Michelle Hauck's Blog, page 126
October 25, 2013
NOQS Minion 8: THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME, YA Horror
TITLE: THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME
GENRE: YA HORROR
WORD COUNT: 67, 000
MY MAIN CHARACTER'S GREATEST FEAR:
Aiden fears the idea of losing his life to the pure evil polluting his veins; the evil that seeks to use the Gateway to summon the Brethren of Shadows from Hell.
QUERY:
To seventeen-year-old Aiden Ortiz, letting the dead walk through his body to reach the other side comes with the territory––the territory of being a Gateway. It’s hard enough doing the exchange, sending even one Bleeder away without being seen, but when Koren Banks––the girl who’s been mysteriously missing for the last seven months––comes back into his life, the Bleeders begin seeking him out in droves.
When confronted by a Dark One, a Bleeder gone rogue, Aiden finds himself infected with an evil inside of him that wants nothing more than to be released. Fighting the urge to let the darkness consume him, Aiden discovers that not only does the Gateway send things away––it also brings things back.
With Koren and his two best friends, Trevor and Evan, by his side, Aiden fights to rid the world of the evil that’s been released by the Dark Priest, while saving the girl he loves from her haunting past. Time is running out, and Aiden must find a way to abolish the Dark Priest and his Brethren of Shadows before he finds himself consumed into a world of evil––and before the monster lurking inside of him takes control.
THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME is a YA Horror with supernatural elements complete at 67,000 words. It will interest fans of ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD and BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.
Thank you for checking out my query!
FIRST 250:
Not five minutes after running full force on the track, I already spot a dead kid standing next to my car. Just waiting for me, like they always do. How do I know he’s dead? Well, if you don’t count the crimson smile across his neck, a deadly blow most likely inflicted by the finest of blades, and the dead-like pastiness of his brown skin, I guess I wouldn’t really know the difference. But as it is, I’ve done this long enough to familiarize myself with them.
Bleeders.
It’s not the nicest of names, but it about sums them up.
Dead people––or ghosts, if that makes you feel better. Unfortunate souls that have found themselves departed from the living. They’re not always as gory as this dude, but majority of them are. Sometimes they’re just normal people dying of natural causes. I prefer the natural over the gore, to be honest.
“Aw . . . come on, man. I just got off the track. Can’t this wait?” I say this as I half drag, half walk my way through the dark school parking lot, backpack hanging off one shoulder.
My yellow VW bug glows brightly under the lamppost, the light creating a white halo around it like some godly beam shooting straight from the sky. Fitting. Dead kid paces back and forth next to my car, clearly shaken up by something. If I have to guess, I’d say it’s the reality of finding out he’s dead. That can’t ever be an easy thing to digest.
GENRE: YA HORROR
WORD COUNT: 67, 000
MY MAIN CHARACTER'S GREATEST FEAR:
Aiden fears the idea of losing his life to the pure evil polluting his veins; the evil that seeks to use the Gateway to summon the Brethren of Shadows from Hell.
QUERY:
To seventeen-year-old Aiden Ortiz, letting the dead walk through his body to reach the other side comes with the territory––the territory of being a Gateway. It’s hard enough doing the exchange, sending even one Bleeder away without being seen, but when Koren Banks––the girl who’s been mysteriously missing for the last seven months––comes back into his life, the Bleeders begin seeking him out in droves.
When confronted by a Dark One, a Bleeder gone rogue, Aiden finds himself infected with an evil inside of him that wants nothing more than to be released. Fighting the urge to let the darkness consume him, Aiden discovers that not only does the Gateway send things away––it also brings things back.
With Koren and his two best friends, Trevor and Evan, by his side, Aiden fights to rid the world of the evil that’s been released by the Dark Priest, while saving the girl he loves from her haunting past. Time is running out, and Aiden must find a way to abolish the Dark Priest and his Brethren of Shadows before he finds himself consumed into a world of evil––and before the monster lurking inside of him takes control.
THE GATEWAY THROUGH WHICH THEY CAME is a YA Horror with supernatural elements complete at 67,000 words. It will interest fans of ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD and BEAUTIFUL CREATURES.
Thank you for checking out my query!
FIRST 250:
Not five minutes after running full force on the track, I already spot a dead kid standing next to my car. Just waiting for me, like they always do. How do I know he’s dead? Well, if you don’t count the crimson smile across his neck, a deadly blow most likely inflicted by the finest of blades, and the dead-like pastiness of his brown skin, I guess I wouldn’t really know the difference. But as it is, I’ve done this long enough to familiarize myself with them.
Bleeders.
It’s not the nicest of names, but it about sums them up.
Dead people––or ghosts, if that makes you feel better. Unfortunate souls that have found themselves departed from the living. They’re not always as gory as this dude, but majority of them are. Sometimes they’re just normal people dying of natural causes. I prefer the natural over the gore, to be honest.
“Aw . . . come on, man. I just got off the track. Can’t this wait?” I say this as I half drag, half walk my way through the dark school parking lot, backpack hanging off one shoulder.
My yellow VW bug glows brightly under the lamppost, the light creating a white halo around it like some godly beam shooting straight from the sky. Fitting. Dead kid paces back and forth next to my car, clearly shaken up by something. If I have to guess, I’d say it’s the reality of finding out he’s dead. That can’t ever be an easy thing to digest.
NOQS Minion 7: HOUR OF MISCHIEF, YA Steampunk Fantasy
Title: HOUR OF MISCHIEFGenre: YA Steampunk FantasyWord count: 62,000
My MCs Greatest Fear:
Janet fears intimacy above all else, though she doesn’t even know it. Born in a whorehouse, she has grown accustomed to the sound of her mother’s work, and though her mother moved out of the whorehouse years ago, she has not walked away from the profession itself. Now, Janet can block out the noise, but not her deep rooted inhibitions. This puts her at odds with the God of Love, Meroquio, who gives his blessings to whorehouses. And her newfound feelings for the God of Mischief, Itazura, set her more than a bit on edge.
Query:
Dear Wonderful Agents,
Born in a whorehouse in the slums of Fortuna and burdened with a prosthetic arm, seventeen-year-old Janet Redstone doesn’t think she owes the clockwork gods anything—which is why she makes a living stealing from their temples. But when she lands her team in prison, making a pact with the God of Mischief, Itazura, may be the only way to right her wrongs and free her friends.
Janet doesn’t trust Itazura as far as she can punch him, but with her soul in his hands, she has no choice but to do what he says, and he’s not just asking for menial odd jobs. The clockwork gods and the bad tempered elder gods of the ancient past are locked in a game of cat and mouse and the human realms are caught in the war path. Itazura is the only god left vying for humanity, and the clockwork gods have literally sealed his lips on all things “war” when he is in their presence. If Janet can’t somehow convince the gods to look favorably on the human realms, humanity is in an abyss of trouble. It’s a shame Itazura had to pick someone with all the reverence of… well… himself.
Janet will have to practice her groveling skills because the clock is ticking, and tensions are winding up. If she can’t help Itazura, her friends won’t be on the only ones on the chopping block. Humanity may join them.
HOUR OF MISCHIEF is a YA Steampunk Fantasy complete at 62,000 words. I am currently a student at Coe College, triple majoring in Creative writing, English and Film Studies and an intern for the wonderful Pooja Menon at Kimberley Cameron and Associates. Thank you for your time and consideration.
First 250 Words:
Pre-robbery nerves made buckling things difficult, especially with a limb constructed out of circuits and steel. The promise of the soon-to-come adrenaline rush made my every nerve sing with excitement.
In the evening light, the crumbling red bricks of my team’s favorite clock tower glowed crimson. Minutes ago, thousands of clocks around Fortuna tolled 8:00 PM, but the rusted silver bells just behind me remained silent as a grave. They hadn’t rung in years. Only the sounds of my team fiddling with their equipment and the gentle whirring of gears beneath the plates of my right arm filled the room.
Of course, Parker could be counted upon to break the pleasant silence.
“Hey, Sid, what do you think?” Parker asked, holding up two different types of bombs, one a pocket watch altered to create a smoke screen at the touch of a button, the other a chaser beetle, meant to pursue moving targets until it exploded. Both were low grade devices. Murder wasn’t our agenda and I’d never paid much tribute to the Goddess of Death. I hadn’t met her, but based on the stories I imagined her as a dreary and unlikeable individual.
Sid shrugged, storing a pair of silver-lined revolvers in his jacket.
“The pocket watch,” I answered, since Sid wasn’t one for audible feedback.
Parker frowned. “No one asked you.” “I know, but I’m the team leader and I reserve the right to trump all other members of the team.” I smirked, flicking my red-brown hair out of my eyes.
My MCs Greatest Fear:
Janet fears intimacy above all else, though she doesn’t even know it. Born in a whorehouse, she has grown accustomed to the sound of her mother’s work, and though her mother moved out of the whorehouse years ago, she has not walked away from the profession itself. Now, Janet can block out the noise, but not her deep rooted inhibitions. This puts her at odds with the God of Love, Meroquio, who gives his blessings to whorehouses. And her newfound feelings for the God of Mischief, Itazura, set her more than a bit on edge.
Query:
Dear Wonderful Agents,
Born in a whorehouse in the slums of Fortuna and burdened with a prosthetic arm, seventeen-year-old Janet Redstone doesn’t think she owes the clockwork gods anything—which is why she makes a living stealing from their temples. But when she lands her team in prison, making a pact with the God of Mischief, Itazura, may be the only way to right her wrongs and free her friends.
Janet doesn’t trust Itazura as far as she can punch him, but with her soul in his hands, she has no choice but to do what he says, and he’s not just asking for menial odd jobs. The clockwork gods and the bad tempered elder gods of the ancient past are locked in a game of cat and mouse and the human realms are caught in the war path. Itazura is the only god left vying for humanity, and the clockwork gods have literally sealed his lips on all things “war” when he is in their presence. If Janet can’t somehow convince the gods to look favorably on the human realms, humanity is in an abyss of trouble. It’s a shame Itazura had to pick someone with all the reverence of… well… himself.
Janet will have to practice her groveling skills because the clock is ticking, and tensions are winding up. If she can’t help Itazura, her friends won’t be on the only ones on the chopping block. Humanity may join them.
HOUR OF MISCHIEF is a YA Steampunk Fantasy complete at 62,000 words. I am currently a student at Coe College, triple majoring in Creative writing, English and Film Studies and an intern for the wonderful Pooja Menon at Kimberley Cameron and Associates. Thank you for your time and consideration.
First 250 Words:
Pre-robbery nerves made buckling things difficult, especially with a limb constructed out of circuits and steel. The promise of the soon-to-come adrenaline rush made my every nerve sing with excitement.
In the evening light, the crumbling red bricks of my team’s favorite clock tower glowed crimson. Minutes ago, thousands of clocks around Fortuna tolled 8:00 PM, but the rusted silver bells just behind me remained silent as a grave. They hadn’t rung in years. Only the sounds of my team fiddling with their equipment and the gentle whirring of gears beneath the plates of my right arm filled the room.
Of course, Parker could be counted upon to break the pleasant silence.
“Hey, Sid, what do you think?” Parker asked, holding up two different types of bombs, one a pocket watch altered to create a smoke screen at the touch of a button, the other a chaser beetle, meant to pursue moving targets until it exploded. Both were low grade devices. Murder wasn’t our agenda and I’d never paid much tribute to the Goddess of Death. I hadn’t met her, but based on the stories I imagined her as a dreary and unlikeable individual.
Sid shrugged, storing a pair of silver-lined revolvers in his jacket.
“The pocket watch,” I answered, since Sid wasn’t one for audible feedback.
Parker frowned. “No one asked you.” “I know, but I’m the team leader and I reserve the right to trump all other members of the team.” I smirked, flicking my red-brown hair out of my eyes.
NOQS Minion 6: FINDING HER WAY BACK, NA Contemporary
Title: FINDING HER WAY BACK
Genre: NA contemporary
Word Count: 99, 000
My Main Character's Greatest Fear:
...is a dreaded pair of high heels! If Callie just so happens to put on anything other than her beloved flats--or her most favorite tennis shoes mind you--then she will wind up on her butt...or possibly even her face instead. No joke. High heels to Callie, are monsters under the bed to five year olds.
Query:
Dear --
Meet Callie. She’s eighteen, quirky, fears high heels and commitments. She also has a serious love/hate relationship with her tennis shoes.
Nine months of college down the drain, and all Callie has to show for it is her freshman thirty. Now with a set of upcoming nuptials from hell on the horizon––for her she–devil–sister–Anna––Callie is put on a strict regimen of do this do that, while relentlessly trying to avoid her once skinny–skater–boy turned-sex–god, ex–best friend, Ky.
Meet Ky. He's a waste, a mechanic and a country music singer, minus the lyrics. A boy turned man with a proverbial skateboard still hung around his neck from high school days gone bad.
Ky's lost, and he’d be the first to admit it. But the moment Calla Lily returns home––with cemented penis in hand––he realizes she’s exactly the muse he’s been missing.But what do you do when life isn’t giving you what you demand it to? Well, you steal its running shoes, grab the girl of your four-year-long dreams, and take what’s been yours, all along.
Well, that’s Ky’s theory anyway.
It's just too bad Callie can't stop running away long enough to realize what she needs, is him.
At 99,081 words, Finding Her Way Back is my contemporary new adult romance about second chances, fear, and the need to let go of the past in order to move forward. Per your request, I have pasted the first 250 words onto this email.
Finding Her Way Back is my fifth completed novel. Three of which are currently published through a small house entitled Sunshine Press. I am an active member of my local RWA in Moline Illinois, and a member of the Midwest Writing Center in Davenport Iowa.Thank you for your time and consideration,
First 250 words:
Fat is the new sexy
“You need to lose weight. Pronto. I mean, look at how massive your hips have gotten, Callie! Freshman fifteen my ass…I’d say freshman thirty is more like it!”
Fuck my life. And screw my sister.
That’s what I wanted to say to Anna as she pulled at the seams of my pink flamingo looking bridesmaid gown. But I didn’t. Instead, I simply sealed my lips, and took her criticism with a grain of very bitter salt. But I’m not going to lie––the urge to cover my body was hard fought.
She circled around me, all–too stealthily for my taste. Her glare was unreadable, but her movements weren’t. The tap of her fingers against her red painted lips... The way her left brow rose higher than her right... The tell–tale flex of her jaw… Those movements alone said it all––the truth was inevitably there: Anna was already pondering ways she could make my life even more miserable.
Evil personified you say? Yes. That was the likes of my twenty–one year old sister.
“I mean come on, Cal! You know how much this wedding means to me,” her lower lip jutted outwards as she slapped her hands against her jeans. “How can I ever have my maid–of–honor standing up next to me at the altar, looking like a beached whale, for shit’s sake? Seriously, what in the hell did you the past nine months anyways, take up stock in the fast food world?”
Genre: NA contemporary
Word Count: 99, 000
My Main Character's Greatest Fear:
...is a dreaded pair of high heels! If Callie just so happens to put on anything other than her beloved flats--or her most favorite tennis shoes mind you--then she will wind up on her butt...or possibly even her face instead. No joke. High heels to Callie, are monsters under the bed to five year olds.
Query:
Dear --
Meet Callie. She’s eighteen, quirky, fears high heels and commitments. She also has a serious love/hate relationship with her tennis shoes.
Nine months of college down the drain, and all Callie has to show for it is her freshman thirty. Now with a set of upcoming nuptials from hell on the horizon––for her she–devil–sister–Anna––Callie is put on a strict regimen of do this do that, while relentlessly trying to avoid her once skinny–skater–boy turned-sex–god, ex–best friend, Ky.
Meet Ky. He's a waste, a mechanic and a country music singer, minus the lyrics. A boy turned man with a proverbial skateboard still hung around his neck from high school days gone bad.
Ky's lost, and he’d be the first to admit it. But the moment Calla Lily returns home––with cemented penis in hand––he realizes she’s exactly the muse he’s been missing.But what do you do when life isn’t giving you what you demand it to? Well, you steal its running shoes, grab the girl of your four-year-long dreams, and take what’s been yours, all along.
Well, that’s Ky’s theory anyway.
It's just too bad Callie can't stop running away long enough to realize what she needs, is him.
At 99,081 words, Finding Her Way Back is my contemporary new adult romance about second chances, fear, and the need to let go of the past in order to move forward. Per your request, I have pasted the first 250 words onto this email.
Finding Her Way Back is my fifth completed novel. Three of which are currently published through a small house entitled Sunshine Press. I am an active member of my local RWA in Moline Illinois, and a member of the Midwest Writing Center in Davenport Iowa.Thank you for your time and consideration,
First 250 words:
Fat is the new sexy
“You need to lose weight. Pronto. I mean, look at how massive your hips have gotten, Callie! Freshman fifteen my ass…I’d say freshman thirty is more like it!”
Fuck my life. And screw my sister.
That’s what I wanted to say to Anna as she pulled at the seams of my pink flamingo looking bridesmaid gown. But I didn’t. Instead, I simply sealed my lips, and took her criticism with a grain of very bitter salt. But I’m not going to lie––the urge to cover my body was hard fought.
She circled around me, all–too stealthily for my taste. Her glare was unreadable, but her movements weren’t. The tap of her fingers against her red painted lips... The way her left brow rose higher than her right... The tell–tale flex of her jaw… Those movements alone said it all––the truth was inevitably there: Anna was already pondering ways she could make my life even more miserable.
Evil personified you say? Yes. That was the likes of my twenty–one year old sister.
“I mean come on, Cal! You know how much this wedding means to me,” her lower lip jutted outwards as she slapped her hands against her jeans. “How can I ever have my maid–of–honor standing up next to me at the altar, looking like a beached whale, for shit’s sake? Seriously, what in the hell did you the past nine months anyways, take up stock in the fast food world?”
NOQS Minion 5: ESSEX HILL, YA Paranormal
Title: ESSEX HILLGenre: YA paranormal Word Count: 68,000My Main Character's Greatest Fear:The live lobsters in the tank at the Sea Witch restaurant used to terrify me. Don’t lobsters look like something out of a B-movie about aliens from the planet Crustaceous? But that was before I met Bridget and William, the 300 year old ghosts in my grandmother’s old house. They don’t just move stuff around and yell ‘boo’— I could totally handle that. Nope. They make you re-live their memories of blood, witches, and curses, then nag you about fixing their love lives, until digging in the middle of the forest for dead bodies seems like an awesome idea.Query:Dear Agent,Geeky seventeen-year-old Nora Adams knows nothing about being in love or being a witch, but try telling that to Bridget and William, the two scary Colonial-era ghosts in her grandmother’s house. ESSEX HILL, which could best be described as “Gilmore Girls” set in The House of the Seven Gables, is a YA Paranormal novel now complete at 68,000 words.When Nora and her mom move from New York City to her grandmother’s house in the quaint village of Essex Hill, Massachusetts, Nora expects to find knick-knacks and dust bunnies. Instead, she discovers witchy psychic powers and two murderous 300 year old ghosts with relationship problems who won’t leave her alone.She hopes reuniting them in the afterlife will fix everything like some sort of magic duct tape, but it doesn’t look good. William was far from an ideal boyfriend — he killed Bridget for being a witch. He’s had eternity to mourn for her, but Nora doesn’t have that kind of time to unearth the dead bodies and buried secrets from the woods behind her house, accept her supernatural inheritance, and figure out her own socially awkward dating life.We believe Essex Hill will appeal to readers who love the regional gothic setting of Beautiful Creatures, the humor of balancing normal teenage humiliations with a newfound supernatural heritage, like in Hex Hall, and the dark legends of Colonial America First 250 words:Nora remembered the very last thing her father said to her before he died. The third to last thing was that he loved her. The second to last thing was that he wanted her to take care of her mom. The absolute last thing he said, on the floor in a bath of his own sweat, jogging shorts hiked up past his knobby runner’s knees, was to listen to her grandmother. “Her predictions are usually right,” he said, before his face turned the color of a radish and the air could no longer fight its way out of his lungs.She never told her mom what her dad said about her grandmother, not even after the funeral. Nana and her mom were like oil and water— if you mixed some lighter fluid in, too. Volatile would be a nice way of putting it.Honestly, she didn’t think much of her dad’s new faith in Nana’s amateur sooth saying. For years he teased her grandmother like the rest of the family. “You’d be better off buying fortune cookies in bulk,” he would chuckle.But one prediction that Nana said over and over again through the years was that Nora and her mom would someday come to live with her in their family’s rambling old house in Essex Hill, Massachusetts. “Soon it will be Nora’s time and you’ll both come to me,” Nana would say. Not likely Nora thought. Essex Hill was a small, weird town famous for absolutely nothing, other than a complete lack of public transportation and decent bagels.
NOQS Minion 4: PATIENT ZERO, Adult Speculative Suspense
Title: PATIENT ZEROGenre: Adult Speculative Suspense
Word Count: 75,000
My Main Character's Greatest Fear:
I have an irrational fear of guns. Not that guns can’t hurt you, but even the gun in Luke’s safe, official holster makes me squirm.
“What’s wrong?”
“The gun,” I say, between big, swooping breaths.
He pulls the gun out. The idiot.
“Please,” I beg. “Put it away.” I focus on the pink shades of the hospital room window. Anything but the gun.
“Okay.” He puts the gun back and pulls a pillow on his lap to cover it up. “Better?”
I nod.
He stares at me. He thinks I will tell him why I don’t like guns.
I won’t.
Query:
Wonderful Agent,
Even as a senior in college, Quinn is not so good at understanding the difference between bacteria and viruses or explaining to smitten men that she’d really just prefer a dash of random hookups.
Quinn is good at other things. Like drinking wine in the town’s Civil War graveyard and crafting plucky modern dance routines. But these skills aren’t exactly useful when she wakes up one morning with purple eyes.
They don’t hurt. In fact, the condition seems to spur speedy healing. After a religious group attacks her—the eyes are evil, obviously—her bloody coughs and broken arms become mere memories within hours. However, as more students’ eyes shift to purple, the violence increases. It becomes painfully clear that the healing disease can’t save you from a five-story fall. Or decapitation.
Thing is, the religious group isn't responsible for the rash of killings. A small town plus an unknown serial killer is bad, but it gets worse when a quarantine is added to the equation. Once there is no escape, Quinn realizes she can’t rely on “smarter people” to save her and her friends.
Fortunately, she has a theory. She just needs proof, which demands that she study scientific terminology and hone her deductive reasoning skills. And she will also have to try to work with the local cops. Even if the young lead detective just so happens to be one of those aforementioned smitten men.
PATIENT ZERO is a 75,000-word speculative suspense.
I earned a master’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University and my story “A New Life at 30” was shortlisted in the 2012 Writers & Artists Short Story Competition. My writing has appeared (or is forthcoming) in multiple publications including The Alarmist, The Binnacle, The Idiom, Jersey Devil Press, Northern Virginia Magazine, and On Tap.
Thanks for your time,
First 250 words:
Of course I’d be the one at a frat party talking to a gay guy about how I don’t want to discuss my abstract art with his Sunday school class. If I was normal, I’d be slipping around on the beer-soaked floor while unfamiliar guys tried to curve their fingers around my hips. That’s what Mandy is doing.
But no, I am explaining to Conrad why my latest art project, which hangs in the campus gallery, is not an homage to Christ. “It’s razors with red paint splattered across them. I know it looks like a circle and then a cross, but—”
“Yes,” Conrad says. “The circle of life. Rejuvenation. Redemption. Reincarnation. Christ and the blood he gave for us. It was very moving. Art with religious undertones is really meaningful.”
I am in no way shocked. Conrad disappointed his father when he came out. He disappointed his Baptist mother when he joined the Unitarian Universalist church. But he never disappoints God.
“Finding meaning in art is like finding meaning in life,” he continues. “It’s like finding God.”
"Yes, Conrad, I got it. You. God. Besties.
I sigh into my horrid Natty Light. “It’s O positive. They can give to all positive blood types, but can’t accept that blood in return. And they can’t help their only outside donor, O negative. The razors symbolize how people bleed to help others, even those who can’t help them.”
Conrad scratches his temple.
“Um, okay Quinn. Yeah. That’s a really neat idea too.”
Word Count: 75,000
My Main Character's Greatest Fear:
I have an irrational fear of guns. Not that guns can’t hurt you, but even the gun in Luke’s safe, official holster makes me squirm.
“What’s wrong?”
“The gun,” I say, between big, swooping breaths.
He pulls the gun out. The idiot.
“Please,” I beg. “Put it away.” I focus on the pink shades of the hospital room window. Anything but the gun.
“Okay.” He puts the gun back and pulls a pillow on his lap to cover it up. “Better?”
I nod.
He stares at me. He thinks I will tell him why I don’t like guns.
I won’t.
Query:
Wonderful Agent,
Even as a senior in college, Quinn is not so good at understanding the difference between bacteria and viruses or explaining to smitten men that she’d really just prefer a dash of random hookups.
Quinn is good at other things. Like drinking wine in the town’s Civil War graveyard and crafting plucky modern dance routines. But these skills aren’t exactly useful when she wakes up one morning with purple eyes.
They don’t hurt. In fact, the condition seems to spur speedy healing. After a religious group attacks her—the eyes are evil, obviously—her bloody coughs and broken arms become mere memories within hours. However, as more students’ eyes shift to purple, the violence increases. It becomes painfully clear that the healing disease can’t save you from a five-story fall. Or decapitation.
Thing is, the religious group isn't responsible for the rash of killings. A small town plus an unknown serial killer is bad, but it gets worse when a quarantine is added to the equation. Once there is no escape, Quinn realizes she can’t rely on “smarter people” to save her and her friends.
Fortunately, she has a theory. She just needs proof, which demands that she study scientific terminology and hone her deductive reasoning skills. And she will also have to try to work with the local cops. Even if the young lead detective just so happens to be one of those aforementioned smitten men.
PATIENT ZERO is a 75,000-word speculative suspense.
I earned a master’s degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University and my story “A New Life at 30” was shortlisted in the 2012 Writers & Artists Short Story Competition. My writing has appeared (or is forthcoming) in multiple publications including The Alarmist, The Binnacle, The Idiom, Jersey Devil Press, Northern Virginia Magazine, and On Tap.
Thanks for your time,
First 250 words:
Of course I’d be the one at a frat party talking to a gay guy about how I don’t want to discuss my abstract art with his Sunday school class. If I was normal, I’d be slipping around on the beer-soaked floor while unfamiliar guys tried to curve their fingers around my hips. That’s what Mandy is doing.
But no, I am explaining to Conrad why my latest art project, which hangs in the campus gallery, is not an homage to Christ. “It’s razors with red paint splattered across them. I know it looks like a circle and then a cross, but—”
“Yes,” Conrad says. “The circle of life. Rejuvenation. Redemption. Reincarnation. Christ and the blood he gave for us. It was very moving. Art with religious undertones is really meaningful.”
I am in no way shocked. Conrad disappointed his father when he came out. He disappointed his Baptist mother when he joined the Unitarian Universalist church. But he never disappoints God.
“Finding meaning in art is like finding meaning in life,” he continues. “It’s like finding God.”
"Yes, Conrad, I got it. You. God. Besties.
I sigh into my horrid Natty Light. “It’s O positive. They can give to all positive blood types, but can’t accept that blood in return. And they can’t help their only outside donor, O negative. The razors symbolize how people bleed to help others, even those who can’t help them.”
Conrad scratches his temple.
“Um, okay Quinn. Yeah. That’s a really neat idea too.”
NOQS Minion 3: FAIRY CAKES, MG Magical Realism
Title: FAIRY CAKES
Genre: MG Magical Realism
Word Count: 45,000
What is your main character most afraid of?
There are two main characters in FAIRY CAKES, twins Charlie and Bobbie Hart. They’re most afraid of being confused for one another or being mistaken for boys. Ew cooties. (Just kidding guys;)
Also pickle flavored cupcakes are the stuff of nightmares.
Query:
Dear Super-Sweet-and-hopefully-not-so-Scary-Agent,
I kindly submit, FAIRY CAKES, a 45,000-word MG magical realism with series potential and possible cupcake recipe accompanying each chapter.
When eleven-year-old twins Bobbie and Charlie’s parents announce they've bought Fairy Cakes, a cupcake bakery, the good news is the sisters get to taste test all the flavors. The bad news, they have to move to faraway Snuggler’s Harbor.
The rundown and stinky town is about as disappointing as a stale cupcake until they discover a rebel fairy trapped in a pickle jar hidden in a dusty corner of the basement. It turns out the mayor misused her fairy magic and put everyone in the town under a spell, hence the stench and the briny-brains of the people.
With a bit of help from Elvis the crooning cat, and a little hindrance from a pleated-skirt wearing set of pranksters, the girls get sticky as they seek out a sprinkle of Twinkle to lift the spell. But the rebel fairy’s magic isn’t enough unless she reunites with her family. As Charlie and Bobbie work together to bake their way out of this dilemma—with a cupcake filled entry into the Pickle Parade—they need a magical miracle to save the town and along the way they realize that being a twin is pretty sweet.
First 250 words:
Her stomach rumbling, eleven-year-old Bobbie crashed through the mudroom door, kicked off her sneakers, and tossed her backpack on the floor. Just a step behind her twin sister, Charlie entered the house, slipped off her ballet flats, and brought her lunch bag and homework into the kitchen looking for the note her mom left telling them when she’d be home.
Charlie and Bobbie squealed with surprised delight when they spotted a plate of perfectly frosted mini-cupcakes waiting for them in the center of the kitchen table. Bobbie broke into a run, elbowing Charlie to be the one to get there first.
Charlie savored a bite as Bobbie went in for seconds, but before she could snag another cupcake, their mom and dad, Anna and Jolly Hart, burst into the kitchen looking excited.
“We have big news,” Anna announced, her ponytail bobbing up and down.
“Maybe a bit more vanilla, just a smidge,” Jolly said.
“That doesn’t sound like big news,” Bobbie said eager for another cupcake.
“It actually does have to do with what we want to share with you,” Anna answered.
“What is it?” Bobbie asked licking some chocolate off her finger.
“We bought a bakery,” Anna declared, her voice squeaking. Jolly’s bearded grin reached up to his twinkling eyes.
“That’s cool,” Bobbie said as she thought of all the yummy treats she’d get to eat.
“There’s more,” Jolly said.
“It’s in Maine,” they said together. The old wooden clock on the kitchen wall counted ten seconds in the silence that followed.
Genre: MG Magical Realism
Word Count: 45,000
What is your main character most afraid of?
There are two main characters in FAIRY CAKES, twins Charlie and Bobbie Hart. They’re most afraid of being confused for one another or being mistaken for boys. Ew cooties. (Just kidding guys;)
Also pickle flavored cupcakes are the stuff of nightmares.
Query:
Dear Super-Sweet-and-hopefully-not-so-Scary-Agent,
I kindly submit, FAIRY CAKES, a 45,000-word MG magical realism with series potential and possible cupcake recipe accompanying each chapter.
When eleven-year-old twins Bobbie and Charlie’s parents announce they've bought Fairy Cakes, a cupcake bakery, the good news is the sisters get to taste test all the flavors. The bad news, they have to move to faraway Snuggler’s Harbor.
The rundown and stinky town is about as disappointing as a stale cupcake until they discover a rebel fairy trapped in a pickle jar hidden in a dusty corner of the basement. It turns out the mayor misused her fairy magic and put everyone in the town under a spell, hence the stench and the briny-brains of the people.
With a bit of help from Elvis the crooning cat, and a little hindrance from a pleated-skirt wearing set of pranksters, the girls get sticky as they seek out a sprinkle of Twinkle to lift the spell. But the rebel fairy’s magic isn’t enough unless she reunites with her family. As Charlie and Bobbie work together to bake their way out of this dilemma—with a cupcake filled entry into the Pickle Parade—they need a magical miracle to save the town and along the way they realize that being a twin is pretty sweet.
First 250 words:
Her stomach rumbling, eleven-year-old Bobbie crashed through the mudroom door, kicked off her sneakers, and tossed her backpack on the floor. Just a step behind her twin sister, Charlie entered the house, slipped off her ballet flats, and brought her lunch bag and homework into the kitchen looking for the note her mom left telling them when she’d be home.
Charlie and Bobbie squealed with surprised delight when they spotted a plate of perfectly frosted mini-cupcakes waiting for them in the center of the kitchen table. Bobbie broke into a run, elbowing Charlie to be the one to get there first.
Charlie savored a bite as Bobbie went in for seconds, but before she could snag another cupcake, their mom and dad, Anna and Jolly Hart, burst into the kitchen looking excited.
“We have big news,” Anna announced, her ponytail bobbing up and down.
“Maybe a bit more vanilla, just a smidge,” Jolly said.
“That doesn’t sound like big news,” Bobbie said eager for another cupcake.
“It actually does have to do with what we want to share with you,” Anna answered.
“What is it?” Bobbie asked licking some chocolate off her finger.
“We bought a bakery,” Anna declared, her voice squeaking. Jolly’s bearded grin reached up to his twinkling eyes.
“That’s cool,” Bobbie said as she thought of all the yummy treats she’d get to eat.
“There’s more,” Jolly said.
“It’s in Maine,” they said together. The old wooden clock on the kitchen wall counted ten seconds in the silence that followed.
NOQS Minion 2: I FOUND YOU, YA Contemporary Thriller
Title: I FOUND YOUGenre: YA Contemporary ThrillerWord Count: 57,000
My Main Characters Greatest Fear
If something is hanging over my feet, like the bed when I make it up, my toes scrunch. Why? Because I'm terrified of my feet being covered in dark, creepy places. It's true. Really.
Query
Dear Amazing Agent,
Nikki Evers assumed the crimes were random coincidences. Fires on campus. Convenient store robberies. Gang killings. Great stories for the school paper. But when her best friend Brycin disappears, presumed dead, and she gets a text that reads:
Nikki, I’m alive. Talk to Clay. He knows what’s going on. Please find me before its too late...
Nikki’s not sure what to do. Clay French is off limits. Not because he rides a motorcycle or has an amazing tattoo. His girlfriend is her best friend.
Nikki's been in love with him since the sixth grade when they played spin the bottle. His kiss stayed with her even now, but it was the words he whispered in her ear that still pulled on her heart.
Teaming up with Clay is the only way Nikki can find Brycin. When Nikki’s almost killed and Clay saves her life, she uncovers a dark secret that threatens to destroy everyone, including herself.
Her secret crush on Clay keeps her at a distance with him, but Nikki is about to discover he's searching for more than her missing best friend. He's after her heart, too. ***I am a stay at home, homeschooling mother with six children. I have been writing since I was sixteen and been involved in the publishing industry for the past five years.
I am a literary agent intern for Redacted at Redacted and also for Redacted of Redacted. I have worked as an editorial intern for an indie publisher and been an editor for children’s books published on the Android phone. I’ve recently been accepted as an intern for Adventures in Children’s Publishing.
First 250:The motorcycle caught my attention first, but it was the rider who totally captivated me. Mama always warned me to stay away from those tattoo smeared, wicked handsome, leather wearing bad boys, especially if they rode a motorcycle. But I wanted her to be wrong about Clay. If she ever met him, she’d change her mind.I hid behind a tree, but poked my head around the side for a better view. His voice floated over to me, smooth and sweet as milk chocolate and my pulse danced and fingers shook, but not because of the Harley.Another motorcycle slid into the parking lot and woke me from my daydream. I shouldn’t have spied on Clay for so long. I pulled my phone from my pocket. Thirty minutes late? Brycin would be furious I missed the whole assignment. She was going to kill me. I hurried down the deserted path toward our meeting place.Somewhere behind me, a twig snapped. I stopped and looked over my shoulder, but the path was empty.“Who’s there?” I asked. No answer. “Is someone there?” I yelled a little louder. Heavy, fast breathing answered me. “Are you hurt?” I turned around for a better view.A knife glinted from behind a row of bushes and dropped to the ground. Through the leaves, a shadow bent over and picked it up with a gloved hand. My chest tightened and every breath came faster. I took a couple of steps backward before I flipped around and took off in a full sprint.
My Main Characters Greatest Fear
If something is hanging over my feet, like the bed when I make it up, my toes scrunch. Why? Because I'm terrified of my feet being covered in dark, creepy places. It's true. Really.
Query
Dear Amazing Agent,
Nikki Evers assumed the crimes were random coincidences. Fires on campus. Convenient store robberies. Gang killings. Great stories for the school paper. But when her best friend Brycin disappears, presumed dead, and she gets a text that reads:
Nikki, I’m alive. Talk to Clay. He knows what’s going on. Please find me before its too late...
Nikki’s not sure what to do. Clay French is off limits. Not because he rides a motorcycle or has an amazing tattoo. His girlfriend is her best friend.
Nikki's been in love with him since the sixth grade when they played spin the bottle. His kiss stayed with her even now, but it was the words he whispered in her ear that still pulled on her heart.
Teaming up with Clay is the only way Nikki can find Brycin. When Nikki’s almost killed and Clay saves her life, she uncovers a dark secret that threatens to destroy everyone, including herself.
Her secret crush on Clay keeps her at a distance with him, but Nikki is about to discover he's searching for more than her missing best friend. He's after her heart, too. ***I am a stay at home, homeschooling mother with six children. I have been writing since I was sixteen and been involved in the publishing industry for the past five years.
I am a literary agent intern for Redacted at Redacted and also for Redacted of Redacted. I have worked as an editorial intern for an indie publisher and been an editor for children’s books published on the Android phone. I’ve recently been accepted as an intern for Adventures in Children’s Publishing.
First 250:The motorcycle caught my attention first, but it was the rider who totally captivated me. Mama always warned me to stay away from those tattoo smeared, wicked handsome, leather wearing bad boys, especially if they rode a motorcycle. But I wanted her to be wrong about Clay. If she ever met him, she’d change her mind.I hid behind a tree, but poked my head around the side for a better view. His voice floated over to me, smooth and sweet as milk chocolate and my pulse danced and fingers shook, but not because of the Harley.Another motorcycle slid into the parking lot and woke me from my daydream. I shouldn’t have spied on Clay for so long. I pulled my phone from my pocket. Thirty minutes late? Brycin would be furious I missed the whole assignment. She was going to kill me. I hurried down the deserted path toward our meeting place.Somewhere behind me, a twig snapped. I stopped and looked over my shoulder, but the path was empty.“Who’s there?” I asked. No answer. “Is someone there?” I yelled a little louder. Heavy, fast breathing answered me. “Are you hurt?” I turned around for a better view.A knife glinted from behind a row of bushes and dropped to the ground. Through the leaves, a shadow bent over and picked it up with a gloved hand. My chest tightened and every breath came faster. I took a couple of steps backward before I flipped around and took off in a full sprint.
NOQS Minion 1: TWICE BETRAYED, MG Historical Mystery
Title: TWICE BETRAYEDGenre: MG/ HISTORICAL MYSTERYWord Count: 62,300
My Main Character's Greatest Fear:
On that fateful night, I snuck Abby to the river under the guise of a fairy-tale and my heart shattered when she wasn’t in the makeshift castle at the docks. I couldn’t breath. I couldn’t think. And no matter where I searched, I couldn’t find her. Abby’s ribbon floating on the Delaware’s dark waters branded my brain with guilt and terror. Once I found her, I vowed never to let her out of my sight. But if the Philadelphia selectmen find me guilty of treason, my little sister will be lost to me forever—and I can’t let that happen.
Query:
Dear Agent:
I’ve entered the Nightmare on Query Street contest in the hopes that you will consider my MG Historical Mystery, Twice Betrayed, complete at 62,300 words. A twenty-four page bibliography is available for this manuscript, including verifications from the curator of The Betsy Ross museum in Philadelphia.
With the spark of independence crackling in Colonial Philadelphia, three girls dress as boys and head to the river to put a perilous plan into action, but only two return. When the third, a young milliner’s apprentice is found drowned, with gold coins sewn into her hems, coded spy letters on her person and a journal implicating another sewing apprentice, all eyes turn toward 13-year-old Perdy Rogers.
The constable builds a case of treason against the upholsterer’s apprentice with circumstantial evidence, but she cannot prove her innocence because her two friends—her alibis—are forbidden to speak to her and one of them has betrayed their friendship.
Charged with treason, Perdy must unravel the traitorous web woven around her that protects the real spy. With a grandmother so distraught she is helpless and her best friend called to testify against her, assistance comes from the most unlikely sources—her 4-year-old sister, a Scottish cabin boy she barely knows and a general destined to lead the new country.
Prominent historical figures, as well as a possible origin of the first American flag, are woven into Twice Betrayed. As a Master teacher, I believe this novel will find a place on the middle school’s social studies curriculum list as well as middle grade readers’ personal bookshelves.
A member of SCBWI and The Cliff House Writer’s Group, I’m a published children’s author. Rock Star Santa – Scholastic – 2008 (over 154,400 copies sold to date) Pugalicious Press- 2012 -YA Historical Romance Anthology, Timeless. And Ratgirl: Song of the Viper, a retelling of the Pied Piper was a 2013 Horn Book/Boston Globe nominee and is a 2014 International Reading Association nominee. I also have several other MG and YA novels completed and my current WIP is a YA thriller.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Warm regards,
First 250 words:
A shout rings out in the crowded street. “Help! My child! Help!
I glance up from my work, drop the ascot I’m hemming and rush out the shop door, the doorbells overhead tinkling wildly.
A toddler, dressed in a pale-colored coat and bonnet waddles across the slippery cobblestones. The pouring rain makes it difficult to see her and a wagon bears down on the spot where she stops.
Her mother, on the far side of Arch Street, desperately clutches a baby to her breast, screaming for someone to save her child from certain harm.
Heedless of the rain, I quickly judge the distance the wagon must cover and dash out to the child, swooping her up in my arms. As I twirl away, the wagon passes so close my skirt ruffles in its breeze.
The child wails, not from the danger she was in, but from suddenly finding herself in a stranger’s arms. I cradle her head against my shoulder and rock her like I used to do with Abby when she was upset.
Her mother darts through the traffic to reach her. “Thank you. Thank you,” she cries, her tears mixing with raindrops trickling down her cheeks. Her baby stares wide-eyed at her big sister, also crying in my arms. “She just let go of my hand,” sobs the mother, “and when I turned around she was lost in the crowd.”
Shielding my eyes from the rain with my hand, I gaze at the traffic, heavier than usual. “Where is everyone going?”
NIGHTMARE ON QUERY STREET KICKOFF!!
NIGHTMARE ON QUERY STREET HAS STARTED!!
Are you guys excited? BECAUSE WE ARE!!
Below this post, you'll find the ten Minions I picked for my team!
You can head over to see SC's and Mike's team as well (But don't worry, Minions will take no prisoners!). All in all, we have picked thirty submissions from our pile of one hundred to be on our teams!
Remember that selection was very subjective. Just because you might not be on the list, doesn't mean your story isn't exactly what an agent is looking for. So if you aren't here, don't quit querying.
BUT BEFORE WE GO BARGING IN, THERE ARE SOME GUIDELINES!
Commenting for the Entrants/Audience:
Sorry guys, but no commenting, cheerleading, etc. We hosts discussed this issue, and we agreed that it'd lead to too much unfairness and unconscious biases. Only agents will be able to comment.
BUT
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE
CHEER OVER ON TWITTER! We're going to be under the hashtag #NightmareQuery and we will be having FUN. So vent, be nervous, cheer each other on, and hold hands over Twitter. One of the best parts of contests is seeing how the writer's community gathers and supports each other.
I'll be looking for all my Minions there. Don't disappoint me.
Commenting for the Agents:
Agents will have fun ways to request in the contest.
You can SCREAM for a full request.
You can SHRIEK for a 50 page request.
You can SHIVER for a 10 page request.
And agents can make as many requests as they want! So go wild! We have some awesome talent for you to peruse.
GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!! Hope you all get a ton of frighteningly amazing requests!
And remember: Minions Rule!
October 23, 2013
Last Day to Enter My Giveaway
Giveaway is over! Thanks to everyone who entered!
Princess Kindar of Anost dreams of playing the hero and succeeding to her mother’s throne. But dreams are for fools. Reality involves two healthy sisters and a wasting disease of suffocating cough that’s killing her by inches. When her elder sister is murdered, the blame falls on Kindar, putting her head on the chopping block.
No one who survives eighteen years of choke lung lacks determination. A novice wizard, Maladonis Bin, approaches with a vision—a cure in a barren land of volcanic fumes. As choices go, a charming bootlicker that trips over his own feet isn’t the best option, but beggars can’t be choosers. Kindar escapes with Mal and several longtime attendants only to have her eyes opened that her country faces dark times.
Her mother’s decision to close the prosperous mines spurs poverty and joblessness, inciting rebellion and opening Anost to foreign invasion. As Mal urges her toward a cure that will prove his visions, suddenly, an ally turns traitor, delivering Kindar to a rebel army, who have their own plans for a sickly princess.
With the killer poised to strike again, the rebels bearing down, and the country falling apart, she must weigh her personal hunt for a cure against saving her people.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Princess Kindar of Anost dreams of playing the hero and succeeding to her mother’s throne. But dreams are for fools. Reality involves two healthy sisters and a wasting disease of suffocating cough that’s killing her by inches. When her elder sister is murdered, the blame falls on Kindar, putting her head on the chopping block.
No one who survives eighteen years of choke lung lacks determination. A novice wizard, Maladonis Bin, approaches with a vision—a cure in a barren land of volcanic fumes. As choices go, a charming bootlicker that trips over his own feet isn’t the best option, but beggars can’t be choosers. Kindar escapes with Mal and several longtime attendants only to have her eyes opened that her country faces dark times.
Her mother’s decision to close the prosperous mines spurs poverty and joblessness, inciting rebellion and opening Anost to foreign invasion. As Mal urges her toward a cure that will prove his visions, suddenly, an ally turns traitor, delivering Kindar to a rebel army, who have their own plans for a sickly princess.
With the killer poised to strike again, the rebels bearing down, and the country falling apart, she must weigh her personal hunt for a cure against saving her people.
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
