QK Round 1: Like-Minded Individuals versus Nostalgic Dreamer
Entry Nickname:Like-Minded IndividualsTitle: The Secret Society Of Like-Minded IndividualsWord count: 82,000Genre: Adult Comedic Dark Thriller
Query:
Being an accountant by day allows Leon Garber to pursue his true passion. He has his reasons for scourging the world of abusive people. But justifiable homicide is a tricky, risky business.Opportunity comes knocking from Like-Minded Individuals, Inc., a global company fulfilling the needs of people like Leon to pursue their “projects.” LMI sets their clientele up with new identities, security, and even lists of potential candidates. A grand business model for today’s increasingly expanding and changing economy. All for a price, of course. Some things are worth the cost. For Leon, it’s a dream come true.
But sometimes a killer business idea is simply…killer.
Leon finds himself out of favor with Like-Minded Individuals for reasons unknown. LMI, the police, sanctioned hit-men, and a vicious psychopath are after him. Heads are chopped, dropped and swapped as Leon fights for his life and freedom. All of which keeps Leon from finishing his current project. But as a consummate professional, Leon can’t leave a job incomplete.
First 250 words:
The child knew when to hide. Anytime his father opened a bottle of liquor. He’d known that for years, just as he knew the burning lash of a leather belt followed the accidental breaking of a dish or a glass. It was part of his world. Accepted as normal.
Until a day in late May. The day everything changed. The day he came home from school to find his mother backed against the refrigerator, his father’s hands wrapped in a vice grip around her neck.
“How long you been screwing around in Bill Arnold’s bed, you whore? How long? Always knew you were nothing but a whore! That little bastard’s not even mine, is he?” The hands jerked and his mother’s body shook like a ragdoll. “Shoulda made you abort him when I told you to!”
The boy raced across the kitchen. His father's hand lashed out and he crashed to the floor. The heavy work boot kicked and cracked his nose. Half-blinded, he saw his father latch onto a kitchen knife. The blade plunged into his mother's chest, again and again. And again. Chunking like a watermelon chopped into quarters. One more flash of the knife and her throat opened up in a red grin. Blood showered out. His father dropped the knife and staggered out of the kitchen.
Versus
Entry Nickname:Nostalgic DreamerTitle: Man of My DreamsWord count: 78,000Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Query:
Mia Murphy is married to the man of her dreams. But the man in her dreams is the one that got away.
The only thing saving Mia from her monotonous routine as a stay-at-home mom is her perfect husband, Declan. He’s gorgeous, he adores her, and the man melts her heart with his sexy singing voice. Mia feels like the luckiest girl in the world, until she discovers that Mr. Perfect had a brush with infidelity. Mia is devastated; everything she once believed about him and her marriage is now covered in a big cloud of doubt and regret.
While she and Declan are on a break, Mia receives an invitation to her high school reunion. Although her heart still belongs to her husband, inescapable thoughts of her crush, Noah, resurface. And ten years later, Noah is finally ready to make his move. When the build-up of fantasies and ‘what ifs' comes to a head, sparks fly and it’s Mia’s turn to question if her marriage is everything she wants out of life. Searching for answers, Mia dives head first into dating Noah, falling further away from her husband and closer to her old flame. But Declan’s not giving up so easily. Mia is his one and only and he’s not about to let another man win her heart.
A contemporary romance complete at 78,000 words, MAN OF MY DREAMS is Mia’s nostalgic, humorous, heartwarming story about what happens when life gives you a second chance to consider what might have been. First 250 words:
I pace the pale green carpet in my room, back and forth, over and over, twirling a chunk of my hair into an unruly knot. “Do you think he’ll be there, Grace? I really don’t want to go if he’s not.” I don’t have to hide the embarrassing fact that I have no desire to attend this thing if Noah isn’t going. Grace is my best friend, the one who knows all the awkward details about my unsuccessful swooning over the hottest guy at my school.
But this is my last shot.
High school will officially be over soon. Sure, I’ve done my job of cozying up to Noah. We’d swapped calculus notes a bunch of times, sat together in the cafeteria for lunch on occasion and even attended the same parties and get-togethers on the weekends. He may even consider me a friend, but there is nothing special that ties the two of us together. And soon we’ll graduate and go our separate ways.
“You have to go, Mia. Even if he’s a no-show. Everyone else will be there. Some of those friends you’ll never see again. You owe it to them, at least. And besides, you’ve spent the last four years popping up where you knew he’d be. Look where it got you.”
I take the cordless phone away from my ear, and stare at it, practically snarling. I don’t need a reminder of what a loser I am. “I know. You’re right. But I won’t be able to live with the regret of what if. This has to happen. I have to kiss him before he leaves for college and I never see him again.”
Query:
Being an accountant by day allows Leon Garber to pursue his true passion. He has his reasons for scourging the world of abusive people. But justifiable homicide is a tricky, risky business.Opportunity comes knocking from Like-Minded Individuals, Inc., a global company fulfilling the needs of people like Leon to pursue their “projects.” LMI sets their clientele up with new identities, security, and even lists of potential candidates. A grand business model for today’s increasingly expanding and changing economy. All for a price, of course. Some things are worth the cost. For Leon, it’s a dream come true.
But sometimes a killer business idea is simply…killer.
Leon finds himself out of favor with Like-Minded Individuals for reasons unknown. LMI, the police, sanctioned hit-men, and a vicious psychopath are after him. Heads are chopped, dropped and swapped as Leon fights for his life and freedom. All of which keeps Leon from finishing his current project. But as a consummate professional, Leon can’t leave a job incomplete.
First 250 words:
The child knew when to hide. Anytime his father opened a bottle of liquor. He’d known that for years, just as he knew the burning lash of a leather belt followed the accidental breaking of a dish or a glass. It was part of his world. Accepted as normal.
Until a day in late May. The day everything changed. The day he came home from school to find his mother backed against the refrigerator, his father’s hands wrapped in a vice grip around her neck.
“How long you been screwing around in Bill Arnold’s bed, you whore? How long? Always knew you were nothing but a whore! That little bastard’s not even mine, is he?” The hands jerked and his mother’s body shook like a ragdoll. “Shoulda made you abort him when I told you to!”
The boy raced across the kitchen. His father's hand lashed out and he crashed to the floor. The heavy work boot kicked and cracked his nose. Half-blinded, he saw his father latch onto a kitchen knife. The blade plunged into his mother's chest, again and again. And again. Chunking like a watermelon chopped into quarters. One more flash of the knife and her throat opened up in a red grin. Blood showered out. His father dropped the knife and staggered out of the kitchen.
Versus
Entry Nickname:Nostalgic DreamerTitle: Man of My DreamsWord count: 78,000Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Query:
Mia Murphy is married to the man of her dreams. But the man in her dreams is the one that got away.
The only thing saving Mia from her monotonous routine as a stay-at-home mom is her perfect husband, Declan. He’s gorgeous, he adores her, and the man melts her heart with his sexy singing voice. Mia feels like the luckiest girl in the world, until she discovers that Mr. Perfect had a brush with infidelity. Mia is devastated; everything she once believed about him and her marriage is now covered in a big cloud of doubt and regret.
While she and Declan are on a break, Mia receives an invitation to her high school reunion. Although her heart still belongs to her husband, inescapable thoughts of her crush, Noah, resurface. And ten years later, Noah is finally ready to make his move. When the build-up of fantasies and ‘what ifs' comes to a head, sparks fly and it’s Mia’s turn to question if her marriage is everything she wants out of life. Searching for answers, Mia dives head first into dating Noah, falling further away from her husband and closer to her old flame. But Declan’s not giving up so easily. Mia is his one and only and he’s not about to let another man win her heart.
A contemporary romance complete at 78,000 words, MAN OF MY DREAMS is Mia’s nostalgic, humorous, heartwarming story about what happens when life gives you a second chance to consider what might have been. First 250 words:
I pace the pale green carpet in my room, back and forth, over and over, twirling a chunk of my hair into an unruly knot. “Do you think he’ll be there, Grace? I really don’t want to go if he’s not.” I don’t have to hide the embarrassing fact that I have no desire to attend this thing if Noah isn’t going. Grace is my best friend, the one who knows all the awkward details about my unsuccessful swooning over the hottest guy at my school.
But this is my last shot.
High school will officially be over soon. Sure, I’ve done my job of cozying up to Noah. We’d swapped calculus notes a bunch of times, sat together in the cafeteria for lunch on occasion and even attended the same parties and get-togethers on the weekends. He may even consider me a friend, but there is nothing special that ties the two of us together. And soon we’ll graduate and go our separate ways.
“You have to go, Mia. Even if he’s a no-show. Everyone else will be there. Some of those friends you’ll never see again. You owe it to them, at least. And besides, you’ve spent the last four years popping up where you knew he’d be. Look where it got you.”
I take the cordless phone away from my ear, and stare at it, practically snarling. I don’t need a reminder of what a loser I am. “I know. You’re right. But I won’t be able to live with the regret of what if. This has to happen. I have to kiss him before he leaves for college and I never see him again.”
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