Michelle Hauck's Blog, page 3
November 26, 2018
Fall Fiction Fest Agent Round 2018
WELCOME to the first Fall Fiction Fest agent round! It's the first time for Amy, Marty and I to square off and have a friendly competition! Many success stories have come out of our other contests over the years and we all look forward to even more of them!
So while I'm pulling for the Saucy Cranberries, every request is to be celebrated. There are 12 Saucy Cranberries for the agents to read, but they can also make requests for Team Sunshine over at Amy Trueblood's blog and Team Merry over at Marty Mayberry's blog!
As the agents move through the entries, please remember that contests are subjective. Our agents have a definitive idea of what they would like for their list. If they do not request, it DOES NOT mean the entry was not worthy. No matter what happens, you’ve got to keep querying and NEVER GIVE UP! Before the Cranberries squeeze the competition, here are some guidelines to remember: There is no commenting in this round except for agents. Sorry, but no cheerleading as this may lead to an unconscious bias.
We are happy to see and retweet your thoughts and cheers over on Twitter under the #fallfest tag! That’s the place to hang out and have fun! I hope to see my Saucy Cranberries present in all their tangy glory! I'll try to shout out when new requests arrive. Agents will consider entries at all the blogs regardless of team and they might respond with a fall themed request. Amy, Marty and I are hoping the agents go crazy with the requests! There is amazing talent on all the teams! Good luck to all!
Saucy Cranberries 12: JO RIVETTI AND THE MISSING MATH TEACHER, MG STEM Mystery
Title: JO RIVETTI AND THE MISSING MATH TEACHERGenre: MG STEM Mystery Word Count: 49,000
How Did You Fall for Writing: I started writing to help cope with my anxiety in the evenings, and I fell in love. Now i want to write all the books!
Query:
Thank you for taking the time to review my Fall Fest submission. Fans of the Devlin Quick Series by Linda Fairstein and The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency by Jordan Stratford will enjoy this story and potential series.
Twelve-year-old Jo Rivetti knows three things for sure: geniuses still have to go to school, math rules, and trouble is practically a swear word (she avoids both at all costs). So when Jo overhears her favorite teacher/fellow math savant being threatened, she dutifully avoids any conflict and assumes Ms. Blooms can handle the situation on her own.
But then Ms. Blooms suddenly goes missing, and the police refuse to investigate. In a late night recon mission with her brother, Justin, and BFF, Ronnie, Jo finds a mysterious math website connected to a hidden treasure, along with death threat ultimatums— definitive evidence Ms. Blooms is in trouble. Unfortunately, the police not only dismiss Jo’s discovery, but are way more concerned about three kids trespassing after curfew. Typical.
Now, Jo, Justin, and Ronnie are in trouble with the parental units while Ms. Blooms’s life is at stake. The only way to save her is to solve the clues and find the treasure before the bad guys do, all while grounded and without internet access. Luckily, Jo has never met a puzzle she couldn’t solve. And honestly, she does have a reputation to maintain (she is a genius after all). But as the clues unravel, Jo finds the kidnappers will stop at nothing to get that treasure, even if it means Jo, her friends and family, and Ms. Blooms might all sum to zero.
I have a bachelor’s of science in mathematics and am a member (assoc) of the International Thriller Writers as well as the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. I live in Denver, Colorado with my daughters and husband. Thank you so much for your time.
First 250 words:
Holy. Einstein.
Jo Rivetti stared in stunned silence at the math test she'd been handed back. Ms. Blooms had to have made a mistake. A giant red B+ bled from the corner of her test. Jo didn't get B+'s, or for that matter, B's. She was a straight A student. Everyone knew that.
A's were kind of her legacy. Even at the ripe age of twelve, Jo’d already planned to write her college entrance essay about her devotion and execution of perfect exam scores.
B's were simply unacceptable. Other people got B’s. Like Jo's sister, Jessica. But Jessica was the athletic Rivetti triplet so her priorities were on the field or track or whatever. And Jo’s brother Justin got B’s sometimes, though C’s and D's were more typical. Everyone called him the trouble triplet. Jo just thought he was lazy.
But Jo? She was the smart one. The prodigy. She did not get B's. Especially in math. This test clearly had to be a mistake.
Jo set her lips in a firm line and told herself she would speak to her teacher after class. Ms. Blooms would correct this obvious error. After all, she was the nicest teacher on the planet, and practically a second mom to Jo. A math mom more or less, since Ms. Blooms definitely understood Jo’s cognitive function better than Jo’s real mom.
She knew how the letters and numbers danced into patterns inside Jo's head, and how the hardest mathematical proofs and concepts all appeared in her brain as beautiful dances.
How Did You Fall for Writing: I started writing to help cope with my anxiety in the evenings, and I fell in love. Now i want to write all the books!
Query:
Thank you for taking the time to review my Fall Fest submission. Fans of the Devlin Quick Series by Linda Fairstein and The Wollstonecraft Detective Agency by Jordan Stratford will enjoy this story and potential series.
Twelve-year-old Jo Rivetti knows three things for sure: geniuses still have to go to school, math rules, and trouble is practically a swear word (she avoids both at all costs). So when Jo overhears her favorite teacher/fellow math savant being threatened, she dutifully avoids any conflict and assumes Ms. Blooms can handle the situation on her own.
But then Ms. Blooms suddenly goes missing, and the police refuse to investigate. In a late night recon mission with her brother, Justin, and BFF, Ronnie, Jo finds a mysterious math website connected to a hidden treasure, along with death threat ultimatums— definitive evidence Ms. Blooms is in trouble. Unfortunately, the police not only dismiss Jo’s discovery, but are way more concerned about three kids trespassing after curfew. Typical.
Now, Jo, Justin, and Ronnie are in trouble with the parental units while Ms. Blooms’s life is at stake. The only way to save her is to solve the clues and find the treasure before the bad guys do, all while grounded and without internet access. Luckily, Jo has never met a puzzle she couldn’t solve. And honestly, she does have a reputation to maintain (she is a genius after all). But as the clues unravel, Jo finds the kidnappers will stop at nothing to get that treasure, even if it means Jo, her friends and family, and Ms. Blooms might all sum to zero.
I have a bachelor’s of science in mathematics and am a member (assoc) of the International Thriller Writers as well as the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. I live in Denver, Colorado with my daughters and husband. Thank you so much for your time.
First 250 words:
Holy. Einstein.
Jo Rivetti stared in stunned silence at the math test she'd been handed back. Ms. Blooms had to have made a mistake. A giant red B+ bled from the corner of her test. Jo didn't get B+'s, or for that matter, B's. She was a straight A student. Everyone knew that.
A's were kind of her legacy. Even at the ripe age of twelve, Jo’d already planned to write her college entrance essay about her devotion and execution of perfect exam scores.
B's were simply unacceptable. Other people got B’s. Like Jo's sister, Jessica. But Jessica was the athletic Rivetti triplet so her priorities were on the field or track or whatever. And Jo’s brother Justin got B’s sometimes, though C’s and D's were more typical. Everyone called him the trouble triplet. Jo just thought he was lazy.
But Jo? She was the smart one. The prodigy. She did not get B's. Especially in math. This test clearly had to be a mistake.
Jo set her lips in a firm line and told herself she would speak to her teacher after class. Ms. Blooms would correct this obvious error. After all, she was the nicest teacher on the planet, and practically a second mom to Jo. A math mom more or less, since Ms. Blooms definitely understood Jo’s cognitive function better than Jo’s real mom.
She knew how the letters and numbers danced into patterns inside Jo's head, and how the hardest mathematical proofs and concepts all appeared in her brain as beautiful dances.
Saucy Cranberries 11: UNDERCURRENTS, MG Speculative Fiction
Title: UNDERCURRENTSGenre: MG Speculative FictionWord Count: 46,000
How Did You Fall for Writing:
I’ve always been a writer, starting with my first story, Paddington in the Strawberry Patch, when I was 7 or 8. Then as a teacher I rediscovered my love of writing when I modeled the writing process with my students. At first I just wrote in the classroom, but then I started writing with a friend once a week. That was about 15 years ago, and we still meet regularly (and I can’t stop writing!).
Query:
Dear Agent,
Undercurrents is set in a future when water is more precious than oil. Comparable titles include Not a Drop to Drink (Mindy McGinnis, 2014) and The Water Wars (Cameron Stracher, 2011).
In this desperate time of drought and wildfires, 13-year-old Marin Holbert takes a summer job at her town’s water treatment plant in order to earn more water rations for her family. Marin is initially grateful to be part of the well-loved, local company, Hydrops, but she grows suspicious the company is not as reputable as it appears to be.
Marin soon discovers that Hydrops is plotting to take over water supplies across the country and has already diverted water to a lush, elite community. Even worse, she suspects that the growing number of wildfires around town are also part of their scheme. Unsure who to trust, Marin and her lifelong friend, Jax, race to expose the truth before Hydrops controls the water and everything around her burns away.
My credentials include over 20 publications for the education market and many years teaching middle school language arts.
The first 250 words of Undercurrents are pasted below. Thank you for your time and consideration.
First 250 words:
My nexus pinged with a memo from Dad: Grab your boots and gear, Marin. Meet crews in the 33rd sector.
I looked southeast. Smoke.
Then town warning sirens sounded. The nexus pinged again with the official emergency alert: Growing grass fire – 33rd sector. Homes and businesses threatened. Volunteers meet at the incident command center.
I rushed upstairs to the room I shared with my grandmother.
At the start of the summer I’d been excited that I was finally 13 and old enough to help on the fire lines. Dad had even scored second-hand equipment for me. That first fire was thrilling. Then I battled my second. And third. After number ten I just wanted to go back to school.
When I pulled on my sooty canvas pants and heavy boots, the lingering smell of past fires filled the air. I grabbed my bulging backpack. Ninety seconds after I’d gotten Dad’s memo, I was on my bike, sweating rivers in my thick gear. As I pedaled toward the smoke, more and more people on bikes flooded the car-less, potholed streets. We were a parade of volunteers weaving through town. It happened every time an emergency alert went out. We didn’t have much water to fight fires with.
But we had people.
On the bridge, I glanced down at Alton Creek. It should’ve been renamed Alton Trickle – that’s how little water there was. But even though there wasn’t much water to watch over, the Colorado Guard still patrolled the rocky banks, reminding everyone to stay away.
How Did You Fall for Writing:
I’ve always been a writer, starting with my first story, Paddington in the Strawberry Patch, when I was 7 or 8. Then as a teacher I rediscovered my love of writing when I modeled the writing process with my students. At first I just wrote in the classroom, but then I started writing with a friend once a week. That was about 15 years ago, and we still meet regularly (and I can’t stop writing!).
Query:
Dear Agent,
Undercurrents is set in a future when water is more precious than oil. Comparable titles include Not a Drop to Drink (Mindy McGinnis, 2014) and The Water Wars (Cameron Stracher, 2011).
In this desperate time of drought and wildfires, 13-year-old Marin Holbert takes a summer job at her town’s water treatment plant in order to earn more water rations for her family. Marin is initially grateful to be part of the well-loved, local company, Hydrops, but she grows suspicious the company is not as reputable as it appears to be.
Marin soon discovers that Hydrops is plotting to take over water supplies across the country and has already diverted water to a lush, elite community. Even worse, she suspects that the growing number of wildfires around town are also part of their scheme. Unsure who to trust, Marin and her lifelong friend, Jax, race to expose the truth before Hydrops controls the water and everything around her burns away.
My credentials include over 20 publications for the education market and many years teaching middle school language arts.
The first 250 words of Undercurrents are pasted below. Thank you for your time and consideration.
First 250 words:
My nexus pinged with a memo from Dad: Grab your boots and gear, Marin. Meet crews in the 33rd sector.
I looked southeast. Smoke.
Then town warning sirens sounded. The nexus pinged again with the official emergency alert: Growing grass fire – 33rd sector. Homes and businesses threatened. Volunteers meet at the incident command center.
I rushed upstairs to the room I shared with my grandmother.
At the start of the summer I’d been excited that I was finally 13 and old enough to help on the fire lines. Dad had even scored second-hand equipment for me. That first fire was thrilling. Then I battled my second. And third. After number ten I just wanted to go back to school.
When I pulled on my sooty canvas pants and heavy boots, the lingering smell of past fires filled the air. I grabbed my bulging backpack. Ninety seconds after I’d gotten Dad’s memo, I was on my bike, sweating rivers in my thick gear. As I pedaled toward the smoke, more and more people on bikes flooded the car-less, potholed streets. We were a parade of volunteers weaving through town. It happened every time an emergency alert went out. We didn’t have much water to fight fires with.
But we had people.
On the bridge, I glanced down at Alton Creek. It should’ve been renamed Alton Trickle – that’s how little water there was. But even though there wasn’t much water to watch over, the Colorado Guard still patrolled the rocky banks, reminding everyone to stay away.
Saucy Cranberries 10: FAKING IT: A RECIPE FOR DISASTER, MG Contemporary OV
Title: FAKING IT: A RECIPE FOR DISASTER
Genre: MG Contemporary Ownvoices
Word Count: 42,000
How did you fall for writing: As a teacher and reviewer, I’ve read thousands of YA and MG titles, and I realized I have my own stories to tell. I stewed over it, talked about it and convinced my best friend, an avid reader, that we both could write our own novels. We drafted and edited with help from each other on every chapter. I can’t imagine writing a novel without our hours long text conversations. There is nothing better than a CP who understands your story. RECIPE FOR DISASTER is based on my own cooking adventures and entering recipe contests with recipes I dream up. In fact, Kyle’s winning recipe is my recipe, and like him, I never prepared it!
Query:When plus-size eleven-year old Kyle enters a recipe in an online contest, he wins a coveted spot on a wildly successful junior chef reality TV competition, Kids in the Kitchen. The winning junior chef will take home the $100,000 prize and a summer internship with a celebrity chef. Kyle knows exactly which chef he’ll choose: his very own father. His father may be a top celebrity chef, but he’s not a top father. He leaves Tampa Bay abandoning Kyle with nothing but a battered notebook of handwritten recipes and a love of cooking shows. Kyle mourns the loss of his father, turns to food to fill the void and dreams of a world where he’ll be judged by his body of work and not his body. Winning the cooking competition would show his father and the world that he can be good at something. There’s only one problem: Kyle can’t cook!
Kyle turns to his father’s notebook, finds an old recipe and tweaks it. His father’s recipe wins him a spot on the show...now all he has to do is learn to cook. Best friend Addie has the perfect solution: learn from YouTube. With her help, he pours his energy into learning the basics and feels he is ready. On the eve before the cooking show, Kyle shows how unprepared he really is. He sets a pan on fire at his hotel causing the hotel to evacuate all guests. As if this wasn’t embarrassing enough, the other junior chefs are staying in his hotel, and now everyone knows he’s the kid “who set the hotel on fire.” When the news cameras show up, Kyle hides.
Kyle must win “Kids in the Kitchen” to silence his bullies at home and to show his chef father that he is worthy of his attention. If he doesn’t win, the bullies will have the last laugh and he may never have another chance at a relationship with his father.
Complete at 42,000 words FAKING IT is a middle grade contemporary novel. It will appeal to fans of “MasterChef Junior,” THE NEXT BEST JUNIOR CHEF, and BETTER NATE THAN EVER. It is own voices for weight and body image.
First 250:No one ever said butchery was easy. I slide the steel blade down the delicate white backbone careful not to pierce the meat on either side. I want to get two clean, unbroken cuts. They make it look easy in videos.Lesson #1: Don’t trust videos. You see the edited, cleaned-up version. You don’t see the hundred early attempts and apocalyptic fails.“Do you need to watch it again?” Addie asks with her face scrunched up. She has that You’re- not-doing-it- right!-expression she gets when my performance isn’t up to her caliber of excellence. The knife shakes in my hand. I rein it in trying not to get frazzled by her scowl. She’s only five feet tall. I tower over her, but it’s smart not to mess with Addie, trust me. She’s my best friend, but she’s also a master perfectionist. Chef Graysen Randell says, “A top competitor must keep his cool at all times.” He’s my favorite chef, and I channel him when I cook. Well, him and my dad. My dad’s almost as famous a chef as Graysen Randell, but he’s not much of a father. The doorbell rings and I jump, dropping the knife on the counter. As it clatters to a stop, I glance over at Addie who’s staring at me. “Nervous, much?” The smirk on her face makes me smile back at her.
My mom runs down the hall, and the door creaks open. Good. She answered the door, so I can continue my artistry. I reach for my knife.
Genre: MG Contemporary Ownvoices
Word Count: 42,000
How did you fall for writing: As a teacher and reviewer, I’ve read thousands of YA and MG titles, and I realized I have my own stories to tell. I stewed over it, talked about it and convinced my best friend, an avid reader, that we both could write our own novels. We drafted and edited with help from each other on every chapter. I can’t imagine writing a novel without our hours long text conversations. There is nothing better than a CP who understands your story. RECIPE FOR DISASTER is based on my own cooking adventures and entering recipe contests with recipes I dream up. In fact, Kyle’s winning recipe is my recipe, and like him, I never prepared it!
Query:When plus-size eleven-year old Kyle enters a recipe in an online contest, he wins a coveted spot on a wildly successful junior chef reality TV competition, Kids in the Kitchen. The winning junior chef will take home the $100,000 prize and a summer internship with a celebrity chef. Kyle knows exactly which chef he’ll choose: his very own father. His father may be a top celebrity chef, but he’s not a top father. He leaves Tampa Bay abandoning Kyle with nothing but a battered notebook of handwritten recipes and a love of cooking shows. Kyle mourns the loss of his father, turns to food to fill the void and dreams of a world where he’ll be judged by his body of work and not his body. Winning the cooking competition would show his father and the world that he can be good at something. There’s only one problem: Kyle can’t cook!
Kyle turns to his father’s notebook, finds an old recipe and tweaks it. His father’s recipe wins him a spot on the show...now all he has to do is learn to cook. Best friend Addie has the perfect solution: learn from YouTube. With her help, he pours his energy into learning the basics and feels he is ready. On the eve before the cooking show, Kyle shows how unprepared he really is. He sets a pan on fire at his hotel causing the hotel to evacuate all guests. As if this wasn’t embarrassing enough, the other junior chefs are staying in his hotel, and now everyone knows he’s the kid “who set the hotel on fire.” When the news cameras show up, Kyle hides.
Kyle must win “Kids in the Kitchen” to silence his bullies at home and to show his chef father that he is worthy of his attention. If he doesn’t win, the bullies will have the last laugh and he may never have another chance at a relationship with his father.
Complete at 42,000 words FAKING IT is a middle grade contemporary novel. It will appeal to fans of “MasterChef Junior,” THE NEXT BEST JUNIOR CHEF, and BETTER NATE THAN EVER. It is own voices for weight and body image.
First 250:No one ever said butchery was easy. I slide the steel blade down the delicate white backbone careful not to pierce the meat on either side. I want to get two clean, unbroken cuts. They make it look easy in videos.Lesson #1: Don’t trust videos. You see the edited, cleaned-up version. You don’t see the hundred early attempts and apocalyptic fails.“Do you need to watch it again?” Addie asks with her face scrunched up. She has that You’re- not-doing-it- right!-expression she gets when my performance isn’t up to her caliber of excellence. The knife shakes in my hand. I rein it in trying not to get frazzled by her scowl. She’s only five feet tall. I tower over her, but it’s smart not to mess with Addie, trust me. She’s my best friend, but she’s also a master perfectionist. Chef Graysen Randell says, “A top competitor must keep his cool at all times.” He’s my favorite chef, and I channel him when I cook. Well, him and my dad. My dad’s almost as famous a chef as Graysen Randell, but he’s not much of a father. The doorbell rings and I jump, dropping the knife on the counter. As it clatters to a stop, I glance over at Addie who’s staring at me. “Nervous, much?” The smirk on her face makes me smile back at her.
My mom runs down the hall, and the door creaks open. Good. She answered the door, so I can continue my artistry. I reach for my knife.
Saucy Cranberries 9: WRITTEN IN THE STARS, YA Space Opera OV
Title: WRITTEN IN THE STARSGenre: YA Sci-Fi/Space Opera OwnvoicesWord Count: 89,000
How Did You Fall for Writing: I was *that kid* in elementary school, who read books beneath my desk instead of paying attention to the teacher. I devoured so many books that they kind of had to get out somehow, and so I wrote my first book, a picture book in glittery gel pen called “Alegna and the Secret World of Unicorns” (Alegna because it’s my name backwards…I was eight, okay?). And I’ve never looked back.
Query:
Seventeen-year-old Kalizah Xin will bring on the collapse of human civilization.
At least that's what Minerva—the Interplanetary Union’s largest and most accurate quantum computer—predicts. And Minerva has never been wrong.
To survive the hefty bounty on her head, Kalizah hides her identity, using her drones and hacking abilities to rise to the top of the pirating world and become the ruthless and calculating captain of the starship, Starchaser. Kept alive by a mechanical heart, there’s no depths Kalizah won’t sink to to steal her next batch of the rare element starcore, the only thing that can power it.
When the system's largest starcore mine is destroyed in a terrorist attack, powering her heart suddenly becomes a whole lot harder. Kalizah and her crew join the terrorists to sabotage their plans to destroy starcore—only to grow closer to them and understand their goals. Starcore is how the Interplanetary Union keeps its iron grip on power, punishing dissenters and keeping rebellion in line.
As Kalizah sabotages her new allies to power her heart, their hopes of a reformed solar system grow further and further away. She's always written off Minerva's predictions as the ramblings of a machine in error, but in the end, she must decide if she'll betray humanity—and the people she has grown to care about—to save the life she's fought so hard to cling to.
WRITTEN IN THE STARS is a YA science fiction complete at 89,000 words. It is #ownvoices, featuring a protagonist that shares my Chinese heritage, and a diverse cast of POC characters and a budding f/f romance. It is in the vein of the action-packed space adventures of FIREFLY and the high-stakes heists and gray morality of SIX OF CROWS. I’m an electrical engineering student using my knowledge to write (mostly) plausible science in my science fiction.
First 250 words:
The familiar whir of my heart hums through my chest, an ever-slowing rumble deep in my bones.
A few hours left.
I lean back in the Starchaser's co-pilot's seat with a sigh. There's enough of my starcore stash left that it's not a big deal, but it would still be nice if this job worked out.
Above me, the vast darkness of space presses on the cockpit windows like a great maw, a reminder this darkness has been here long before I first opened my eyes and will be here long after the last time I close them.
That’s a scary thought to some, that eternity can take so little notice of them. But I’ve always found it comforting. Because no matter what I do, on the scale of billions of years, I’m not even a blip.
So why not take all I can and run with it?
“Captain?” Tink glances over from the pilot’s seat. “You snoozin’ over there?”
“What do you think?"
“Yeah, yeah. Our great and almighty leader never sleeps. May the system tremble before your creepy hyper-vigilance.”
“Did you need something, Tink, or do you just want to annoy me?”
“Just a reminder to be ready. Five minutes until contact with the target.”
“I know."
A huff. “Of course you do.”
Tink goes silent, and I return my attention to the darkness. Tink’s scanner is keeping an eye on the ship carrying Evander Sugiyama—our soon-to-be hostage that we’ll ransom for starcore—but that doesn’t mean I’m not watching too.
How Did You Fall for Writing: I was *that kid* in elementary school, who read books beneath my desk instead of paying attention to the teacher. I devoured so many books that they kind of had to get out somehow, and so I wrote my first book, a picture book in glittery gel pen called “Alegna and the Secret World of Unicorns” (Alegna because it’s my name backwards…I was eight, okay?). And I’ve never looked back.
Query:
Seventeen-year-old Kalizah Xin will bring on the collapse of human civilization.
At least that's what Minerva—the Interplanetary Union’s largest and most accurate quantum computer—predicts. And Minerva has never been wrong.
To survive the hefty bounty on her head, Kalizah hides her identity, using her drones and hacking abilities to rise to the top of the pirating world and become the ruthless and calculating captain of the starship, Starchaser. Kept alive by a mechanical heart, there’s no depths Kalizah won’t sink to to steal her next batch of the rare element starcore, the only thing that can power it.
When the system's largest starcore mine is destroyed in a terrorist attack, powering her heart suddenly becomes a whole lot harder. Kalizah and her crew join the terrorists to sabotage their plans to destroy starcore—only to grow closer to them and understand their goals. Starcore is how the Interplanetary Union keeps its iron grip on power, punishing dissenters and keeping rebellion in line.
As Kalizah sabotages her new allies to power her heart, their hopes of a reformed solar system grow further and further away. She's always written off Minerva's predictions as the ramblings of a machine in error, but in the end, she must decide if she'll betray humanity—and the people she has grown to care about—to save the life she's fought so hard to cling to.
WRITTEN IN THE STARS is a YA science fiction complete at 89,000 words. It is #ownvoices, featuring a protagonist that shares my Chinese heritage, and a diverse cast of POC characters and a budding f/f romance. It is in the vein of the action-packed space adventures of FIREFLY and the high-stakes heists and gray morality of SIX OF CROWS. I’m an electrical engineering student using my knowledge to write (mostly) plausible science in my science fiction.
First 250 words:
The familiar whir of my heart hums through my chest, an ever-slowing rumble deep in my bones.
A few hours left.
I lean back in the Starchaser's co-pilot's seat with a sigh. There's enough of my starcore stash left that it's not a big deal, but it would still be nice if this job worked out.
Above me, the vast darkness of space presses on the cockpit windows like a great maw, a reminder this darkness has been here long before I first opened my eyes and will be here long after the last time I close them.
That’s a scary thought to some, that eternity can take so little notice of them. But I’ve always found it comforting. Because no matter what I do, on the scale of billions of years, I’m not even a blip.
So why not take all I can and run with it?
“Captain?” Tink glances over from the pilot’s seat. “You snoozin’ over there?”
“What do you think?"
“Yeah, yeah. Our great and almighty leader never sleeps. May the system tremble before your creepy hyper-vigilance.”
“Did you need something, Tink, or do you just want to annoy me?”
“Just a reminder to be ready. Five minutes until contact with the target.”
“I know."
A huff. “Of course you do.”
Tink goes silent, and I return my attention to the darkness. Tink’s scanner is keeping an eye on the ship carrying Evander Sugiyama—our soon-to-be hostage that we’ll ransom for starcore—but that doesn’t mean I’m not watching too.
Saucy Cranberries 8: THE SECRETS THAT DIVIDE US, YA Mystery
Title: THE SECRETS THAT DIVIDE US
Genre: YA Mystery
Word Count: 65,000
How Did You Fall for Writing:
I’ve always loved language. In college I took a career survey filled with questions like “Would you rather fix a car or write a novel?” Of course I chose “Write a novel” every time—it was my top pick. But because publishing a novel seemed unattainable, I studied journalism as a practical way to use my skills. After years working for newspapers and websites, I’ve asked myself, “Why not me? Why couldn’t I become one of the creators I’ve always admired?” So now I’m chasing my long-dormant passion for fiction writing.
Query:
Dear Agents,
Being swept away to a wealthy grandparent’s mansion in the English countryside could be the adventure of a lifetime—or a fatal run-in with ghastly family secrets.
Sixteen-year-old Lizzie Lowe is a spirited girl from the wrong side of Santa Monica Boulevard. Her life is upended when a millionaire grandfather she's never met shows up. What’s more, he wants Lizzie's bone marrow for her secret twin sister, Annie. Her dad loathes the grim old man for stealing away one of his daughters in the wake of their mom’s death, but Lizzie jumps at the chance to help the sibling she’s always wanted.
The sisters’ reunion is heartfelt, but Grandfather's Gothic mansion is far from welcoming. Everything about Blackweald Hall—from the gun room packed with animal-head trophies to the polite-yet-sinister housekeeper—gives Lizzie the creeps. When Lizzie unearths a letter that implicates multiple suspects in her mother’s murder, and then discovers that her grandfather axed the police investigation, she has no idea whom to trust.
When Annie is hospitalized, Lizzie must turn to Teddy, her sister’s cocky prep-school friend. Goaded by Teddy’s aloofness, Lizzie lashes out and reveals her suspicions about the murder. Teddy—who confesses he’s been grieving his own family’s fracture—vows to help Lizzie, and together they race to unravel the mystery. But everyone at Blackweald Hall is hiding something, and digging up the past may provoke a desperate murderer to kill again.
THE SECRETS THAT DIVIDE US is a modern reimagining of Gothic classics like JANE EYRE. It will also appeal to fans of April Henry's THE GIRL I USED TO BE and Maureen Johnson's TRULY DEVIOUS.
First 250 words:
I didn’t have a clue, as I pedaled my battered Schwinn home from the library during a blistering West L.A. heat wave, that soon I’d be drenched in rain and blood, shivering with fear and cold outside the mansion where my mother was murdered.
On the August afternoon when everything began, not a breath of wind stirred the towering palms on Santa Monica Boulevard. Pushing hard, I zipped past six lanes of crawling traffic as sweat plastered my shirt to my chest and soaked my bra. I raced across the boulevard just before the light changed.
“Get out of the way, kid!” yelled a guy in a beat-up El Camino.
“Sure thing!” I called back with mock cheerfulness, resisting the urge to flip him the bird. “But I’m not a kid—I’m sixteen.” I flashed him a grin, but he scowled, gunned his engine, and drove away in a cloud of black smoke.
It was a far cry from the cool refuge of the library, which had become my favorite haunt over the summer for a million reasons. First, unlike my dad’s tiny apartment, the library boasted air conditioning. Second, I was almost guaranteed not to run into anyone from Santa Monica High. Third, I wanted to avoid the awkward situation at home with my dad and his new and very pregnant wife, Sonia.
Okay, that was only three reasons, but no matter how much I wanted to stay at the library, my dad insisted I come home for “family dinner” every night.
Genre: YA Mystery
Word Count: 65,000
How Did You Fall for Writing:
I’ve always loved language. In college I took a career survey filled with questions like “Would you rather fix a car or write a novel?” Of course I chose “Write a novel” every time—it was my top pick. But because publishing a novel seemed unattainable, I studied journalism as a practical way to use my skills. After years working for newspapers and websites, I’ve asked myself, “Why not me? Why couldn’t I become one of the creators I’ve always admired?” So now I’m chasing my long-dormant passion for fiction writing.
Query:
Dear Agents,
Being swept away to a wealthy grandparent’s mansion in the English countryside could be the adventure of a lifetime—or a fatal run-in with ghastly family secrets.
Sixteen-year-old Lizzie Lowe is a spirited girl from the wrong side of Santa Monica Boulevard. Her life is upended when a millionaire grandfather she's never met shows up. What’s more, he wants Lizzie's bone marrow for her secret twin sister, Annie. Her dad loathes the grim old man for stealing away one of his daughters in the wake of their mom’s death, but Lizzie jumps at the chance to help the sibling she’s always wanted.
The sisters’ reunion is heartfelt, but Grandfather's Gothic mansion is far from welcoming. Everything about Blackweald Hall—from the gun room packed with animal-head trophies to the polite-yet-sinister housekeeper—gives Lizzie the creeps. When Lizzie unearths a letter that implicates multiple suspects in her mother’s murder, and then discovers that her grandfather axed the police investigation, she has no idea whom to trust.
When Annie is hospitalized, Lizzie must turn to Teddy, her sister’s cocky prep-school friend. Goaded by Teddy’s aloofness, Lizzie lashes out and reveals her suspicions about the murder. Teddy—who confesses he’s been grieving his own family’s fracture—vows to help Lizzie, and together they race to unravel the mystery. But everyone at Blackweald Hall is hiding something, and digging up the past may provoke a desperate murderer to kill again.
THE SECRETS THAT DIVIDE US is a modern reimagining of Gothic classics like JANE EYRE. It will also appeal to fans of April Henry's THE GIRL I USED TO BE and Maureen Johnson's TRULY DEVIOUS.
First 250 words:
I didn’t have a clue, as I pedaled my battered Schwinn home from the library during a blistering West L.A. heat wave, that soon I’d be drenched in rain and blood, shivering with fear and cold outside the mansion where my mother was murdered.
On the August afternoon when everything began, not a breath of wind stirred the towering palms on Santa Monica Boulevard. Pushing hard, I zipped past six lanes of crawling traffic as sweat plastered my shirt to my chest and soaked my bra. I raced across the boulevard just before the light changed.
“Get out of the way, kid!” yelled a guy in a beat-up El Camino.
“Sure thing!” I called back with mock cheerfulness, resisting the urge to flip him the bird. “But I’m not a kid—I’m sixteen.” I flashed him a grin, but he scowled, gunned his engine, and drove away in a cloud of black smoke.
It was a far cry from the cool refuge of the library, which had become my favorite haunt over the summer for a million reasons. First, unlike my dad’s tiny apartment, the library boasted air conditioning. Second, I was almost guaranteed not to run into anyone from Santa Monica High. Third, I wanted to avoid the awkward situation at home with my dad and his new and very pregnant wife, Sonia.
Okay, that was only three reasons, but no matter how much I wanted to stay at the library, my dad insisted I come home for “family dinner” every night.
Saucy Cranberries 7: WE COULD BE, YA Contemporary
Title: WE COULD BEGenre: YA contemporaryWord Count: 81,000
How Did You Fall for Writing:
I did not learn to read or write until second grade, when my teacher used phonetic-based techniques to teach the necessary skills. After a frustrating year of trying and failing to do something those around me did with ease, I finally comprehended these two fantastic abilities. It felt like I had been given a superpower. I could travel worlds while sitting in my living room chair. Even more exciting, I could make my own worlds with just a pencil and paper. I never looked back. I just wrote. And read. And wrote some more.
Query:
Sixteen-year-old Brandon regularly filters everyday events through a fantasy world and tries to avoid unwanted emotions by morphing into B16, his robot alter ego. Though his parents disapprove of his tactics, his older sister Angie draws detailed depictions of his world into sketchbooks and takes B16 on missions when their parents aren’t home.
When Angie shocks everyone by running away two months before her graduation, Brandon decides to become a hero and joins forces with Timmy, Angie’s boyfriend, to find her. Using drawings found within a newly-discovered sketchbook of Angie’s as their guide, Brandon and Timmy travel across state lines to the Magical Forest (AKA, Denver, CO)—a trip fraught with wrong turns, faulty exhaust systems, several B16 missions, and some unexpected male-bonding.
At the end of the journey, the heroes succeed in finding Angie… only something is wrong. Angie has always been Brandon’s rock, but the Angie they find is erratic, vulnerable, and somehow still lost. Timmy breaks down, convinced he’s the one who caused Angie to question herself and run. Since Timmy seems brainwashed into believing he’s a villain and B16 doesn’t have complex problem-solving capability, it’s up to Brandon himself to figure out how to convince Angie her dreams are worth fighting for before the trio arrives home—where parents will be waiting and armed with powerful consequences. In the process, Brandon learns he, without B16’s help, has the capability to confront problems more deftly than he ever thought he could.
I have degrees in psychology and social work, and I have worked as a behavioral health therapist for seven years in an outpatient setting. WE COULD BE has been read for accuracy of the Autism Spectrum Disorder by two mental health professionals, a Behavioral Specialist who works for the West Virginia Center of Excellence in Disabilities, and a father of a teenage son who is on the spectrum.
First 250 words:
“Secrets are when you keep what another person said or did to yourself, no matter what, because you’re a good person and you love them.”
Angie taught me about secrets shortly after her ninth birthday. I’d found her crouched on the counter in the kitchen, her hand reaching into the cabinet. She paused in her task long enough to give me the lesson before she pulled out a half-eaten bag of Oreos and jumped to the floor.
“So…” Angie straightened. “Are you a good person?”
I felt, even back then, I was good. I listened in class and obeyed Mrs. Prettyman’s rules. I got gold stars in occupational therapy, and, even if I screamed at Mom or Dad, the altercation always ended quietly with them rubbing my back as I lay in bed.
I nodded.
“And do you love me?”
“Of course,” I answered. “You’re my sister.”
“Then promise you’ll keep this a secret, B7. Remember about promises?”
I nodded again, eyes on the item in her hands. Of course I remembered; she’d taught me about promises only a month before.
“Good.” She grinned and opened the bag. “Now. Go get the milk.”
Angie taught me a lot of things growing up. In fourth grade, when Benny laughed on the bus and I laughed also, she taught me my therapist was wrong when she talked about mirroring, that sometimes it wasn’t the best way to handle a situation. Angie yelled this lesson to me from the front seat by Mr. Morris after she punched Benny out.
How Did You Fall for Writing:
I did not learn to read or write until second grade, when my teacher used phonetic-based techniques to teach the necessary skills. After a frustrating year of trying and failing to do something those around me did with ease, I finally comprehended these two fantastic abilities. It felt like I had been given a superpower. I could travel worlds while sitting in my living room chair. Even more exciting, I could make my own worlds with just a pencil and paper. I never looked back. I just wrote. And read. And wrote some more.
Query:
Sixteen-year-old Brandon regularly filters everyday events through a fantasy world and tries to avoid unwanted emotions by morphing into B16, his robot alter ego. Though his parents disapprove of his tactics, his older sister Angie draws detailed depictions of his world into sketchbooks and takes B16 on missions when their parents aren’t home.
When Angie shocks everyone by running away two months before her graduation, Brandon decides to become a hero and joins forces with Timmy, Angie’s boyfriend, to find her. Using drawings found within a newly-discovered sketchbook of Angie’s as their guide, Brandon and Timmy travel across state lines to the Magical Forest (AKA, Denver, CO)—a trip fraught with wrong turns, faulty exhaust systems, several B16 missions, and some unexpected male-bonding.
At the end of the journey, the heroes succeed in finding Angie… only something is wrong. Angie has always been Brandon’s rock, but the Angie they find is erratic, vulnerable, and somehow still lost. Timmy breaks down, convinced he’s the one who caused Angie to question herself and run. Since Timmy seems brainwashed into believing he’s a villain and B16 doesn’t have complex problem-solving capability, it’s up to Brandon himself to figure out how to convince Angie her dreams are worth fighting for before the trio arrives home—where parents will be waiting and armed with powerful consequences. In the process, Brandon learns he, without B16’s help, has the capability to confront problems more deftly than he ever thought he could.
I have degrees in psychology and social work, and I have worked as a behavioral health therapist for seven years in an outpatient setting. WE COULD BE has been read for accuracy of the Autism Spectrum Disorder by two mental health professionals, a Behavioral Specialist who works for the West Virginia Center of Excellence in Disabilities, and a father of a teenage son who is on the spectrum.
First 250 words:
“Secrets are when you keep what another person said or did to yourself, no matter what, because you’re a good person and you love them.”
Angie taught me about secrets shortly after her ninth birthday. I’d found her crouched on the counter in the kitchen, her hand reaching into the cabinet. She paused in her task long enough to give me the lesson before she pulled out a half-eaten bag of Oreos and jumped to the floor.
“So…” Angie straightened. “Are you a good person?”
I felt, even back then, I was good. I listened in class and obeyed Mrs. Prettyman’s rules. I got gold stars in occupational therapy, and, even if I screamed at Mom or Dad, the altercation always ended quietly with them rubbing my back as I lay in bed.
I nodded.
“And do you love me?”
“Of course,” I answered. “You’re my sister.”
“Then promise you’ll keep this a secret, B7. Remember about promises?”
I nodded again, eyes on the item in her hands. Of course I remembered; she’d taught me about promises only a month before.
“Good.” She grinned and opened the bag. “Now. Go get the milk.”
Angie taught me a lot of things growing up. In fourth grade, when Benny laughed on the bus and I laughed also, she taught me my therapist was wrong when she talked about mirroring, that sometimes it wasn’t the best way to handle a situation. Angie yelled this lesson to me from the front seat by Mr. Morris after she punched Benny out.
Saucy Cranberries 6: PROJECT: YGGDRASIL, YA Science Fiction
Title: PROJECT: YGGDRASIL
Genre: YA science fiction
Word Count: 71,000
How did you fall for writing?
After reading a rash of books where the scientists were the bad guys, I wanted to portray scientists as something other than the evil masterminds. Being a woman in STEM, I set out to write a story where scientists are multi-faceted characters that care about things other than their work, and how they inspire a positive appreciation for education in their children. The story led elsewhere, but this was the spark.
Query:
Dear Agents,
When seventeen-year-old Morrighan discovers her spy brother’s cover has been compromised while infiltrating the organization that previously targeted their home, she and her genetically-engineered siblings sign up for the extraction mission without a second thought. But instead of meeting at the rendezvous point, her brother’s new colleagues ambush Morrighan's team. His betrayal lands them in an enemy prison with her magnetic powers all but useless within her cell’s plastic walls. Strapped to a gurney, Morrighan must free herself before she and her siblings are injected with a bioweapon designed to brainwash them and add their unique powers to the enemy’s forces.
During her team’s escape, Morrighan steals several vials of the substance. Studies reveal they contain a neurochemical that robs recipients of free will by rewiring their neural networks. Morrighan learns the organization’s ultimate goal is to distribute the drug to the defenseless population and construct their own version of disciplined humanity. She returns to the enemy base to destroy their stockpile, but the drug has already been administered to a private military. With the enemy circling in, Morrighan must decide if destroying the organization and finding a cure is worth losing the brother she had set out to save.
I have a background in biotechnology and immunology/infectious diseases, and earned a PhD in cellular and molecular pathology. My research has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, most recently in Stem Cells Translational Medicine. I created the blog series Put the Sci in your Fi as a resource for science fiction writers who want to apply real-world science to their works, and have contributed the guest article “Sights, Sounds and Smells in the Lab” on author Dan Kobolt’s similarly themed Science in Sci-Fi blog series.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
First 250:
The needle slid behind my left ear with a sharp pinch. Goosebumps prickled down my spine. I’d gotten my fair share of pokes in seventeen years, but I fought the impulse to tear the needle out and hurl it across the room all the same. There’d be hell to pay, probably in the form of laundry duty, if I broke any lab equipment. So, instead, I focused on a green speck plastered to the ceiling next to the fluorescent light, no doubt launched unintentionally from a test tube. The syringe let out a muted swish as it injected a torrent of my parents’ biocybernetic concoction under my skin.
“Mori, if you dig your nails into the chair any more, I’ll have to get it reupholstered.” Vivienne slipped the needle out and set the injector gun next to a wad of gauze on the metal cart. I made a conscious effort to unclench my fingers as she tilted my head and inspected her handiwork under the fluorescent lights. Her gentle hand and expert technique meant she didn’t need the gauze. Strands of salt-and-auburn hair escaped her claw clip and tickled my cheek.
“You weren’t the one who just had science juice stabbed into her neck with a drinking straw.” It didn’t actually resemble a straw, but no size was a good size when it came to stabby things.
She clucked her tongue in exasperation at my scowl, like she had when I was six and needed weekly gene editing cocktails to fix my liver.
Genre: YA science fiction
Word Count: 71,000
How did you fall for writing?
After reading a rash of books where the scientists were the bad guys, I wanted to portray scientists as something other than the evil masterminds. Being a woman in STEM, I set out to write a story where scientists are multi-faceted characters that care about things other than their work, and how they inspire a positive appreciation for education in their children. The story led elsewhere, but this was the spark.
Query:
Dear Agents,
When seventeen-year-old Morrighan discovers her spy brother’s cover has been compromised while infiltrating the organization that previously targeted their home, she and her genetically-engineered siblings sign up for the extraction mission without a second thought. But instead of meeting at the rendezvous point, her brother’s new colleagues ambush Morrighan's team. His betrayal lands them in an enemy prison with her magnetic powers all but useless within her cell’s plastic walls. Strapped to a gurney, Morrighan must free herself before she and her siblings are injected with a bioweapon designed to brainwash them and add their unique powers to the enemy’s forces.
During her team’s escape, Morrighan steals several vials of the substance. Studies reveal they contain a neurochemical that robs recipients of free will by rewiring their neural networks. Morrighan learns the organization’s ultimate goal is to distribute the drug to the defenseless population and construct their own version of disciplined humanity. She returns to the enemy base to destroy their stockpile, but the drug has already been administered to a private military. With the enemy circling in, Morrighan must decide if destroying the organization and finding a cure is worth losing the brother she had set out to save.
I have a background in biotechnology and immunology/infectious diseases, and earned a PhD in cellular and molecular pathology. My research has been published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, most recently in Stem Cells Translational Medicine. I created the blog series Put the Sci in your Fi as a resource for science fiction writers who want to apply real-world science to their works, and have contributed the guest article “Sights, Sounds and Smells in the Lab” on author Dan Kobolt’s similarly themed Science in Sci-Fi blog series.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
First 250:
The needle slid behind my left ear with a sharp pinch. Goosebumps prickled down my spine. I’d gotten my fair share of pokes in seventeen years, but I fought the impulse to tear the needle out and hurl it across the room all the same. There’d be hell to pay, probably in the form of laundry duty, if I broke any lab equipment. So, instead, I focused on a green speck plastered to the ceiling next to the fluorescent light, no doubt launched unintentionally from a test tube. The syringe let out a muted swish as it injected a torrent of my parents’ biocybernetic concoction under my skin.
“Mori, if you dig your nails into the chair any more, I’ll have to get it reupholstered.” Vivienne slipped the needle out and set the injector gun next to a wad of gauze on the metal cart. I made a conscious effort to unclench my fingers as she tilted my head and inspected her handiwork under the fluorescent lights. Her gentle hand and expert technique meant she didn’t need the gauze. Strands of salt-and-auburn hair escaped her claw clip and tickled my cheek.
“You weren’t the one who just had science juice stabbed into her neck with a drinking straw.” It didn’t actually resemble a straw, but no size was a good size when it came to stabby things.
She clucked her tongue in exasperation at my scowl, like she had when I was six and needed weekly gene editing cocktails to fix my liver.
Saucy Cranberries 5: PANDORA REBORN, YA Fantasy OV
Title: PANDORA REBORNGenre: YA Fantasy OwnvoicesWord Count: 106,001
How I fell for writing:
It all started on an unnecessarily hot day in Virginia- A pre-teen girl decided to write the stories she made up in her head in a notebook. A small thought turned into a five hundred page story that she vehemently denies exists. That girl is me. And I fell for writing because I had too many ideas and not enough friends in the small town my family moved to. Writing was a coping mechanism turned hobby and now it's my life. PANDORA REBORN is the latest evolution of my craft and exploration of my heart.
Query:
Dear Ms/Mr. Agentstar,
All Pandora Boon wants is a simple eighteenth birthday with her two best friends. Yet when she wakes to a letter telling her to run, instinctual panic fills her veins and she escapes out a window. Pandora has a creeping suspicion the letter was no cruel birthday prank and other gods hunt her. Instead she and her best friends stuff themselves into a tiny car with no destination.
From the beaches of Florida to the mountaintops of Norway, Pandora runs from a slew of Gods from every corner of the globe. With Zeus, Athena, Ra and even the Norse God Thor on her tail, Pandora must rely on the help of her two best friends and loyal titan Epimetheus(They/them) to uncover the history of her name and the locket. The locket, once known as Pandora’s Box, can grant a God any wish their wicked heart desires. Every Pandora reincarnation before her died trying to protect it. With her new, literal earth shaking power she takes a stand against the Gods. But the locket makes Pandora a walking target. With no control over her powers, she’s a death trap. If she doesn’t learn to trust her instincts and the voices of those Pandora’s who came before her, she will become another dead demi-god.
A YA Fantasy Adventure novel with series potential, PANDORA REBORN, is a Queer+ inclusive novel and #ownvoices. As a pansexual woman I wrote the novel I needed back in high school, showing that love can take all forms, and bi/pan girls can be more than just be sexually deviant beings. Fans of THE GODDESS TEST and PERCY JACKSON will enjoy this novel complete at 106k words.
Thank you for your consideration.
First 250:
Chapter One:
Dear Pandora;
If you are reading this, then it’s your 18th birthday and your parents did as instructed. I wish things were easier, but with every reincarnation the other Gods grow more crazed. Please understand you do not deserve this! Fate is unkind and has seen to thrust this upon you. The locket in your hands is very special as it holds the power to change everything. That’s why they hunt you.
You need to know a few things:
1. Everything you know is a lie about yourself, who we are, what we’ve done. You ARE the reincarnation of Pandora.
2. Never accept gifts from the gods.
3. Do not open the locket, do not let anyone convince you to open it, never take it off.
4. Zeus, Ra, Thor and all others like them want you dead.
Now run! Burn this letter and never stop running.
Pandora Elias Merryweather
Two things could happen. The letter was fake and I panicked. The letter was real and gods were after me. So I did what I thought was best. I yanked open the bedroom window, popped out the screen and tossed my butt out the window. Wet, scratchy grass broke my fall. The sun hidden behind thick trees, muggy air choked me as I bolted across my driveway. Something took over my brain, put me into hyperdrive.
Run!
I forgot car keys. Damn. But I remembered to put on pants! Jean shorts and a faded mickey mouse tank-top, not exactly running attire.
How I fell for writing:
It all started on an unnecessarily hot day in Virginia- A pre-teen girl decided to write the stories she made up in her head in a notebook. A small thought turned into a five hundred page story that she vehemently denies exists. That girl is me. And I fell for writing because I had too many ideas and not enough friends in the small town my family moved to. Writing was a coping mechanism turned hobby and now it's my life. PANDORA REBORN is the latest evolution of my craft and exploration of my heart.
Query:
Dear Ms/Mr. Agentstar,
All Pandora Boon wants is a simple eighteenth birthday with her two best friends. Yet when she wakes to a letter telling her to run, instinctual panic fills her veins and she escapes out a window. Pandora has a creeping suspicion the letter was no cruel birthday prank and other gods hunt her. Instead she and her best friends stuff themselves into a tiny car with no destination.
From the beaches of Florida to the mountaintops of Norway, Pandora runs from a slew of Gods from every corner of the globe. With Zeus, Athena, Ra and even the Norse God Thor on her tail, Pandora must rely on the help of her two best friends and loyal titan Epimetheus(They/them) to uncover the history of her name and the locket. The locket, once known as Pandora’s Box, can grant a God any wish their wicked heart desires. Every Pandora reincarnation before her died trying to protect it. With her new, literal earth shaking power she takes a stand against the Gods. But the locket makes Pandora a walking target. With no control over her powers, she’s a death trap. If she doesn’t learn to trust her instincts and the voices of those Pandora’s who came before her, she will become another dead demi-god.
A YA Fantasy Adventure novel with series potential, PANDORA REBORN, is a Queer+ inclusive novel and #ownvoices. As a pansexual woman I wrote the novel I needed back in high school, showing that love can take all forms, and bi/pan girls can be more than just be sexually deviant beings. Fans of THE GODDESS TEST and PERCY JACKSON will enjoy this novel complete at 106k words.
Thank you for your consideration.
First 250:
Chapter One:
Dear Pandora;
If you are reading this, then it’s your 18th birthday and your parents did as instructed. I wish things were easier, but with every reincarnation the other Gods grow more crazed. Please understand you do not deserve this! Fate is unkind and has seen to thrust this upon you. The locket in your hands is very special as it holds the power to change everything. That’s why they hunt you.
You need to know a few things:
1. Everything you know is a lie about yourself, who we are, what we’ve done. You ARE the reincarnation of Pandora.
2. Never accept gifts from the gods.
3. Do not open the locket, do not let anyone convince you to open it, never take it off.
4. Zeus, Ra, Thor and all others like them want you dead.
Now run! Burn this letter and never stop running.
Pandora Elias Merryweather
Two things could happen. The letter was fake and I panicked. The letter was real and gods were after me. So I did what I thought was best. I yanked open the bedroom window, popped out the screen and tossed my butt out the window. Wet, scratchy grass broke my fall. The sun hidden behind thick trees, muggy air choked me as I bolted across my driveway. Something took over my brain, put me into hyperdrive.
Run!
I forgot car keys. Damn. But I remembered to put on pants! Jean shorts and a faded mickey mouse tank-top, not exactly running attire.
Saucy Cranberries 4: THE DEFENDER AND THE THIEF, Adult Japan-Inspired Fantasy OV
Title: THE DEFENDER & THE THIEF: THE TALE OF BENKA & ANSI
Genre: Adult Japan-inspired fantasy + #ownvoices LGBTQA
Word Count: 116,000
How Did You Fall For Writing: When I was 5, my kindergarten teacher accused me of lying about writing a story I brought for Show & Tell; I remember shock, hurt, betrayal, then thinking: I’ll show you! I brainstormed a new adventure for myself and never looked back. My writing inspiration stems from a single question: What story do I want to read? If I don’t find one right away, I know it’s my job to write it. I can’t be the only one who wants to read it.
Query:
Dear Fall Fest Agents,
Once a palace Defender, Benka strove to become personal guard to the Imperial family. Sudden exile on false charges of treason changed all that. Benka vows to prove her innocence, but months of obsessive searching turn up nothing but proof of the gods’ sense of humour. But when Benka sets a castle on fire in her efforts to save a pickpocket from execution, she earns a new friend in Ansi, a one-handed thief with a weakness for pretty girls and an allergy to feelings.
Ansi’s life of crime provides unorthodox inspiration for how to sniff out a conspiracy, and Benka is desperate enough to try it. Soon, however, a priest from the Imperial palace approaches Benka with a request: find and return the Emperor’s exiled daughter to the Imperial City. Struck by parallels to her own banishment, Benka agrees, even as it delays her personal mission. Ansi tags along – not for the princess, but to make sure Benka doesn’t do something stupid like refuse any reward for a noble cause.
Their mission is complicated when they learn the Imperial family sacrifices innocent civilians. The gods require blood to maintain the divine covenant affording the family its protection and near-immortality. Only the princess, exiled for refusing to take part, can break the contract, but she’ll need help. If they fail, innocent people die. If they succeed, the sacrifices will stop – but the Imperial family will lose the gods’ protection. This time, Benka really will be a traitor to the throne, and bring Ansi down with her. Benka must weigh a lifetime of duty against her conscience. But how do they argue with the gods? THE DEFENDER AND THE THIEF is set in a fictional world inspired by the rich history, legends, and religions of Japan. From 2009-2014, I lived in Japan’s Kansai region, the historical seat of Imperial power and intrigue. There I immersed myself in the culture, landscape, and local dishes. I used my experiences in Japan and degree in East Asian Studies to bring depth and colour to my world. The novel’s diverse representations of gender, sexuality, and relationships also reflect my own experiences as a queer woman.
First 250 Words:
If Benka had known that exile would saddle her with such irritating companions, she might have thought twice before rejecting honourable suicide. The rising screams of the cicadas drilled into Benka’s skull, but did little to drown out the merchant’s unending prattle as she escorted him along the Imperial Road to Bright Stone City. The summer sun beat down upon her armour, and dust eddied around Benka’s worn sandals. A pebble lodged between her toes.
“Are all Blades this pleasant to talk to, or did I get lucky?” the merchant drawled, rolling around a mouthful of pine sap. “Or maybe you lost your tongue when you lost your favour, hey?”
Benka exhaled through her nose and prayed to the gods for patience. Not long ago she had been Hata Benka, Defender of the Divine, sworn in service to the Imperial family. Now she wore the mark of a broken Blade, cast out for disloyalty and forced to wield her swords for coin like a common brigand. “What kind of conversation are you hoping for, honoured companion?”
The merchant’s eyes narrowed. Benka had used the proper honorific, but perhaps not succeeded with her tone. She schooled her expression to neutral. “Tell me a story,” he said, then added, “most honoured companion.”
“I’m a poor storyteller.”
The merchant pressed on. “I’ve sold my share of blades to bored scholars and rich lordlings, you know.” Benka, who’d trained for a decade to earn the right to wear her swords, swallowed a hot retort.
Genre: Adult Japan-inspired fantasy + #ownvoices LGBTQA
Word Count: 116,000
How Did You Fall For Writing: When I was 5, my kindergarten teacher accused me of lying about writing a story I brought for Show & Tell; I remember shock, hurt, betrayal, then thinking: I’ll show you! I brainstormed a new adventure for myself and never looked back. My writing inspiration stems from a single question: What story do I want to read? If I don’t find one right away, I know it’s my job to write it. I can’t be the only one who wants to read it.
Query:
Dear Fall Fest Agents,
Once a palace Defender, Benka strove to become personal guard to the Imperial family. Sudden exile on false charges of treason changed all that. Benka vows to prove her innocence, but months of obsessive searching turn up nothing but proof of the gods’ sense of humour. But when Benka sets a castle on fire in her efforts to save a pickpocket from execution, she earns a new friend in Ansi, a one-handed thief with a weakness for pretty girls and an allergy to feelings.
Ansi’s life of crime provides unorthodox inspiration for how to sniff out a conspiracy, and Benka is desperate enough to try it. Soon, however, a priest from the Imperial palace approaches Benka with a request: find and return the Emperor’s exiled daughter to the Imperial City. Struck by parallels to her own banishment, Benka agrees, even as it delays her personal mission. Ansi tags along – not for the princess, but to make sure Benka doesn’t do something stupid like refuse any reward for a noble cause.
Their mission is complicated when they learn the Imperial family sacrifices innocent civilians. The gods require blood to maintain the divine covenant affording the family its protection and near-immortality. Only the princess, exiled for refusing to take part, can break the contract, but she’ll need help. If they fail, innocent people die. If they succeed, the sacrifices will stop – but the Imperial family will lose the gods’ protection. This time, Benka really will be a traitor to the throne, and bring Ansi down with her. Benka must weigh a lifetime of duty against her conscience. But how do they argue with the gods? THE DEFENDER AND THE THIEF is set in a fictional world inspired by the rich history, legends, and religions of Japan. From 2009-2014, I lived in Japan’s Kansai region, the historical seat of Imperial power and intrigue. There I immersed myself in the culture, landscape, and local dishes. I used my experiences in Japan and degree in East Asian Studies to bring depth and colour to my world. The novel’s diverse representations of gender, sexuality, and relationships also reflect my own experiences as a queer woman.
First 250 Words:
If Benka had known that exile would saddle her with such irritating companions, she might have thought twice before rejecting honourable suicide. The rising screams of the cicadas drilled into Benka’s skull, but did little to drown out the merchant’s unending prattle as she escorted him along the Imperial Road to Bright Stone City. The summer sun beat down upon her armour, and dust eddied around Benka’s worn sandals. A pebble lodged between her toes.
“Are all Blades this pleasant to talk to, or did I get lucky?” the merchant drawled, rolling around a mouthful of pine sap. “Or maybe you lost your tongue when you lost your favour, hey?”
Benka exhaled through her nose and prayed to the gods for patience. Not long ago she had been Hata Benka, Defender of the Divine, sworn in service to the Imperial family. Now she wore the mark of a broken Blade, cast out for disloyalty and forced to wield her swords for coin like a common brigand. “What kind of conversation are you hoping for, honoured companion?”
The merchant’s eyes narrowed. Benka had used the proper honorific, but perhaps not succeeded with her tone. She schooled her expression to neutral. “Tell me a story,” he said, then added, “most honoured companion.”
“I’m a poor storyteller.”
The merchant pressed on. “I’ve sold my share of blades to bored scholars and rich lordlings, you know.” Benka, who’d trained for a decade to earn the right to wear her swords, swallowed a hot retort.
