Title: Conduit
Genre: Paranormal NA
Word count: 72,000
Pitch:
Not everyone turns seventeen twice, unless you’re a Conduit—a reincarnated human contracted to reap souls.
For Liv Hartley, a second chance means a new college, and David, a new love interest. When another Conduit, Asher, steals her first assignment, it lands her in hot water with her afterlife caseworker. To redeem herself, she delivers a message to a demon. When Liv’s life is threatened, Asher protects her by binding his soul to hers. Liv discovers there’s more to Asher than his bad boy attitude, movie-star looks, and addictive touch.
Even though Liv has fallen for David, she can’t shake her feelings for Asher. David is kind and honest, and promises a future Liv could never have with Asher. But when Liv gets her toughest assignment yet—to reap David’s soul—she must decide whether to follow through with the contract or risk losing her soul instead.
First Page:
All the people with near-death experiences got it wrong. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel. There’s a lobby, like the entrance to a ritzy hotel, with level upon level of balconies that stretch on forever.
“Next!” A disembodied voice thunders from overhead speakers.
The line, with more twists and turns than the one for the Matterhorn, moves a few inches. I step forward. The soul in front of me doesn’t. Before I realize what’s happening, I’m standing in him.
“Sorry.” I step back and shake off the Jello-like feel of his energy. Gross.
That’s when I spot the balding Dean of Accounting, Professor Burstein, in his penny loafers and plaid sweater vest. He stalks toward me like I’ve cheated on a test or taken the last cookie at a student-faculty mixer.
“Mr. Burstein?” I can’t keep the surprise, and disgust, from my voice.
On Friday, he’d given a pop-quiz. Governmental Tax Law. If he’s dead, I’m guessing a fellow senior retaliated against his self-aggrandizing soapbox speeches and appearance-based grading pyramid.
“Not exactly, Ms. Lamb. My name is Marvin. I find it’s easier on transitioning souls when I appear as someone they recognize.”
I push a lock of frizzy brown hair from my eyes and stare at his gnarly sweater vest. “You can look like anyone?” My gaze moves from his stubby, fat fingers to his shock of orange hair. “I can totally give you a better suggestion.”
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Entry #18: GERALD AND THE AMULET OF ZONRACH
Title: GERALD AND THE AMULET OF ZONRACH
Genre: Upper MG, Humorous Fantasy
MS Word Count: 77,000
Pitch:
In the realm of Wyverndawn, a wizard’s height is the mark of his power, so shrinking an entire inch is disastrous for twelve-year-old Gerald.
Looking to gain a few inches, Gerald attempts to create a village landmark using his superior wizarding skills. But the spell he bought --from a guy who knows a guy-- is a tad more powerful than he anticipates. The resulting earthquake and escape of a very dangerous wizard from prison really weren’t part of the plan.
To add insult to injury, a red-faced Gerald finds himself banished from his village along with the one inch demotion; two more and he’ll join his father as a Royal Equine Poop Disposal Coordinator.
Gerald’s hopes of returning home hinge on repairing the devastation he caused and thwarting the evil wizard’s plans of seizing Wyverndawn for his own. Failure could mean Gerald’s next spell might well be his last.
First Page:
A jet of blinding light flashed across the room, ricocheted off the window frame and disappeared up the chimney.
"Oops..."
Nobody wants to hear that word from a wizard and definitely not one only five feet tall, thought Gerald. He squinted at the end of his wand and noticed a new crack in the smoldering tip. He dreamed of exceeding six feet but only the best wizards in the land ever reached those dizzying heights. He knew that every successful spell he cast could gain him an inch in promotion, but if it failed he could also be demoted. And Gerald had the distinct feeling the latter was about to apply to him. It seemed unfair that the only profession afflicted by this rule was his. Hopefully no-one had noticed this little faux pas.
A rumble under his feet redirected his focus to a new and far more immediate problem. This can’t be good, he thought. It steadily increased in strength until the floor beneath him rolled like a ship in a storm. Trying to stay upright, he staggered to the window at the front of his weather-beaten cottage. The small hill, and new village landmark, supposed to be growing outside --to improve the view-- failed to materialize. But the cotton ball clouds, normally gently drifting on the warm summer breeze, were now whizzing by. His brow furrowed as he caught sight of villagers clinging to structures for dear life. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when the village herbalist flew past his window and, as he followed her progress across the green, he spotted Lord Moleheart hanging onto a tree like a flag in a gale.
“Kack!” said Gerald.
Entry #17: TWIST OF FATE
Title: Twist of Fate
Genre: NA time travel romance
Word Count: 81,000
Pitch:
Twenty-two-year-old goddess Pandia’s shaking in her Jimmy Choo’s.
When the NYC socialite travels through time to attend a party, she meets Julius Caesar, and convinces him to abandon politics for gardening. Her father, Zeus, summons her to present-day Olympus after he discovers her meddling eliminated the month of July. To teach her to respect fate, he strips her power and sentences her to a stint of mortality in ancient Pompeii.
Pandia intends to do her time, leave destinies untouched, and be home before the next sale at Saks Fifth Avenue. Instead, she’s mistaken for a prostitute and arrested for inciting a riot. Forced to serve as masseuse in Pompeii’s Gladiator School, she’s assigned to Caladus, a gladiator whose washboard abs test her vow to remain uninvolved.
To escape Pompeii, Pandia must prove she respects mortals’ fates. But she’s falling for Caladus, and her time’s running out. Mt. Vesuvius is rumbling.
First 250 Words:
Pacing outside the Great Hall, I yanked down my red top with trembling fingers, and wondered what I’d done to piss my father off this time.
We’d discussed my Marco incident last week.
I nibbled my lip and smoothed my hair. Maybe Napoleon and that silly war?
This couldn’t be about Christopher, because it wasn’t exactly my fault Chris turned those ships around and returned to Spain.
Four guards dressed in starched military uniforms flanked the entrance. One nodded, opened the door, and gestured for me to proceed.
I swallowed the wad of fear lodged in my throat and swept into the Hall.
My father, Zeus, sat with my stepmother in gilded Ikea chairs at the end of the receiving room, matching scowls on their tanned faces. Hera’s eyes met mine across the expanse, and a smirk lifted her lips. She nudged Father’s arm. He grimaced and loosened the collar of his Armani shirt.
Sunlight filtered through the stained glass windows, spilling rainbows across the marble tiles. As I walked through the aisle leading to the receiving area, the click-click-click of my high heels echoed in the stillness surrounding me. Normally, gods dressed in designer clothing mingled in the alcoves between the pillars, gossiping as they waited to speak with my father.
My steps faltered. The fact that it was just me, Father, and Hera, didn’t bode well. With considerable will, I resisted the urge to flee to my penthouse in Manhattan. Not that hiding would do much good. Father could teleport me to the Hall in seconds.
Entry #16: LUMA
Title: Luma
Genre: YA Horror
Word Count: 90,000
Pitch:
Abbey and her best friend, Callie, had countless adventures at Majestic Isle, until an accident closes the island amusement park. When seventeen-year old Abbey hears an underground club has popped up amid the broken down roller coasters and rusty bumper cars, she drags Callie out for the night of their lives.
Unfortunately, it might be the last night of their lives.
The club isn’t the haven for misfits Abbey hoped for – it’s a buffet and the club goers are the main course.
What was once an innocent sanctuary of fun is now home to something dark and sinister.
If Abbey and Callie survive the night, they may find they are the key to stopping an infestation of creatures with an insatiable appetite for human flesh.
First Page:
An ocean of bodies swayed like seaweed across the warehouse floor. It might have looked as though they were drowning if not for their rhythmic movement that fused with the beat. In the center of the floor, Abbey tilted her head back and danced. A tranquil smile graced her lips. She raised her arms over her head and her long, periwinkle hair drifted with her movements. Blue and green lights bounced through the smoky air, pulsing with the rhythm of the music. Bodies brushed against hers, but she didn’t mind. Here, dancing among hundreds of others, she fit in. She belonged. No one could take that away from her.
“We need to go,” Callie yelled in her ear.
Abbey’s eyes flew open and she missed the beat of the song, which caused a ripple in the dancers around her. Callie was upset, though only someone who’d known her since third grade would be able to pick up the telltale signs: twirling a strand of hair around her pointer finger; the flush high on her cheekbones.
“Did you and Eric have another fight?” Abbey didn’t want to leave. Not yet. Callie promised her it would be the two of them, but Eric had shown up and Abbey spent the night dancing alone.
“Can we go, please?” Callie’s bottom lip trembled as she wiped her tears away. Abbey took her arm and led her to the edge of the dance floor.
“Callie!” a voice yelled over a break in the music.
Entry #14: DARKENWEAR, INC.: FEATHERS VS. SCALES
Title: DARKENWEAR, INC.: FEATHERS VS. SCALES
Category/Genre: Upper MG fantasy/adventure
Word count: 46,000
Pitch:
Thirteen-year-old Persephone Stone stumbles across a terrifying secret: DarkenWear Inc., the hottest fashion label on earth, is imprisoning magical creatures from another realm in its clothing and accessories. Unicorns live in jacket linings. Dragons warm the fingers of gloves. Goblins lurk in the shadowy folds of skirts. And it’s up to Persephone to free the innocent lives.
But the arrival of a mysterious storm and a green-and-white-haired boy conjures lost memories and Persephone discovers that the scar on her arm is actually a dragon bite. She’s slowly transforming into a fire-breathing monster. Not good, considering dragons top DW’s list of exotic materials for their upcoming collection.
Persephone must tame her inner dragon, stop production, and expose the fierce, feathery fashionistas for what they are—nasty, no-good harpies—before she and every other enchanted creature are transformed into designer handbags and fabulous pairs of shoes.
First Page:
The vortex howled around the dilapidated Calvin Coolidge Middle School, throwing crows against the glass and filling the air with feathers. The old panes rattled in their paint-caked frames, drawing every student’s attention away from their Edgar Allen Poe projects and toward the tall windows of the eighth-grade humanities pod. The sky turned a ghoulish shade of gray-green and the room shook with the rumble of thunder.
Persephone went back to splattering red paint on her papier-mâché rendering of The Masque of the Red Death, trying to put the storm out of her mind. She grimaced and pinched the silvery swirl of scar tissue that peeked out from underneath the top of her arm warmer. The dead skin burned and itched with newfound intensity, its first feelings in five years. She relived the accident inside her head until her thoughts became spoken words. Storms create lightning. Lightning makes fire. Fire ruins lives. It happened then, and it could happen now. “Storms conjure change.”
“Huh, what did you say?” Kendall turned in his chair, his gaze fixed on Persephone.
She noticed him looking at her bad arm and scowled from underneath her dark razor-edged bangs. “I dare you to stare at me a second longer.”
“Sorry.” He looked down, flashed a smile, and tousled his mop of chestnut hair.
Ignoring Kendall and the tingling pain, she pulled the striped woolen sleeve back up to cover the wound. He just can’t help himself. Nobody can. I’m so hideous.
Entry #13: WHERE THERE IS DARK
Title: WHERE THERE IS DARK
Genre: YA fantasy
WC: 62,000
Pitch:
In a city where light is deadly, Creperi’s exiles want what sixteen-year-old Jazzlyn has—immunity from the Star’s lethal rays—and they’ve figured out a way to get it. When the exiles take her boyfriend hostage, Jazzlyn will do anything to save him.
Unfortunately, anything includes traveling to Lumen, the mountain metropolis above the black clouds, and burgling a light-stone from Lumen’s ruler. The exiles believe the stone will unlock their own defense against the light. However, once they have it, the clouds protecting Creperi begin to roil and shift. The exiles claim that with Jazzlyn’s help they can reverse the damage before the sky opens up, but trusting her boyfriend’s kidnappers is a lot to ask. If they’re telling the truth, maybe Creperi has a chance. If not, her city, along with everyone she loves, will burn.
First Page:
Mushrooms thrive in the dark, so they’re the only food that isn’t rationed. The familiar stench wafting through the house is a sure sign we’re having them for breakfast. Again.
I blow out an exasperated breath and plod downstairs.
Mother stirs a pot of fungi ragoût that boils over the hearth’s open flames. Firelight brings out the red in her hair, which she wears twisted into a braid over one thin shoulder. She looks up as I pause beneath the stone archway that divides the common room from the kitchen. “Jazzlyn,” she says. “What took you so long?”
“I was just...” putting off the inevitable.
“Never mind. You’ll have to eat when we get back,” she says. When my face scrunches up, she sets the spoon on the counter and plants a hand on her hip. “What?”
We’re attending another birth this morning, that’s what. Not that Mother will listen. “Nothing.” I grab a lantern off the table. “Are you ready to go?”
She nods and we slip out the front door and into the ebony morning, where endless black clouds pulse overhead like a living, breathing thing, blocking the light out, or perhaps, sealing the darkness in. The lantern casts a pale glow over rows of mortar and stone houses and their barren plots of dirt. I scan the spaces between shadows, uncertain of what I expect to find. Father disappeared two weeks ago. If he were inside the city walls, the guardians would have found him by now.
Entry #12: SOMETHING WICKED
Title: Something Wicked
Genre: NA Contemporary Fantasy
Word count: 98,000
Pitch:
Blood magic drives you mad. So does family. Twenty-year-old witch Rose LeFey has problems with both, especially when she discovers fae, werewolves, and a vampire imprisoned in her Aunt Sorcha’s basement.Sorcha stole their blood, and intends to use it to re-ignite an ancient conflict between their races.
Determined to prevent a LeFey-led atrocity, Rose frees the captives. Except when she releases the werewolf, Dar, she triggers a hidden spell that forges a mate-bond between them. Pursuing Sorcha to the gates of the fae city just got harder, as Rose can barely resist pouncing on Dar like a starving jungle cat.
Determined to prevent a LeFey-led atrocity, Rose frees the captives. Except when she releases the werewolf, Dar, she triggers a hidden spell that forges a mate-bond between them. Pursuing Sorcha to the gates of the fae city just got harder, as Rose can barely resist pouncing on Dar like a starving jungle cat.
But to stop Sorcha’s war, Rose must force her growing feelings for Dar aside and harness her repressed blood magic without letting it consume her. If she fails, she’ll become the protégé her aunt wanted all along. If she succeeds, she’ll break every spell – including her bond with Dar.
First Page:
All witches liked their accessories – even the bad ones.
The reassuring weight of metal and stone jewelry circling Rose’s fingers couldn’t shield her from the subtle menace of her aunt’s store. It squatted before her like a wooden toad, waiting patiently to swallow her whole. Caught between the searing August sun and the short building, she quietly chanted a child’s charm, “Looks so lovely, feels so strong, shines so bright when lights are gone.”
The darkness inside that store was terrifyingly familiar. She’d fought that darkness – that sickness – for six years.
Now she’d face the woman who’d taught her to embrace it.
“This was a stupid idea,” she muttered. “Just because Grandmama says LeFeys deal with their own, doesn’t mean I have to be the LeFey to do it.” Which was nonsense; there were only three LeFeys left.
She wasn’t an impressionable fourteen-year-old anymore, but that didn’t stop her from wishing some pedestrians, or a four car pile-up, would delay the inevitable. Yet perfect silence smothered the small, Washington town of Pinemount like a lead blanket.
Squaring her shoulders, she pushed through The Mystic Broom’s front door. Necklaces jangled rhythmically against her chest, noticeably slower than the pounding of her heart. Her soles scuffed unnaturally loud across the floorboards as she made her way into the shadow-filled reaches. She hoped her aunt would prove as easy to find as the dust bunnies colonizing the floor.
The sooner she confirmed that Sorcha remained a quiet recluse, nestled far away from Louisiana witch society in the Northern Cascades, the sooner Rose could leave.
Entry #11: CLASS CLOWN
Title: Class Clown
Word Count: 34,000
For everyone, the eighth grade is tough. For Clarabell Gritt, it’s a circus.
After her clown parents leave the circus, Clara attends a normal school for the first time, which is like all she's ever wanted with delicious, processed cherries on top.
After her clown parents leave the circus, Clara attends a normal school for the first time, which is like all she's ever wanted with delicious, processed cherries on top.
Despite a few hiccups that totally weren't her fault (because teachers should really say that most kids don't wear neon leotards in gym), Clara is determined to seize her golden ticket to normalcy: the school dance. Everything will be prefect if she can just get a date and keep this whole growing-up-in-the-circus thing a secret.
When her parents show up to school in clown costume, Clara has one extraordinary obstacle on her quest to be normal. When the circus is so closely linked with her family, Clara must choose what she’s willing to let go for the life she thinks she wants.
First Page:
Most kids think their parents are total clowns. I guess I do too, but that’s because my parents are clowns, like… literally.
I guess they were clowns until they retired and sent me soaring towards everything I’ve ever wanted. School. Normalcy. Fitting in. This was my chance, and I wasn’t going to blow it.
When Dad pulled up to the curb at my new school in central Indiana—which just screams normal—my hands shook.
“We’re here, kiddo,” Dad said. He looked at me through his wide-rimmed glasses. Usually, I couldn’t help but smile at Dad; he had one of those big toothy grins that dared you to do anything but smile back. Today I couldn’t smile back. The knot in my stomach was too large, and his cheeks were too tight. He hopped out of the car, and opened the back door for Red, my little brother. Red reached his hands out into the air and tensed them, like he was grabbing a vertical rope. He jumped out of the car, still holding the invisible cable. Sometimes I wish Red weren’t so weird. Did he have to be an aspiring mime? Did he have to wear that stupid, black turtleneck every single day? Apparently so.
I thought about this day a lot: my first day of school, ever. I guess I imagined a welcoming white stone building or a rustic outdoor campus, something neat and pretty, but Buzz Aldrin Middle School didn’t look like that.
Entry #10: LOVE AND THE BARD
Title: LOVE AND THE BARD
Genre: NA Contemporary
Word Count: 90,000 words
Pitch:
When Anna accepts her friend Coy’s invitation to join him and his uncle on a Shakespeare Festival roadtrip, she only sees it as a last hurrah before Coy goes back to Chicago. She never expected to fall in love while watching Othello smother Desdemona with a pillow.
Their romance has the potential to be more than just a summer fling when Coy asks Anna to move to Chicago. But Anna’s father, a widower, has always dreamed that Anna would remain at home and finish her education at the same school where he met Anna’s mother.
Anna’s impending move threatens to destroy their relationship, which has always been the most important one in her life. She can be a dutiful daughter or a woman in love—but not both.
Like the Bard says, the course of true love never does run smooth.
First page:
The thick manila envelope from the University of Oregon is staring at me. Or, at least, I am staring at it, trying to figure out what it’s doing on my desk. I haven’t applied to the University, so why have they sent me a big, thick package?
I tear open the envelope and pull out a letter.
Dear Ms. Claysmith, Thank you for your interest in the University of Oregon. Enclosed you will find a copy of our course catalog for the upcoming school year.
I don’t need to read any further. This has Dad’s handiwork written all over it. The envelope, the letter, the course catalog--all are explained by the photograph of my parents that sits on my desk. In the photo, the two of them are only a few years older than I am now. They have their arms around each other, proudly wearing robes and mortarboards and holding their diplomas from the University of Oregon.
Dad hasn’t kept it a secret that he hopes I’ll go to Oregon when I finish my Associate’s degree next month, but pretending to be me and requesting a catalog from the school is taking things a little too far. I chew on the inside of my cheek, trying to decide how to tell him this.
My phone beeps, distracting me from my thoughts. I snatch it off the desk and see the reminder I set for myself: Rehearsal, 7:00pm. Good thing I gave myself a half-hour’s notice; the letter from Oregon made me forget I had plans this evening.
Entry #9: A SERPENT IN THE GARDEN
Title: A Serpent in the Garden
Genre: YA Historical Mystery
Word Count: 60,000
Pitch:
Germany, 1148. A young woman is murdered near the abbey of St. Nicholas. Eva von Hirschburg, an impetuous teenage noblewoman, is struck by similarities between the victim and her own dead mother. She convinces peace-loving Brother Clement to help her investigate, but they clash when Eva accuses a man Clement wants to protect.
Meanwhile, Eva is courted by the charismatic Friderich. Eva cannot deny her attraction to the dashing nobleman, but fears he is only looking for an indiscretion. Worse, Friderich doesn't trust Clement and wants Eva to relinquish her obsession with the murdered woman.
When Eva’s suspicions turn to Friderich's childhood friend, she must risk her heart and her life to catch the killer before he strikes again.
A SERPENT IN THE GARDEN is a historical mystery for young adults, a medieval Nancy Drew with the lush, sexy feel of Anna Godberson's Luxe series.
First page:
No one prayed for my mother's soul. No one spoke of her. My uncle Baldric forbade it. But I refused to forget her. She died fifteen years ago when I was only a babe, but every morning, before the rest of the castle woke, I went to the chapel to plead for her.
Darkness filled the room, intensifying the smell of incense and the aching in my legs as I knelt on the stone floor. I recited the De Profundis, the Misere, and the Requiem Aeternam, prayers suitable for a soul suffering in Purgatory. I considered praying that my uncle Arnulf might finally drink himself to death, but I decided against it. I stood and walked out to the chapel garden.
On my right loomed the bergfried, a defensive tower and, in troubled times, a holding place for prisoners. On my left, the crenellated battlements of the south wall snapped at the sapphire sky. I shuddered, feeling like a mouse trapped in the jaws of a lion. Father Gregory would have reproached me for such ingratitude. Most ladies would count themselves lucky to have a guardian as wise and temperate as Baron Baldric, but I knew he kept me out of duty rather than love. And most ladies do not have to contend with an uncle as reckless and cruel as his brother, Baron Arnulf.
I walked toward the stone archway that led to the main courtyard. A ghostly voice cried out. “Judge thou, O Lord, them that wrong me.
Entry #8: WORDS IN THE WINDOWSILL
Title: Words In The Windowsill
Genre: NA Historical Fiction/Time Travel
Word Count: 62,000
Pitch:
Grad student and self-proclaimed “Ladies-man” Hans Meyer has discovered a mysterious symphony, so he takes off for Germany to do some serious research. Finding an unknown Beethoven work would make one killer thesis. But when Hans gets a strange text about a Time Train, his curiosity buys him a ticket to ride back to Vienna, 1820.
When Hans meets 19th-century Viennese chambermaid, Analeise, passion sparks and they fall deeply in love. The two accidentally uncover love letters holed up within Hans’ bedchamber windowsill exposing a secret about Beethoven and the mysterious manuscript which has eluded history books. Hans brings Analeise and Beethoven’s secret back to the 21stcentury only to find he no longer exists. He must find a way to rewrite the past, which might mean losing the girl who has stolen his heart.
First Page:
With my right foot planted on the piano’s sustain pedal, the final notes of “Piano Man” dissipated under the laughter at The Tavern.
“Listen to ‘em. They want me, big time!” I shouted over my shoulder at my buddy Joe, still seated back at the bar. The end of semester partiers, mostly females, had formed a circle around the piano as they joined me in the drunken sing-a-long, ending their chorus with raucous applause.
“It’s the music they love, not your swag, Hans. Give it a rest, will ya?!” Joe chuckled and took a swig of his beer.
I laughed. “Don’t hate the player, hate the game! Is it your civic duty to give me a hard time, Joe?”
“We all know you’re a good piano player,” he retorted.
I’d been behind the piano at The Tavern for several numbers that night, the women in the crowd swooning over my every note.
“Last song.” I winked at the red-headed cutie to my right, flashing her a smile. “I’m headed across the Atlantic in a couple days,” I announced, as the gathering began to hush. “I can’t think of a better reason to play Billy Joel’s ‘Vienna’. Enjoy.”
The crowd fell silent. My right hand fluttered over the ivories, the song’s poignant lyrics filling the room as I sang. I seamlessly moved into the instrumental, infusing it with Beethoven-esque style. Crooning the final lyrics, I ended with a flirty piano postlude, sealing the deal with the red-head. Yeah, she was hooked.
Entry #7: THE WITCH'S BREW
Title: The Witch's Brew
Genre: YA Fractured Fairy Tale/Legal Thriller
WC: 60 000
Pitch:
Sixteen-year-old Amy Faye dreams of being a human rights lawyer like her father or a crime-busting hero like her aunt. When a routine trip to the drugstore turns wrong. Amy is accused of shoplifting, humiliated and denied her day in court.
Then the grisly remains of Gretel are discovered on the outskirts of the Dark Forest. Amy’s boss, Carmen Caramelo, is arrested. While all of Rosia is ready to burn the Witch, Amy gears up to defend her. After all everyone deserves a fair trial and Carmen’s public defender needs all the help he can get. But for Amy unravelling the truth means risking her reputation, crossing the lead detective and finding Hansel, by any means necessary.
This dangerous game of law and order could land Amy in jail or worse—in a body bag. But doing nothing could result in an unjust execution. Grisham’s The Accused meets Willingham’s Fables.
First Page::
Everafter
Saturday, August 27, 2050
Agreeing to a search and seizure wasn’t part of the plan. Yet here I was phoneless and left to rot in a fridge-sized office, sitting on an upside down milk crate—the best the manager was willing to offer— waiting for the Guard to arrive.
A headache was forming at the base of my neck and working its way up. I needed to get out of here, quick. I didn’t like small spaces and there was barely enough room to stretch my legs.
I glanced at the clock. Four. What was taking so long? It’s not like there was much for the Guard to do in a town of three thousand people. A chief, a piper, a detective and a scout were more than enough to keep the peace.
I rolled my shoulders back and tried to relax against the brick wall. The ache in my neck was quickly turning into a full-blown migraine. I concentrated on the poster on the wall, breathing in and out.
NEVER TRUST A WITCH was printed in bold letters across the top and underneath in small letters: Your life could depend on it. Report any suspicious activity to the nearest Guard.
Never trust a rent-a-guard is more like it. If I hadn’t, I would be at Trish’s place trying on outfits for our first day of high school. Not wasting the last sweet bits of summer in this 2x2 hell.
Entry #6: IF I PROMISE YOU THE SUN
Title: IF I PROMISE YOU THE SUN
Genre: YA Near-Future Thriller/Romance
Word Count: 89,000
Pitch:
In 2107, two teenagers with starkly different goals threaten to shatter the money-making machine of Nova Vita, an anti-technology cult with the key to unlimited solar power.
Plagued by the OCD linked to her photographic memory, Eve Thomas is already on edge when her brother contracts a disease the cult won’t treat for religious reasons.
Having left Manila’s slums years ago, laborer Mana Aquino’s determined to kill the bishop who made a sacrifice of his sister. He just can’t get anywhere near his prey.
But when Mana learns about Eve’s memory, he realizes she’s the weapon he’s been missing. He offers to smuggle medicine to her brother, if she’ll serve as his human camera, gathering information that could topple the bishop.
If Eve accepts, she’ll commit a crime that could destroy the only home she’s ever known. If she says no, her beloved brother’s as good as dead.
Mama and I struggle to keep my sister in the kitchen chair so the medics can find a vein and fill a vial with her blood.
“Let me go!” Theresa shouts, her arms and legs flailing.
Restraining a furious seven-year-old is no easy task. Miraculously, once the needle’s in, her hazel eyes calm and the thrashing subsides. The thin red stream shooting up into the glass is beautiful. After we release her, I tap the back of the chair four times.
Sarah’s next. Nearly twelve, she’d rather die than act like a baby. She jumps into the seat, jaw clenched and lips mashed together. When the vial’s full, she pivots toward me.
“Your turn.”
“Sixteen’s too old. They don’t want my blood.”
“Too bad. It’s kind of fun.”
She bounces off as I rock baby David in his cradle. My smallest brother has such pudgy cheeks, I want to gobble him up. In another year, he’ll be old enough to contract the disease.
Josh is the last one. He slides into the chair before anyone notices, then starts the usual barrage: How’s the blood labeled? How’s it stored? Where will it go? I don’t know any other ten-year-olds like Josh. The two women collecting the samples glance at each other.
“Don’t fret,” says the older one.
“But who looks at the samples?
“Josh.” Mama shakes her head. “That’s enough.”
He frowns. There’s no way he’s buying the story we’ve given the kids about why they’re being tested—he knows it’s not for some scientific study.
Entry #5: NANNY MORTO
Title: Nanny Morto
Genre: MG, Fantasy
Word Count: 25,000
Pitch:
MARY POPPINS meets THE GRAVEYARD BOOK, in a Middle Grade novel NANNY MORTO.
Only Eva and Phillip see the new nanny as a freaky skeleton - smooth skull for a face, bony fingers under the velvet gloves. Forget the park and playgrounds! Trips to the cemetery and visiting antique stores to collect seemingly random items become their new routine. Even so, the children slowly warm up to their peculiar caretaker.
However, Nanny Morto comes with a secret. She is here to earn her death angel wings and requires a few items in order to build her wings, including a soul of a child. Nanny Morto must choose one of the siblings in order to complete her task, and at the end of the summer - she does.
First Page:
A clean chalk-white skull grinned at Phillip from underneath a black velvet hat adorned with a golden broche. A large beaded purse sat on the floor.
The new nanny finished the interview with Mr. and Mrs. Kiev. She answered the questions satisfactorily, provided impeccable references, and was offered the position on the spot. When the parents inquired what the children should call her, she removed her gloves, revealing skinless bony hands, and replied, “Nanny Morto.”
Phillip wasn’t the skittish type, but when the hard white finger-bones stretched out to shake his hand, he paused.
“Mom?” His raised eyebrows and wide-eyed expression should have counted for something, but Mrs. Kiev didn’t understand her son’s hesitation. Unlike Phillip, all she saw was an elegant young woman qualified enough to care for her two children on a last minute notice. And so Mrs. Kiev frowned and nodded with meaning, prompting her ten-year old to take the bony fingers of their new nanny and shake.
“Pleased to meet you, Phillip,” Nanny Morto said as soon as their hands met. Her velvety voice matched her hat.
The bones gripped Phillip’s hand, and moved it up and down. The boy withdrew as soon as good manners allowed and retreated behind the yellow sofa, mumbling, “Nice to meet you,” and rubbing his hands as if they were cold. Soon after, Phillip disappeared into the kitchen, but he continued to spy on the adults from the doorway, curiosity and the sense of imminent adventure rising in his veins.
Entry #4: PALOMA AND THE BOW WOW BAR MITZVAH
Title: Paloma and the Bow Wow Bar Mitzvah
Genre: contemporary early middle grade chapter book
Word Count: 14,500
Pitch:
Impulsive, fur-phobic, nine-year-old Paloma Perez needs cash fast, or she’ll miss celebrating her best friend’s birthday at the most epic-i-lious concert ever.
Pet sitting a lost and most-likely dead cat isn’t working out, so Paloma literally turns herself upside down. Ka-ching! She comes up with a brilliant money maker--Paloma Perez Party Planner Extraordinaire. But she ignores her best friend’s warning, and her first event, a Doggie Bar Mitzvah, unloads a pooper-scooper full of trouble.
Paloma scrambles to pull together a furry fun-a-palooza, but amid the chaos of cat party crashers (they come for the herring) and yarmulke-eating canines, Paloma’s worried she could fail. And even worse, she could lose her best friend too.
First Page:
Summer Vacation Rule Number One: if you’re trying to save the planet, don’t use left-over Easter egg dye as hair color.
I, Paloma Perez, have a lot of hiccups. Not the mini-heart-attack, can’t-breathe-for-a-second kind of hiccups. The Paloma-what-have-you-done-now kind of hiccups. But those are my mom’s words. She calls my oops-I-made-a-mistake hiccups, disasters.
Hiccups aren’t disasters unless you’re Charles Osborne. He’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for hiccuping for sixty-eight years. Can you believe he hiccuped every ten seconds, even when he was sleeping? I used a calculator. That’s over two hundred million hiccups.
I’m only nine. I bet I don’t have a thousand hiccups. Even if I add the regular kind and the mistakey kind together. But it’s only the first day of my summer vacation.
Anything could happen.
I could drink too fast and laugh too hard and ka-powie! Hiccups. ,
Or my planet-saving hair color could stink like pickles. Which it does. But I told my mom, that’s not a disaster.
I didn't convince her. She banished me from the back of Lucia's Divas Hair Salon, to the front. My mom’s Lucia. She’s the owner, and we live above the salon with my grandmother.
So I’m sitting at the scratched wooden table called the reception desk, when Nina, my best friend, flies into the salon like she packed her Tori Skori backpack with jet fuel.
Genre: contemporary early middle grade chapter book
Word Count: 14,500
Pitch:
Impulsive, fur-phobic, nine-year-old Paloma Perez needs cash fast, or she’ll miss celebrating her best friend’s birthday at the most epic-i-lious concert ever.
Pet sitting a lost and most-likely dead cat isn’t working out, so Paloma literally turns herself upside down. Ka-ching! She comes up with a brilliant money maker--Paloma Perez Party Planner Extraordinaire. But she ignores her best friend’s warning, and her first event, a Doggie Bar Mitzvah, unloads a pooper-scooper full of trouble.
Paloma scrambles to pull together a furry fun-a-palooza, but amid the chaos of cat party crashers (they come for the herring) and yarmulke-eating canines, Paloma’s worried she could fail. And even worse, she could lose her best friend too.
First Page:
Summer Vacation Rule Number One: if you’re trying to save the planet, don’t use left-over Easter egg dye as hair color.
I, Paloma Perez, have a lot of hiccups. Not the mini-heart-attack, can’t-breathe-for-a-second kind of hiccups. The Paloma-what-have-you-done-now kind of hiccups. But those are my mom’s words. She calls my oops-I-made-a-mistake hiccups, disasters.
Hiccups aren’t disasters unless you’re Charles Osborne. He’s in the Guinness Book of World Records for hiccuping for sixty-eight years. Can you believe he hiccuped every ten seconds, even when he was sleeping? I used a calculator. That’s over two hundred million hiccups.
I’m only nine. I bet I don’t have a thousand hiccups. Even if I add the regular kind and the mistakey kind together. But it’s only the first day of my summer vacation.
Anything could happen.
I could drink too fast and laugh too hard and ka-powie! Hiccups. ,
Or my planet-saving hair color could stink like pickles. Which it does. But I told my mom, that’s not a disaster.
I didn't convince her. She banished me from the back of Lucia's Divas Hair Salon, to the front. My mom’s Lucia. She’s the owner, and we live above the salon with my grandmother.
So I’m sitting at the scratched wooden table called the reception desk, when Nina, my best friend, flies into the salon like she packed her Tori Skori backpack with jet fuel.
Entry #3: BECOMING HOOK
Title: BECOMING HOOK
Genre: Fantasy Pre-telling/LGTB
Word Count: 62,000
PITCH:
When sixteen-year-old James Allison (Jas) joins her Uncle Blackbeard’s crew, it’s for money to start a new life and stop living as a boy. When stranded in Neverland and a flying boy poisons Blackbeard, the only thing she wants is a cure to save him.
Daring to take on the island, Jas sets out only to be captured by Peter and the Lost Boys. All seems lost – until a native, Tiger Lily, offers to help. In exchange, Jas and the pirates must never return. The girls’ journey leads to friendship and something Jas can’t deny – she’s is falling in love with Lily. Talk of war between the Indians and pirates brews as they race to find the cure amid interference from psychotic Peter. Jealousy drives Jas and Peter towards battle and it’s love that’ll tear Neverland apart. Jas must become the pirate she was meant to be or lose everything.
FIRST PAGE:
February 1718 – 48.95° N 6.7° E
The long bandage squeezes my breasts but I pull it tighter – until the binding digs in and pinches my skin. Tucking the end in, I run my hands over my chest to make sure it’s smooth and flat. I sigh. I’m left with two small slopes above a narrow waist and curved hips and pale skin. The ship creeks, mocking my frustration.
“Where did that ribbon run of to?” I mutter and pull apart my bed. Nothing. I drop to my knees and search the floorboards. My room on the quarter deck is no bigger than a matchbox, yet I manage to constantly misplace the last ribbon I own. I sit back on my heels, thinking back to where I last had it. Ah ha! I jump up and open the door adjoining the Captain’s quarters. Light pours through the bay windows and stretches across the room, highlighting the table covered in nautical and star charts. I spot the red ribbon laying on top.
“Should you be walking around like that?” Disgust drips from the words. I glance at the lantern dangling in the center of the room as I stride through. Wide eyes peer out from a little face with long buttery hair falling behind her wings.
Her quip at my half dressed state jabs at me. “Shouldn’t you be fluttering those wings of yours? You haven’t met your dust quota for the day,” I retort, snatching up the ribbon.
Genre: Fantasy Pre-telling/LGTB
Word Count: 62,000
PITCH:
When sixteen-year-old James Allison (Jas) joins her Uncle Blackbeard’s crew, it’s for money to start a new life and stop living as a boy. When stranded in Neverland and a flying boy poisons Blackbeard, the only thing she wants is a cure to save him.
Daring to take on the island, Jas sets out only to be captured by Peter and the Lost Boys. All seems lost – until a native, Tiger Lily, offers to help. In exchange, Jas and the pirates must never return. The girls’ journey leads to friendship and something Jas can’t deny – she’s is falling in love with Lily. Talk of war between the Indians and pirates brews as they race to find the cure amid interference from psychotic Peter. Jealousy drives Jas and Peter towards battle and it’s love that’ll tear Neverland apart. Jas must become the pirate she was meant to be or lose everything.
FIRST PAGE:
February 1718 – 48.95° N 6.7° E
The long bandage squeezes my breasts but I pull it tighter – until the binding digs in and pinches my skin. Tucking the end in, I run my hands over my chest to make sure it’s smooth and flat. I sigh. I’m left with two small slopes above a narrow waist and curved hips and pale skin. The ship creeks, mocking my frustration.
“Where did that ribbon run of to?” I mutter and pull apart my bed. Nothing. I drop to my knees and search the floorboards. My room on the quarter deck is no bigger than a matchbox, yet I manage to constantly misplace the last ribbon I own. I sit back on my heels, thinking back to where I last had it. Ah ha! I jump up and open the door adjoining the Captain’s quarters. Light pours through the bay windows and stretches across the room, highlighting the table covered in nautical and star charts. I spot the red ribbon laying on top.
“Should you be walking around like that?” Disgust drips from the words. I glance at the lantern dangling in the center of the room as I stride through. Wide eyes peer out from a little face with long buttery hair falling behind her wings.
Her quip at my half dressed state jabs at me. “Shouldn’t you be fluttering those wings of yours? You haven’t met your dust quota for the day,” I retort, snatching up the ribbon.
Entry #2: THE UNBELIEVABLE MISADVENTURES OF AVERY MANN
Title: The Unbelievable Misadventures of Avery Mann
Genre: MG Contemporary Fantasy
Word Count: 69,000
Pitch:
Avery Mann’s biggest worry before his eleventh birthday is avoiding atomic wedgies from Max "The Wild Thing" Lovell. However, his fear of overstretched underwear vanishes when he becomes a pawn in a supernatural game of four-way chess between wise-guy magi, scheming witches, fiendish monsters, and storybook villains come to life. Needless to say, getting caught up in an inter-dimensional conspiracy throws a flying monkey wrench into his summer plans, which did not include magically bonding himself to a murderous raven or making fishy deals with Long John Silver. Worse yet, Avery's only chance to get out of this tangled web of wackiness is to free the Wicked Witch of the East… from Hell. And if he fails, his family will remain a bunch of Rip Van Winkles, his newfound friends will be imprisoned, and he'll never finish reading his Ultimate Spider-Man collection.
First Page:
The walled garden in Kensington Park wasn't as impenetrable as Superman’s Fortress of Solitude or high-tech as the Batcave, but it made the perfect hideout. It was a place where I could read comics, practice magic tricks, and avoid trouble, especially my arch-enemy Max “The Wild Thing” Lovell.
Not to mention it was quiet here, too.
Chip! Chip! Chip!
Mostly.
Three baby chipmunks poked their heads out of a rose bush.
“Again?” I tossed them the last few peanuts from my lunch bag.
They dashed out, stuffed their chubby cheeks, and raced back home. Not even a thanks. Oh well, what could I say? I was always a sucker for animals.
A breeze blew through the gazebo, bringing with it the scent of various flowers. I breathed in. Mmmm. The garden smelled so much better than the bushes behind Ms. Crabtree’s compost heap—which had made a great hiding spot last year, but required nose-plugs and deodorant sprays.
I glanced at my watch. It was almost noon on the first full day of summer vacation and nobody had bothered me here. Not my six older brothers. Not Max. Not—
SWAT!
A piece of paper smacked into my face.
“Gah!”
I yanked the thing off me, ready to rip it into subatomic particles, but then the word, “Magic” caught my eye. A thrill fluttered up from the bottom of my stomach to the back of my neck as I shoved the flapping flyer against the ground.
Genre: MG Contemporary Fantasy
Word Count: 69,000
Pitch:
Avery Mann’s biggest worry before his eleventh birthday is avoiding atomic wedgies from Max "The Wild Thing" Lovell. However, his fear of overstretched underwear vanishes when he becomes a pawn in a supernatural game of four-way chess between wise-guy magi, scheming witches, fiendish monsters, and storybook villains come to life. Needless to say, getting caught up in an inter-dimensional conspiracy throws a flying monkey wrench into his summer plans, which did not include magically bonding himself to a murderous raven or making fishy deals with Long John Silver. Worse yet, Avery's only chance to get out of this tangled web of wackiness is to free the Wicked Witch of the East… from Hell. And if he fails, his family will remain a bunch of Rip Van Winkles, his newfound friends will be imprisoned, and he'll never finish reading his Ultimate Spider-Man collection.
First Page:
The walled garden in Kensington Park wasn't as impenetrable as Superman’s Fortress of Solitude or high-tech as the Batcave, but it made the perfect hideout. It was a place where I could read comics, practice magic tricks, and avoid trouble, especially my arch-enemy Max “The Wild Thing” Lovell.
Not to mention it was quiet here, too.
Chip! Chip! Chip!
Mostly.
Three baby chipmunks poked their heads out of a rose bush.
“Again?” I tossed them the last few peanuts from my lunch bag.
They dashed out, stuffed their chubby cheeks, and raced back home. Not even a thanks. Oh well, what could I say? I was always a sucker for animals.
A breeze blew through the gazebo, bringing with it the scent of various flowers. I breathed in. Mmmm. The garden smelled so much better than the bushes behind Ms. Crabtree’s compost heap—which had made a great hiding spot last year, but required nose-plugs and deodorant sprays.
I glanced at my watch. It was almost noon on the first full day of summer vacation and nobody had bothered me here. Not my six older brothers. Not Max. Not—
SWAT!
A piece of paper smacked into my face.
“Gah!”
I yanked the thing off me, ready to rip it into subatomic particles, but then the word, “Magic” caught my eye. A thrill fluttered up from the bottom of my stomach to the back of my neck as I shoved the flapping flyer against the ground.
Entry #1: IVAN AND THE GREY WOLF
Title: Ivan and Grey Wolf
Genre: NA Sci/Fi
Word count: 75k
Pitch:
Ivan killed his mother. His father hates him. His brother beats him. He is Durochka, the Little Fool.
And then the firebird comes, stealing sculptures from his beloved mother’s garden.
His family won’t believe what he has seen, so Ivan, an autistic twenty-three-year-old, goes out alone seeking proof of the mysterious bird. FORREST GUMP meets the sci/fi folktale flavor of LUNAR CHRONICLES as Ivan discovers his autism makes him invaluable to scientists who would use his brain to further their own ends. Ivan is thrust into the center of a conspiracy to bring down a foreign government, unsure of who to trust or what consequences his choices might hold.
The key to Ivan’s survival lies with a spy crucial to the rebellion, a woman code-named Trojan Horse. A woman who has Ivan’s eyes. A woman who knows Ivan’s face. A woman callous enough to walk out on an autistic son.
First page:
A midwife placed her hands on the small of Vasilisa's back, pressing hard to relieve the pain of the contraction. Three other midwives lounged within the chamber, alternately humming the Entrance to Life prayer and munching on cheese and crackers.
The four women had been with Vasilisa now for most of the day, humming and singing with her as she moaned in pain.
This stubborn child, Vasilisa thought. Torturing me in my prison.
The contraction sharpened.
Vasilisa's moan rose with it, piercing the air with agonized song. She smelled blood; the time was coming due for the child to complete the ritual. She sensed the midwife motion for the others, and through a veil of pain, she saw the women amble over to her.
Strong hands gripped her by the arms and led her to a tub of water in front of the fireplace. Steam skimmed the surface of the water, which had been kept ready by two skilled maids, who now stood trembling in the corner.
"Get them out of here!" Vasilisa said, motioning wildly at the maids. They fled, and Vasilisa groaned as another contraction hit before the previous had fully receded.
The midwives removed her robe and helped her naked body into the tub. Gripping the metal sides with her hands, Vasilisa squatted in the water. She rocked from side to side on her heels, allowing her pelvis to relax in the warm water as yet another contraction began to build.
Genre: NA Sci/Fi
Word count: 75k
Pitch:
Ivan killed his mother. His father hates him. His brother beats him. He is Durochka, the Little Fool.
And then the firebird comes, stealing sculptures from his beloved mother’s garden.
His family won’t believe what he has seen, so Ivan, an autistic twenty-three-year-old, goes out alone seeking proof of the mysterious bird. FORREST GUMP meets the sci/fi folktale flavor of LUNAR CHRONICLES as Ivan discovers his autism makes him invaluable to scientists who would use his brain to further their own ends. Ivan is thrust into the center of a conspiracy to bring down a foreign government, unsure of who to trust or what consequences his choices might hold.
The key to Ivan’s survival lies with a spy crucial to the rebellion, a woman code-named Trojan Horse. A woman who has Ivan’s eyes. A woman who knows Ivan’s face. A woman callous enough to walk out on an autistic son.
First page:
A midwife placed her hands on the small of Vasilisa's back, pressing hard to relieve the pain of the contraction. Three other midwives lounged within the chamber, alternately humming the Entrance to Life prayer and munching on cheese and crackers.
The four women had been with Vasilisa now for most of the day, humming and singing with her as she moaned in pain.
This stubborn child, Vasilisa thought. Torturing me in my prison.
The contraction sharpened.
Vasilisa's moan rose with it, piercing the air with agonized song. She smelled blood; the time was coming due for the child to complete the ritual. She sensed the midwife motion for the others, and through a veil of pain, she saw the women amble over to her.
Strong hands gripped her by the arms and led her to a tub of water in front of the fireplace. Steam skimmed the surface of the water, which had been kept ready by two skilled maids, who now stood trembling in the corner.
"Get them out of here!" Vasilisa said, motioning wildly at the maids. They fled, and Vasilisa groaned as another contraction hit before the previous had fully receded.
The midwives removed her robe and helped her naked body into the tub. Gripping the metal sides with her hands, Vasilisa squatted in the water. She rocked from side to side on her heels, allowing her pelvis to relax in the warm water as yet another contraction began to build.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Top 25 Entries!
It's the post you've all been waiting for! First a reminder that our hope in doing this contest is that you will receive valuable feedback that will help you hone your work so that it catches an agent/editor's attention. You've all shown bravery for putting your work out there, and if your manuscript is not on the list below it does not mean it isn't great. Writing and publishing are subjective.
Now, the rules!
Now, the rules!
- Revised pitches and first pages are due back to us at ayapcontest at gmail dot com by Sunday at Noon. High noon. Please include your name, email, title, genre, manuscript word count, pitch of no more than 150 words, and first page of no more than 250 words. Note we've added word count and the whole first page.
- Subject line should read Pitch Plus 1 top 25 Entry: Title
- ONLY ONE EMAIL per person please. It gets confusing when I get twelve versions from eight people. I know you're excited, but take the time to review the above two items before pressing send.
- They will be posted Monday by 8PM EST.
- You may comment on each others posts. The authors will do so sometime this week at their discretion up to NOON ON FRIDAY. Remember these are published authors donating their time to give you guidance. :D
- Again, the judges will fill out score cards and a discrepancy judge will be available if there's an issue. The results will be tabulated and announced next Saturday morning. The top 10 will go on to the agent round.
Now what you're all waiting for. Or have already scrolled down to so you could check the list first. In no particular order:
- Defy the Stars
- Paloma and the Bow Wow Bar Mitzvah
- Gerald and the Amulet of Zonrach
- Class Clown
- Camp Cammoodle
- Something Wicked
- A Serpent in the Garden
- Where there is Dark
- Luma
- Roger Firebug
- The Unbelievable Misadventures of Avery Mann
- Becoming Hook
- Don Q. Oatney - Vampire Hunter
- Witches Brew
- Ivan and the Grey Wolf
- See You Then, Joshua Jacobs
- If I promise you the sun
- Twist of Fate
- Darkenwear Inc.: Feathers vs. Scales
- Words in the Windowsill
- Love and the Bard
- Leaving Peacesylvania
- Heritage Blade
- Nanny Morto
- Conduit
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)