QK 2016 Agent Round 7: MY BOYFRIEND RIGGED THE LOTTERY, YA Contemporary Suspense
Title: Windfall
Nickname: My Boyfriend Rigged The Lottery
Word Count: 83,000
Genre: YA Contemporary Suspense
Query:
In Marina’s culture, dumplings are thought to bring wealth and good fortune to anyone who eats them. But she’s been eating dumplings her whole life and good fortune remains as elusive as a good boyfriend. She’s a Chinese-American piano prodigy with no say in her future, and the pressure to be perfect is crushing her.
When Marina wins the lottery on her eighteenth birthday and her dad inexplicably forbids her from claiming the prize, she feels newly entitled to defy her parents and reject their plans for her life. She turns her back on customs, and everything else she knows, and accepts the money against their wishes.
But Marina’s lottery win comes with strings attached—a role she’s expected to play that was hand-picked just for her, the same way she was hand-picked to win the lottery. If she fails to do her part and the scandal is exposed, those on top will make sure she’s the first casualty. When Marina finds evidence linking her dad to the intrigue, she has no one to turn to but Sean, an edgy guitar player who gets her in a way no one else does. But Sean’s new in town, and his arrival was suspiciously close to the announcement of her lottery win. Now Marina must figure out who to trust and who’s pulling the lottery strings, before her prize turns into a noose.
First 250:
My best friend’s raspberry spritzer sat dangerously close to the edge of the table, a twitch of the elbow away from tumbling to the floor. It was non-alcoholic, of course. The staff at Valer Prep made sure that alcohol was only consumed by parents (preferably ones with fat checkbooks) at the annual fundraising events. The students’ drinks were just fruit juice and club soda.
The parents in the decked-out ballroom were dressed like they’d gotten lost on their way to the Oscars and ended up at our school’s silent auction by mistake. They mingled about, bidding on rounds of golf at exclusive country clubs and dinner cruises around the San Francisco Bay. What they really should have been bidding on were self-help courses like: Connecting with Teens For Dummies, or How to Break Your Workout Addiction in Ten Easy Steps.
I reached over Darya and slid her drink to a less precarious spot in the center of the table. She didn’t even notice—she just kept staring at the phone in her hands.
Okay, I was staring at it too.
“The draw was at six. Why haven’t they posted the numbers yet?” Darya’s eyes were wide, and her dark hair hung in thick waves down her back. She had the tiniest hint of a Spanish accent, but it only came out when she was stressed or upset. Like now.
“Relax, it’s only been five minutes.” Despite my words, I felt anything but relaxed.
Nickname: My Boyfriend Rigged The Lottery
Word Count: 83,000
Genre: YA Contemporary Suspense
Query:
In Marina’s culture, dumplings are thought to bring wealth and good fortune to anyone who eats them. But she’s been eating dumplings her whole life and good fortune remains as elusive as a good boyfriend. She’s a Chinese-American piano prodigy with no say in her future, and the pressure to be perfect is crushing her.
When Marina wins the lottery on her eighteenth birthday and her dad inexplicably forbids her from claiming the prize, she feels newly entitled to defy her parents and reject their plans for her life. She turns her back on customs, and everything else she knows, and accepts the money against their wishes.
But Marina’s lottery win comes with strings attached—a role she’s expected to play that was hand-picked just for her, the same way she was hand-picked to win the lottery. If she fails to do her part and the scandal is exposed, those on top will make sure she’s the first casualty. When Marina finds evidence linking her dad to the intrigue, she has no one to turn to but Sean, an edgy guitar player who gets her in a way no one else does. But Sean’s new in town, and his arrival was suspiciously close to the announcement of her lottery win. Now Marina must figure out who to trust and who’s pulling the lottery strings, before her prize turns into a noose.
First 250:
My best friend’s raspberry spritzer sat dangerously close to the edge of the table, a twitch of the elbow away from tumbling to the floor. It was non-alcoholic, of course. The staff at Valer Prep made sure that alcohol was only consumed by parents (preferably ones with fat checkbooks) at the annual fundraising events. The students’ drinks were just fruit juice and club soda.
The parents in the decked-out ballroom were dressed like they’d gotten lost on their way to the Oscars and ended up at our school’s silent auction by mistake. They mingled about, bidding on rounds of golf at exclusive country clubs and dinner cruises around the San Francisco Bay. What they really should have been bidding on were self-help courses like: Connecting with Teens For Dummies, or How to Break Your Workout Addiction in Ten Easy Steps.
I reached over Darya and slid her drink to a less precarious spot in the center of the table. She didn’t even notice—she just kept staring at the phone in her hands.
Okay, I was staring at it too.
“The draw was at six. Why haven’t they posted the numbers yet?” Darya’s eyes were wide, and her dark hair hung in thick waves down her back. She had the tiniest hint of a Spanish accent, but it only came out when she was stressed or upset. Like now.
“Relax, it’s only been five minutes.” Despite my words, I felt anything but relaxed.
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