Here's the Query I sent out for Novel #1. Yes, in case you're wondering, I'm cleaning out my hard drive and posting anything people might find interesting. Maybe. A little : )
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When two longtime friends are faced with different but equally devastating events, they eventually come to the same conclusion: only their tumultuous pasts can set them free.
Roy Pentinicci, son of an abusive gangster, experiences a childhood characterized by violence, dark secrets, and unspeakable shame. Roy's voyage to manhood is rockier than most, accentuated by his own struggles with his father's demons and the devastating loss of his cherished older sister. As a professional baseball player married to his childhood sweetheart, Roy convinces both himself and those around him that he's moved beyond his past. However, a startling revelation from his wife forces him to go back and face a past that has haunted his psyche all along.
Susy Heidelman survives an equally traumatic upbringing; after being abandoned by her father before she was born, Susy is raised by an emotionally absent and suicidal mother and a drug-abusing older brother. Nobody is more surprised than Susy when her Prince Charming shows up in the unlikeliest of places and whisks her away to a shockingly happy life that is suddenly ripped apart at the seams by a few thoughtless words from her adored son.
The bond between Roy and Susy carries them through happiness and devastation, crime and punishment, life and death as they, both apart and together, realize the truth of karma, the necessity of putting to death their past demons if they want the strength to face the future, and most importantly, the power of love.
I am an aspiring novelist and currently an English teacher in southern New Hampshire. I hold both a B.A. in English (cum laude) and an M.Ed. from the University of New Hampshire. I have used my own experiences with revision within my classroom, and it has been a great privilege to share Unbreakable with selected students along with friends and family members. All were happy to, as I requested, rip it to shreds with love. Now that I have finished polishing it, I am very enthusiastic about sharing Unbreakable with a literary agent.
Thank you for your time and attention to this query; it is very much appreciated. If you are interested in reading the beginning chapters or even the complete manuscript, I would be more than happy to send it right out.
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Sounds like a book I'd want to read! How long has your agent been shopping it? I have no concept of the average time table.
ReplyDeleteSee, they're always telling us that we have to follow the rules, yet you broke two and they took your novel! No word count or genre. I'm guessing this is literary fiction. What was your word count?
Your compelling subject matter and your apparent writing ability are visible in the query -- I'm starting to learn that that is most important in this business.
Well done. :)
Yeah, I was surprised that it was accepted based on this query (in typical me fashion, I didn't really research how to write a query until I sent it out ... to a bunch of agents at once ... haha, research is KEY :-)). However, I'm still (still!) waiting to hear, so I'm starting to think no news might not be good news, and I'll have to rework and start shopping it out again.
ReplyDeleteIf I decide to shop it again, I'll probably give it an overhaul first. I'd classify it as literary fiction right now, but it has the potential to be YA if I steered it that way. We shall see ...
And word count is approximately 150,000 which is, as I'm sure you know, way too long.
I started writing that book when I was in seventh grade, so ending it was sort of like cutting an umbilical cord : )
Thanks for the comment : ) You're wonderful!
I'd like to read some chapters... probably the whole thing! I'm hooked.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting to me, especially since I've never written a query...yet. So what is the usual expected length of literary fiction anyway?
ReplyDeleteAgents savor conflict, and your query promises satisfaction.
ReplyDelete