I stood on my bed. It didn’t matter if I spilled. The bedspread, speckled with fluffy pink sheep, was hideous at best.
On the ceiling, a purple smudge appeared everywhere my fingers touched. They danced with the other colors of my painting, transforming from mere fingerprints into stars and galaxies. A large moon, as white as an angel feather, glimmered over my bed. I ran my fingers along the edge, giving the crescent a pale purple glow. Luminous. Alive. Unlike everything else on this wretched planet.
I wiped my fingers on my frayed jeans, leaving purple smudges like shooting stars. With a sigh, I laid on my bed to admire my own personal heaven on Earth.
QK Round 1: The Past Is My Future v. Greek Gods are the Best Kind of Trouble
Entry Nickname: The Past Is My Future
Title: THE FOREVER MAN: THE BELFAST MISSION
Word Count: 105K
Genre: Adult Science Fiction
Query:
Horatio’s passion is science. As a quantum data physicist, he has everything figured out, everything that is, except for people. Research is his solace against humanity. There, Horatio slots the Universe into neatly stacked equations, fortressed in his lab until his discovery of time travel. But the ability to wield time and space is meaningless without purpose. In perfecting his machine, he finds such a purpose—returning to the past to save those who have needlessly perished. Now he must test the variables.
Every experiment requires a control, and Horatio can think of none better than the RMS Titanic; a ship isolated and lost at sea. Banding together with his friend, Hendley, they devise a plan to travel through time and correct a flaw in the ship’s original build, ensuring that she’ll survive a collision with an iceberg. But 1909 Belfast poses problems that science cannot solve.
Century old engineers, coupled with money hungry shipbuilders, force our heroes to rethink their strategy. Teaming up with Kat, a company typist, provides the men with a needed edge to guarantee success. But it’s evident she also holds sway over Horatio’s heart, jeopardizing the mission. If science cannot be separated from emotion, not only will the Titanic be lost again, but Horatio and Hendley may spend the remainder of their lives jailed in the past.
First 250 words:
Warm air greeted me that cold January morning at Biggington University. Breathing in the pungent smell of burnt wood, I pivoted full circle in search of the source. Students pushed past, bumping into my haversack in their haste, knocking me off balance. Confused, I followed the rabble at a distance, all heading in the same direction. Rounding a corner, I spotted a dark cloud of billowing smoke hovering over the snow-laden campus, drawing them to the Lindenbrook Geology Building. Their wayward presence only served to alter the tone of the drama to that of a rock band concert, which made the firefighters’ task all the more difficult—and dangerous. The centuries-old building was an easy target for the flames, its ancient wiring and wooden framing almost begged to be set ablaze.
My boots crunched snow, kicking up powder as I jogged over to catch sight of the spectacle. Arriving at the north side entrance, I pushed my way through the tangle of coats and backpacks, ignoring staccato protests from their owners to gain a front row seat. Parked before the seven-story building was a small fleet of emergency hover-vehicles, all cordoned off behind an endless strip of fluorescent yellow tape. Spilling out from their sides were tentacles of hose, snaking their way through the well-trodden snow. Flashing lights reflected off the stone and brick in scorched hues of red, white and blue.
The heroes of this story were the firefighters. Assembled in aluminized bunker gear and crimson helmets, they stood like sentinels against the blaze, protectors of the boisterous crowd.
Entry Nickname: Greek Gods are the Best Kind of Trouble
Title: Not Set in Stone
Word count: 94K
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
Query:
New York City is a far cry from Medusa Kalypto’s drab ancestral gorgon homeland. Her city bursts at the seams with humans and the disenfranchised Greek gods. Here, Zeus is a barista, Hermes is famous for being famous, and Hades is a best-selling poet. The city is also where she’ll discover which life she's fated to live.
For humans, turning thirty involves reevaluating their lives and having mini panic attacks between celebratory margaritas. For Medusa, a gorgon with an all too common name, it entails finding out if she has the gorgon curse. The curse means banishment to the Isle where her mother and other bitter judgmental gorgons reside. A fate worse than death.
At least she thought so until the curse stirs up the illegal blood oath she took with her ex-boyfriend Ares, revealing an ugly side effect, telepathy. Now she’s bonded to her ex by telepathic transmissions. Sometimes a gorgon can’t catch a break.
This telepathy stirs up dangerous feelings for her drama-fueled ex threatening the budding relationship with her new human boyfriend Adam. Even worse, it has sparked an investigation putting her immigration status at risk. With deportation and heartbreak looming in the distance, Medusa must find a way to untangle this new mess with her toxic ex. If she doesn’t, her snakes might learn might learn another “S” word for screwed.
First 250 words:
I twirled a single snake around my index finger like a long green ribbon. The other snakes on my head nipped at the bobbing zipper on the back of my blue dress as I power-walked down the sidewalk surrounded by a mass of fellow New Yorkers. Sidewalks here were like a benevolent god we bowed our heads to but never acknowledged, and our sole prayer was to keep moving forward. The gorgon deep within me fought hard to keep me still, especially today on the birthday I feared the most. Did humans hate turning thirty as much as I did?
Hell, I'd take a slice of existential crisis with a regretful hangover crust instead of registering with the government. Imagine if the first time you saw yourself might be the last time you took a breath. The safer option was never to leave the gorgon homeland, the Isle of Stone, in the first place. Never try to live among humans and the fallen Greek gods and make a life for yourself.
But I was never one to play it safe.
Immortal friends and student loans would be my financial death. My Brooklyn death, on the other hand, now loomed ahead, blurring in the distance like a dark and murky nightmare.
The Center of Sorrow and Sisterhood or CSS was a bleak gray building with a lone black door at the front. It was both a savior and destroyer for young gorgons like me.
Title: THE FOREVER MAN: THE BELFAST MISSION
Word Count: 105K
Genre: Adult Science Fiction
Query:
Horatio’s passion is science. As a quantum data physicist, he has everything figured out, everything that is, except for people. Research is his solace against humanity. There, Horatio slots the Universe into neatly stacked equations, fortressed in his lab until his discovery of time travel. But the ability to wield time and space is meaningless without purpose. In perfecting his machine, he finds such a purpose—returning to the past to save those who have needlessly perished. Now he must test the variables.
Every experiment requires a control, and Horatio can think of none better than the RMS Titanic; a ship isolated and lost at sea. Banding together with his friend, Hendley, they devise a plan to travel through time and correct a flaw in the ship’s original build, ensuring that she’ll survive a collision with an iceberg. But 1909 Belfast poses problems that science cannot solve.
Century old engineers, coupled with money hungry shipbuilders, force our heroes to rethink their strategy. Teaming up with Kat, a company typist, provides the men with a needed edge to guarantee success. But it’s evident she also holds sway over Horatio’s heart, jeopardizing the mission. If science cannot be separated from emotion, not only will the Titanic be lost again, but Horatio and Hendley may spend the remainder of their lives jailed in the past.
First 250 words:
Warm air greeted me that cold January morning at Biggington University. Breathing in the pungent smell of burnt wood, I pivoted full circle in search of the source. Students pushed past, bumping into my haversack in their haste, knocking me off balance. Confused, I followed the rabble at a distance, all heading in the same direction. Rounding a corner, I spotted a dark cloud of billowing smoke hovering over the snow-laden campus, drawing them to the Lindenbrook Geology Building. Their wayward presence only served to alter the tone of the drama to that of a rock band concert, which made the firefighters’ task all the more difficult—and dangerous. The centuries-old building was an easy target for the flames, its ancient wiring and wooden framing almost begged to be set ablaze.
My boots crunched snow, kicking up powder as I jogged over to catch sight of the spectacle. Arriving at the north side entrance, I pushed my way through the tangle of coats and backpacks, ignoring staccato protests from their owners to gain a front row seat. Parked before the seven-story building was a small fleet of emergency hover-vehicles, all cordoned off behind an endless strip of fluorescent yellow tape. Spilling out from their sides were tentacles of hose, snaking their way through the well-trodden snow. Flashing lights reflected off the stone and brick in scorched hues of red, white and blue.
The heroes of this story were the firefighters. Assembled in aluminized bunker gear and crimson helmets, they stood like sentinels against the blaze, protectors of the boisterous crowd.
V.
Title: Not Set in Stone
Word count: 94K
Genre: Adult Urban Fantasy
Query:
New York City is a far cry from Medusa Kalypto’s drab ancestral gorgon homeland. Her city bursts at the seams with humans and the disenfranchised Greek gods. Here, Zeus is a barista, Hermes is famous for being famous, and Hades is a best-selling poet. The city is also where she’ll discover which life she's fated to live.
For humans, turning thirty involves reevaluating their lives and having mini panic attacks between celebratory margaritas. For Medusa, a gorgon with an all too common name, it entails finding out if she has the gorgon curse. The curse means banishment to the Isle where her mother and other bitter judgmental gorgons reside. A fate worse than death.
At least she thought so until the curse stirs up the illegal blood oath she took with her ex-boyfriend Ares, revealing an ugly side effect, telepathy. Now she’s bonded to her ex by telepathic transmissions. Sometimes a gorgon can’t catch a break.
This telepathy stirs up dangerous feelings for her drama-fueled ex threatening the budding relationship with her new human boyfriend Adam. Even worse, it has sparked an investigation putting her immigration status at risk. With deportation and heartbreak looming in the distance, Medusa must find a way to untangle this new mess with her toxic ex. If she doesn’t, her snakes might learn might learn another “S” word for screwed.
First 250 words:
I twirled a single snake around my index finger like a long green ribbon. The other snakes on my head nipped at the bobbing zipper on the back of my blue dress as I power-walked down the sidewalk surrounded by a mass of fellow New Yorkers. Sidewalks here were like a benevolent god we bowed our heads to but never acknowledged, and our sole prayer was to keep moving forward. The gorgon deep within me fought hard to keep me still, especially today on the birthday I feared the most. Did humans hate turning thirty as much as I did?
Hell, I'd take a slice of existential crisis with a regretful hangover crust instead of registering with the government. Imagine if the first time you saw yourself might be the last time you took a breath. The safer option was never to leave the gorgon homeland, the Isle of Stone, in the first place. Never try to live among humans and the fallen Greek gods and make a life for yourself.
But I was never one to play it safe.
Immortal friends and student loans would be my financial death. My Brooklyn death, on the other hand, now loomed ahead, blurring in the distance like a dark and murky nightmare.
The Center of Sorrow and Sisterhood or CSS was a bleak gray building with a lone black door at the front. It was both a savior and destroyer for young gorgons like me.
QK Round 1: Orphan Red v. Rustic Roots Burn Holes
Entry Nickname: Orphan Red
Title: Callback
Word count: 90,000
Genre: Women's Fiction
Query:
Aspiring actress Claire Dowler is looking for a fresh start after separating from her husband and moving home to teach drama at her old high school in Virginia, but it’s fair to say it has not gone as planned. She’s accidentally cast a real-life orphan, Kimmy Ralstin, in the lead role of the musical “Annie,” and Kimmy’s parents are furious. Claire also has adopted a pit bull in the hopes of turning him into a stage star in the role of Annie’s dog Sandy, and her mother is ready to throw them both out. Claire must save the production and her job, while training her dog, navigating a new romance and figuring out why a new guidance counselor seems to have an old ax to grind.
First 250:
In the teacher’s lounge, illustrious leaders sit with their homemade lasagna leftovers or Cobb salads, and arrange their tables and chairs in one big U-shape, so that no one is ever left out. Conversations are earnest, with everyone sharing ideas about how to engage students, waving their forks in the air as they prove a point. It’s why students are never allowed into the lounge – this feeling of camaraderie might be tainted by the selfishness exhibited by a high schooler.
This is what I thought until I became a teacher.
It didn’t take me long to realize the high school I am now working at is the same high school from where I graduated. The only difference is that instead of sitting with drama queens at lunchtime, I’m now sitting with faculty queens that love drama. The difference is subtle.
The lounge may not be a utopia, but it is still a safe place, or at least a room where you can be among allies. High school teachers are always at war with someone: An administrator, a parent, a student, their own child who pretends to not know them in the hallway. The lounge is the place to regroup. Whether you are the aggressor or the victim, Russia or Poland, it’s important to remember there are other foot soldiers on your side.
“Remember,” I told myself as I stared at the lounge door. “Pretend you’re Stalin, but, you know, friendly and cute.”
Title: Callback
Word count: 90,000
Genre: Women's Fiction
Query:
Aspiring actress Claire Dowler is looking for a fresh start after separating from her husband and moving home to teach drama at her old high school in Virginia, but it’s fair to say it has not gone as planned. She’s accidentally cast a real-life orphan, Kimmy Ralstin, in the lead role of the musical “Annie,” and Kimmy’s parents are furious. Claire also has adopted a pit bull in the hopes of turning him into a stage star in the role of Annie’s dog Sandy, and her mother is ready to throw them both out. Claire must save the production and her job, while training her dog, navigating a new romance and figuring out why a new guidance counselor seems to have an old ax to grind.
First 250:
In the teacher’s lounge, illustrious leaders sit with their homemade lasagna leftovers or Cobb salads, and arrange their tables and chairs in one big U-shape, so that no one is ever left out. Conversations are earnest, with everyone sharing ideas about how to engage students, waving their forks in the air as they prove a point. It’s why students are never allowed into the lounge – this feeling of camaraderie might be tainted by the selfishness exhibited by a high schooler.
This is what I thought until I became a teacher.
It didn’t take me long to realize the high school I am now working at is the same high school from where I graduated. The only difference is that instead of sitting with drama queens at lunchtime, I’m now sitting with faculty queens that love drama. The difference is subtle.
The lounge may not be a utopia, but it is still a safe place, or at least a room where you can be among allies. High school teachers are always at war with someone: An administrator, a parent, a student, their own child who pretends to not know them in the hallway. The lounge is the place to regroup. Whether you are the aggressor or the victim, Russia or Poland, it’s important to remember there are other foot soldiers on your side.
“Remember,” I told myself as I stared at the lounge door. “Pretend you’re Stalin, but, you know, friendly and cute.”
V.
Entry Nickname: Rustic Roots Burn Holes
Title: American Honey
Word count: 77k
Genre: Upmarket Women’s Fiction
Query:
American Honey is two stories intertwined about coming-of-age, leaving your past behind, and then recapturing it. I’ve been told this is a book that’s both commercial and intelligent, a work that will appeal to readers of book club/upmarket women’s fiction.
Unlike her controlling and image obsessed mama, Sandy Jo has a fun, upbeat, and quirky personality. She believes in the good of people, mostly. In fact, that’s one of the main reasons she escaped her Texas hometown 1,628 miles away to move to New York. But somehow, at only 25 years old, she’s gotten lost. When a good friend brings Sandy Jo back to Texas to visit a favorite childhood ranch, she tries to recapture a time when she and her teenage friends lived life and confronted death and raw sexuality. However, a surprise visit from Sandy Jo’s mama compels her to address family secrets, reclaim her life, and decide if a cowboy is worth her career.
Authors that have influenced my writing include Meg Wolitzer (The Interestings) for her characterization of uncomfortable events that occur when you’re young; Rebecca Wells (Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood) for her mother/daughter struggles revealing how you can still love someone when they’re awful; and Stephen King (The Body) who inspired me to write my own coming of age journey—about young girls/one boy in pursuit of fun come across a series of issues from sex, abuse, death, friendship, and love. American Honey also explores similar themes as the movie Sweet Home Alabama, escaping, and ultimately returning to, your roots.
First 250:
“It’s a known fact that people have two choices in life, to stick with what’s good or get movin,” I told Mrs. Charles Huntt, III, reciting this advice to my mama as if it were my own.
Mundane mind games, like calling Mama by her proper name, Mrs. Charles Huntt, III, kept me sane as we ever so slowly passed mile marker 109, making our way to Red Retriever Ranch. Titles were of the utmost importance to a Southern woman like Mama, and the formality lets me pretend that we weren’t related, as she told me no for hundredth time.
“Is that so, Honey JoJo?” Mrs. Charles Huntt, III said dramatically. Mama turned her head back at me when she hadn’t heard a timely response.
“Yes, everyone thought the Beatles were good, but they broke up last year,” I told her raising my eyebrows, feeling quite knowledgeable.
“Well I hope you know what’s good then,” Mrs. Charles Huntt, III said as she raised her arm up and planted it aggressively across the wagon bench seat, fixed on Daddy’s headrest, as though she would trap me inside this car forever if she could. Her eyes were telling me I couldn’t possibly know what good was, but I knew. Good was the feeling that I’d almost arrived. This good had started bubbling up inside me and was begging to burst open. But I knew my mama, and she would do just about anything to not let that happen.
Title: American Honey
Word count: 77k
Genre: Upmarket Women’s Fiction
Query:
American Honey is two stories intertwined about coming-of-age, leaving your past behind, and then recapturing it. I’ve been told this is a book that’s both commercial and intelligent, a work that will appeal to readers of book club/upmarket women’s fiction.
Unlike her controlling and image obsessed mama, Sandy Jo has a fun, upbeat, and quirky personality. She believes in the good of people, mostly. In fact, that’s one of the main reasons she escaped her Texas hometown 1,628 miles away to move to New York. But somehow, at only 25 years old, she’s gotten lost. When a good friend brings Sandy Jo back to Texas to visit a favorite childhood ranch, she tries to recapture a time when she and her teenage friends lived life and confronted death and raw sexuality. However, a surprise visit from Sandy Jo’s mama compels her to address family secrets, reclaim her life, and decide if a cowboy is worth her career.
Authors that have influenced my writing include Meg Wolitzer (The Interestings) for her characterization of uncomfortable events that occur when you’re young; Rebecca Wells (Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood) for her mother/daughter struggles revealing how you can still love someone when they’re awful; and Stephen King (The Body) who inspired me to write my own coming of age journey—about young girls/one boy in pursuit of fun come across a series of issues from sex, abuse, death, friendship, and love. American Honey also explores similar themes as the movie Sweet Home Alabama, escaping, and ultimately returning to, your roots.
First 250:
“It’s a known fact that people have two choices in life, to stick with what’s good or get movin,” I told Mrs. Charles Huntt, III, reciting this advice to my mama as if it were my own.
Mundane mind games, like calling Mama by her proper name, Mrs. Charles Huntt, III, kept me sane as we ever so slowly passed mile marker 109, making our way to Red Retriever Ranch. Titles were of the utmost importance to a Southern woman like Mama, and the formality lets me pretend that we weren’t related, as she told me no for hundredth time.
“Is that so, Honey JoJo?” Mrs. Charles Huntt, III said dramatically. Mama turned her head back at me when she hadn’t heard a timely response.
“Yes, everyone thought the Beatles were good, but they broke up last year,” I told her raising my eyebrows, feeling quite knowledgeable.
“Well I hope you know what’s good then,” Mrs. Charles Huntt, III said as she raised her arm up and planted it aggressively across the wagon bench seat, fixed on Daddy’s headrest, as though she would trap me inside this car forever if she could. Her eyes were telling me I couldn’t possibly know what good was, but I knew. Good was the feeling that I’d almost arrived. This good had started bubbling up inside me and was begging to burst open. But I knew my mama, and she would do just about anything to not let that happen.
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