Three teen editors on three blogs with three prizes. Win!
Submission Post!
Today, I'm hosting editor, Taryn Albright of TEEN EYES EDITORIAL on my blog for the Can You Hook a Teen? contest. The submission window will be July 31 from 8AM to 12AM EST. Go here for more details and to learn about the other editors.
Taryn Albright
Taryn will judge query letters here on my site. The winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to use toward any of Taryn's editorial services.
This contest is for new adult, young adult, and middle grade manuscripts only.
This contest is for new adult, young adult, and middle grade manuscripts only.
Enter your query letters in the comments of this post. Here's how to format them:
Format your query as if you were sending it to an agent. Like this:
Name: Your Name
Title: TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT
Genre: Manuscript's genre
Title: TITLE OF MANUSCRIPT
Genre: Manuscript's genre
Query Letter here. (No double spacing. No indentions.)
After you finish, make sure to stop by my co-hosts' blogs and enter for a chance to win a prize from the other two editors of Teen Eyes Editorial.
Brenda Drake will host editor Brent Taylor who will judge one-line pitches (35-words max.). The winner will receive a 20K in-depth manuscript critique.
Krista Van Dolzer will host editor Kate Coursey who will judge 1st pages (250-word max). The winner will receive a 20K in-depth manuscript critique.
Please be patient. The editors will read the entries during the week and will contact us with the winners.
Here's the great part, you can enter on one, two, or all three of the blogs for a chance to win the prize on that blog (one prize per person).
You don't have to follow us on our blogs or on twitter or spread the word to win, but we'd love it if you did. All you have to do is enter in the comments below.-------
That sums it up. ALL ENTRIES MUST BE POSTED IN THE COMMENT BOX OF THIS POST. No email or web form. (That's because this is NOT an MSFV contest. Any entries sent to MSFV will not be included, so please make sure you enter in the comment box below!)
Name: Natasha Hanova
ReplyDeleteTitle: EDGE OF TRUTH
Genre: YA Dark Paranormal
In the year 2248, Rena Moon, a free-spirited teen under a dictatorship, struggles to control her power to trigger earthquakes. At least, until her best friend, Blaze, is kidnapped. Rena lives in a divided society where the wealthy enjoy life in the Eden bio-domes, while everyone else labors under the strict enforcement of Synbots in Hollowcrest. Rena fears detection because no one knows what happens to Others, like her, once apprehended. She believes she’ll find refuge in Eden. Though property is available for anyone who can afford it, strategic oppression prevents Hollowcrest residents from saving enough to buy land.
During an excursion into the forbidden lands where Rena vents, i.e. triggers earthquakes, she unearths an antique packed cave. There’s enough treasure to help her family escape poverty. Before she can cash in, Topaz, a Buyer from Eden, kidnaps Blaze, in order to extort the relics’ location. The Buyer proves he’s willing to torture and kill to get what he wants. Rena pursues him with the intention of saving her friend and retaining her claim. Nevan, her secret crush and an agricultural worker with a calming presence, joins her. During the rescue, Rena’s anxiety triggers a massive earthquake, which kills two people. Determined to ensure at minimal Blaze’s safety, Rena must stay in control, decide what moral boundaries she’s willing to breach with her powers, and what losses she can live with.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Cheryl Ham
ReplyDeleteTitle: Where There Is Dark
Genre: YA Fantasy
Dear Agent Awesome,
Obey the Shadow Council. Avoid the rebels. In a world ravaged by darkness, both are essential to survive--a concept seventeen-year-old Jazzlyn couldn’t care less about. She’s out for blood, determined to avenge her father’s murder, and playing it safe won’t get the job done. But the rebels have a plan of their own, and fear trumps hatred when they take her boyfriend hostage and demand a trade, Tristan’s life in exchange for a rare Lumenian light-stone.
Surviving on little more than mushrooms and hope, Creperians languish beneath the black clouds separating them from those thriving within the City of Light. Jazzlyn’s immunity to the Star’s deadly rays makes her Creperi’s last hope for salvation. It also makes her the ideal candidate to carry out the rebels misguided plans. She’ll have to risk more than just her own life if she wants Tristan back alive.
She knows stealing the stone won’t be easy. She doesn’t know her thievery will unravel the secret behind Creperi’s perpetual darkness, and that everyone—Tristan included—has something hide.
My 80,000 word, young adult fantasy, WHERE THERE IS DARK, is a standalone novel with series potential. Fans of Pure will connect with Jazzlyn’s fight to discover her purpose in a world divided, and readers of Daughter of Smoke and Bone will root for another fiercely loyal main character who will do anything to protect those she loves.
Name: Dan Burns
ReplyDeleteTitle: PENDANT OF POWER
Genre: Middle grade fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
I enjoyed reading your online interview with Kathryn Purdie and especially appreciated your positive comments about critique partners.
In THE PENDANT OF POWER, my 38,000 word middle grade fiction book, fantasy meets a strong sense of realism. Jon Bidwell thinks he is just imagining the smoke his teachers are breathing out. Soon, however, he learns the truth - all of the teachers at his school are dragons in human form. He also learns dragons were responsible for his mother's death years earlier and that he has a twin sister no one had bothered to tell him about. Accompanied by both a bully and a girl who recently gave him a black eye, Jon soon finds himself face to face with flesh and blood dragons as he searches for the Pendant of Power, the only thing capable of helping him defeat the dragons and helping him find his lost sister. Although THE PENDANT OF POWER is a stand alone book, it has series potential.
As a fifth grade public school teacher, I believe I have a deep understanding of books that resonate with middle grade students. My writing has appeared in CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL: THE CANCER BOOK. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Dan Burns
Name: Stephanie and Isaac Flint
ReplyDeleteTitle: DISTANT HORIZON
Genre: YA Dystopian Adventure
When eighteen-year-old Jenna Nickleson is targeted by the Camaraderie of Evil for having super powers, she escapes the Community and joins her grandfather’s team of rebels. But being able to make vines grow isn’t much of a weapon against beasties, monsters that throw fireballs and can rip out a person’s throat.
So when Jenna hears a young man screaming for help in one of the beastie creation facilities, she tries to rescue him. That’s one less beastie she’ll have to kill later-- and she’s never liked killing anyone, even beasties. Unfortunately, she’s not able to save him before the horrible transformation is complete, and now that she’s seen where beasties come from, the idea of killing innocents is even more appalling.
She’d rather stop the ones who created the monsters.
She gets her chance when her stunt catches the attention of the malicious Brainmaster, a telepath in charge of overseeing beastie creation. Brainmaster gives Jenna an ultimatum: join the Camaraderie and help create the monsters, or become one herself.
With Brainmaster attacking her mind, Jenna has to figure out what’s real and what’s just a figment of the telepath’s cruel imagination, or she’ll never have a chance to destroy the beastie creation facilities.
Name: Molly Trainor
ReplyDeleteTitle: TALENTED
Genre: YA contemporary sci-fi
Gail has spent her whole life waiting. She's a fourteen year-old with a useless talent, and has a premature need for fulfillment. When she hears about the Community and gets an opportunity to go, she takes it. It’s supposed to be a haven for people like her. They embrace her—tell her she is just like them. Talented. She’s gifted, lucky, part of an important group with a wide range of abilities.
Like every other Talented, Gail feels the Community is the only place where she is wanted. But then she meets another Talented who hasn’t joined yet, another kid. He's been around for a little longer, and with his help, Gail discovers why it’s every Talented’s goal to join the Community. They have no other choice. Refusal is suicide.
Now Gail begins to attempt an escape from the Community, when she discovers they have controlled her life from the beginning. As Gail begins to understand her Talent, she dreads the Community even more. They have many secrets, which Gail is only beginning to uncover. She is stronger than she thought, and her Talent is greater than the Community wants her to believe. Not only that, but her parents are alive somewhere, looking for her.
By finding her parents, Gail hopes she’ll be safe. But when she finally meets them, she’s not as happy as she thought she’d be. The threat of the Community hasn't gone away. And it's not just Gail that's in danger--it's every Talented, including her new friend.
Gail must decide whether to continue on her own journey for completion, in hiding, or put herself in danger by helping the Talenteds in their fight against the Community.
TALENTED is a 77,000 word, YA contemporary sci-fi, with a good bit of adventure.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Lydia Tahraoui
ReplyDeleteTitle: AN UNNATURAL ELEGANCE
Genre: YA Fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
The first rule is to fear the witches. Seventeen-year-old Princess Elise knows she should, especially after the bloody Witches’ Revolution.
The second rule is to stay away from the witches. Elise can’t do that anymore – her father has just made one his queen.
The third rule is to never, ever cross the witches. Now it’s too late. When her five older brothers’ assassination attempt on the new queen goes terribly wrong, they’re turned into swans. Elise is the only one to escape the queen – and their only hope.
Saving them means leaving the only home she’s ever known for a forest crawling with witches, magic, and monsters. It means entering a world she’s always feared and breaking the rules she’s followed all her life.
But some rules are meant to be broken.
As you expressed interest in fairy tale retellings, I hope you may consider AN UNNATURAL ELEGANCE, a young adult retelling of THE WILD SWANS complete at 85,000 words. It is set in alternative historical France in the late 1700s, where the French Revolution was a war between witches and mortals.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
M. H. Leiter
ReplyDeleteNitty Gritty
YA thriller
Being a Hurricane Katrina evacuee is bad enough, but fifteen-year-old Marissa Martin soon faces even worse when her dad disappears into the war zone that was once New Orleans. Now she has to survive her new life in a new school without anyone to help her manage her telepathic powers.
Just when she feels most alone, Marissa meets Jake, the preppy student council president with a touch of nerd who shares her power. Then Marissa hears a strange woman calling out to her for help. Aided by Jake and his sister Emily, a girl with a social conscience the size of California, Marissa races back home and wades through the water in search of her dad and this mystery woman only to discover just how much everything has changed.
A finished manuscript at 61,000 words, Nitty Gritty combines the emotional appeal of Sarah Dessen with the horrors of a real-world situation that will appeal to fans of dystopian fiction. With thrilling action, a touch of romance, and a telepathic twist, it’s a wonderful fit for teen girls navigating the nitty gritty reality of their own lives.
Like Marissa, I left Louisiana and now live in central Pennsylvania. Writing has become my way of returning home through such publications as Becoming Cajun, Becoming American: The Acadian in American Literature from Longfellow to James Lee Burke (LSU Press, 2009) and a more recent article on post-Katrina New Orleans detective fiction published in Clues: A Journal of Detection. I am an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this proposal. And thank you for taking part in such a wonderful contest.
Juliana Haygert
ReplyDeleteAMBER ENERGY
NA romantic fantasy
To do what is right, she has to neglect her heart. Twice.
Recaptured by the guard, Ellanue is given a choice by the ruling council of her realm. Be sent to Earth to train the new Warden, preparing him for the incoming war, or be judged for her crimes and, most certainly, executed. For her honor, she would rather die, but because of a secret unfinished business, she accepts the offer.
Though, convincing self-centered Blake of his own mission is a hard task.
Blake would give anything to have it easy. He wants to graduate from college and get a nice job, however, with his taste for partying and drinking and girls, he can keep a simple (description) job to pay for his classes.
When Ellanue knocks on his door showing him what she can do and what she can teach him, Blake is head over heels—for the magic and for the girl. She soon proves to be business driven. At least she doesn’t realize he plans on using his powers to get a pretty awesome life.
Ellanue finds out Blake’s plans and strips him of his powers. It only gets worse when people she thought as allies, ambush and betray her. Heartbroken, Ellanue sets to face her enemies alone, even if the price is her own life.
Name: Jeannette Smejkal
ReplyDeleteTitle: WHAT SILENCE HEARD
Genre: YA thriller
Attn: Ms. Albright:
The people of Nyah’s village are gone and the homes are stripped bare like carcasses in the sun. Shattered, angry, and overwhelmed, she wanders through the wilderness until she meets another left-behind named Shade.
Although he’s evasive, has more supplies than he should, and he’s preoccupied with finding every left-behind, they become a comfort to each other among desolation.
But as their left-behind group grows, a threat begins gathering. Some of the loved ones who deserted them are returning, cruelly transformed and vicious, and the left-behinds are their quarry.
Shade alone knows why they are being hunted, but smoldering guilt keeps him silent. Nyah is stalked by a vision of her vanished baby brother, but her pain keeps her deaf to his whispered hints.
Running might help them survive a bit longer, but the true solution runs with them. The ninth member of their group makes all the difference: for Nyah's healing, for Shade's sanity, and for the survival of all of the left-behinds.
He's also the one whose very existence ensures their failure.
WHAT SILENCE HEARD is complete at 80,000 words. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Jeannette
Name: Veronica Bartles
ReplyDeleteTitle: KISSING FROGS
Genre: YA contemporary
Alaina Andersen used to dream of growing up to be a princess, not the girl with the biggest boobs at Southbrook High. But other than her good grades, she’s afraid her DD-cup bra is the only thing anyone notices about her. Alaina has never been kissed, she’s never had a boyfriend, and she’s never even been out on a real date. Most boys are only interested in one thing, but Alaina is holding out for true romance.
She’s pretty sure that Shane Crawford is the perfect boy she’s been waiting for. Not only is he gorgeous, he’s sweet and sensitive, and he doesn’t gawk at her chest when he talks to her. Alaina believes that if she could win Shane’s heart, she could finally be recognized as more than just the sum of her parts. With the perfect boyfriend at her side, she might even discover where she belongs. But when Shane steals a not-so-innocent kiss, then asks her to pretend nothing happened, she begins to think that nice guys only exist in fairy tales. Picking up the pieces of her shattered fantasy, Alaina discovers that Prince Charming and perfect, magical kisses, aren’t the key to finding her own “Happily Ever After.”
KISSING FROGS is a YA Contemporary novel, complete at 55,000 words. I am a member of SCBWI and the Maryland Writer’s Association. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMarcia Wells
ReplyDeleteHANNA AND THE HORSEMEN
YA Paranormal
When you’re Death's daughter, summer camp in Hell is the least of your problems…
For Hanna Graves, growing up is difficult. Her adoptive father is Death, her uncles the Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Famine, Disease, and War. They are loving. Overprotective. And the most powerful forces on the planet.
Kept under strict rules and curfews, all Hanna wants is some freedom, the chance to be a regular teenage girl. An impossible dream, until she makes a deal with The Fates to escape the All-Seeing Eye of her father. But bargaining with the Underworld always comes with a price. To pay off her debt, Hanna must spend the summer in Hell working for Hades in the infamous Fodina mines. The worst summer camp ever, until she meets a 2000-year-old boy from Sparta, one of the damned who may hold the key to her heart.
Name: Anahlynn Spiers
ReplyDeleteTitle: A PECULIAR DUSK
Genre: YA paranormal mystery
When the specter form of his imaginary childhood friend appears in his bedroom, seventeen-year-old Avery Slater learns that it's harder to get rid of the dead than he thought.
Ever since his childhood, Avery has been forced to listen to the whining of the dead. Crazy dead cat ladies and angry hit-and-run victims just love to tell him about their undead problems. After moving to the dinky town of Gravenhague, he thought he'd finally be able to leave all of that ghostly nonsense behind. Sebastian was never one for following plans.
Fifty years old with the temper of a raging third grader, Sebastian has a task only Avery can complete: Find his killer and set his soul free. Not an easy thing when the only clues are a broken violin, a feather, and the faint smell of lilac before death.
All Avery wants is to get this mystery over with, but with a seedy cult called Blacklight working to cover up the strange happenings of Gravenhague, it's more than a headache. As he descends deeper into the mystery, he discovers this isn't your average sleuthing case. Blacklight's spies are watching, and the town's occupants are less than hospitable. With disappearances and death shadowing him, Avery has to wonder if getting rid of Sebastian is worth the hassle.
If being haunted by ghosts has taught him anything, it’s that he never wants to be one.
A PECULIAR DUSK is a 75,000 word, young adult paranormal, with a dash of mystery.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Wendy Wilson O’Connell
ReplyDeleteTitle: Wolf Drawing
Genre: YA Horror
Protecting the town means sacrificing someone to the wolf every year and seventeen-year-old Red wants to rip out beating hearts.
Mama has to draw. I begged her not to go tonight. My face still stings from where she slapped me. She left a mark as bright as my name – Red. Her shit brown eyes glared defiance at me leaving the stench of her ignorant pride up my nose. I shouldn’t worry. She has more of a chance this year not to draw the paper with the wolf symbol. There are twenty more names in the drawing because of the high school graduates just turning eighteen. Next year, I’ll be eighteen and I dare this town ask me to go. I double dare them to lead me to the edge of those woods.
That wolf should be coming after me, not Mama. She’s all I’ve got, and being alone is the only thing I’m afraid of. I shouldn’t be here, but when have I ever done anything I’m supposed to do? My body presses farther into the tree behind me. The night air should numb me to what’s going on in that big white Plantation house on the hill, but it doesn’t.
My awareness warms me. You could even say it has made me wolf-like. It will soon enough. It’s dark, and the full moon passes behind the roof. Its six large windows on both floors make it look like a real mansion, but close up you can see the paint peeling, just like this town and all of its traditions built out of fear and superstition.
Name: Sarah Nelson
ReplyDeleteTitle: SHUT UP AND KILL ME
Genre: YA thriller
Dear Ms. Albright,
High school's a bitch, especially when everyone thinks you're a murderer.
Claire Alexander was arrested for killing her parents when she was thirteen. Sure, she was acquitted four months later, but that sort of rep is hard to shake. Now, after four years shifting between out-of-town family members, seventeen-year-old Claire has come back home to try for a normal life. But normal isn't easy when your sister's on drugs, the cops still think you're a killer, and the media call you the Baby Faced Butcher.
Only high school drop-out, Blake Slater, believes in Claire's innocence. He thinks her parents were murdered by a serial killer, and he says he has proof. However alluring Blake may be (who can resist a pick-up line like "I know you didn't do it"?), Claire dismisses the theory. After all, this so-called serial killer should've been brought up at her trial.
But Claire realises that Blake may have a point when she stumbles upon a crime scene where a local couple have been murdered. Worse, the whole set-up gives her a sick sense of deja vu. It looks like her parents' murderer has come home too.
SHUT UP AND KILL ME is a young adult thriller, complete at 90,000 words. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Nicole Zoltack
ReplyDeleteA QUESTION OF FAITH
YA Paranormal
Dear Ms. Albright,
God answers nearly all of fifteen-year-old Crystal's prayers. At least that's the way it seems since a gust of wind helps her find her way home after she gets lost and time speeds up so she doesn't have to answer questions in class.
Her relationship with her mom is tested when she discovers a photo of a woman who looks exactly like her. Her relationship with God turns upside down after she learns that not only was she adopted but her birth mother sought the help of witches to conceive her. Crystal tracks down the witches and demands answers. They tell her she's the incarnation of magic--the only person whose magical potential is limitless. Basically, Crystal's been answering her own prayers.
Crystal doesn’t know what to think or what to believe. Skeptical yet curious, Crystal attempts to master her power, even as she wonders if her being magic will damn her to Hell, or worse yet, that she doesn’t even have a soul. But flying and playing with fireballs attract dangerous attention. A witch hunter captures her boyfriend, and shamans snatch her aunt. For someone with limitless magic, Crystal should easily be able to rescue them but every time her emotions run amuck, her magic goes haywire. Her faith in God isn’t the only the thing being tested. Crystal has to believe in herself or she’ll never be able to save those she loves.
A QUESTION OF FAITH is a 80,000-word YA paranormal novel with series potential. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.
Suja Sukumar
ReplyDeleteMire
YA paranormal Mystery
Sixteen-year-old Diya considers herself a typical American teen – except for the fact that she was adopted from an Indian slum as an infant. Seventeen-year-old Matthew knows he's not typical. He guards a powerful crystal with the ability to control minds, a crystal entrusted to Matt's grandfather by his Indian Seer.
Their paths intersect on a warm, summer night.
When Diya crashes her car en route to her aunt's house, Matthew hauls her out of the wreck. He's gorgeous enough to send her heart racing. But not enough for her to be oblivious to certain odd things about him, like his ability to see in the dark. Matt, on the other hand, recognizes Diya for who she is – the Seer's granddaughter. He needs her help to trap a murderer.
Someone's stolen the crystal of mind control and is using it at a murder weapon. Two dead in two weeks. Matt and Diya are the only ones who can track the crystal. But first, Matt has to convince Diya that her birth family wasn't destitute and flat-out ugly as her mom had told her. Being more comfortable with her loner status, Diya's not too keen to believe anyone, however hot he is. Plus, she has her own list of murder suspects. And, Matt, with his unusual abilities, is way up at the top.
But when her aunt is nearly killed, the threat hits home. Now the teens have to pool their abilities to try and outsmart the killer, before he figures out who they are and destroys them first.
My YA paranormal mystery, Mire, is complete at 65,000 words.
Name: Jeff N.
ReplyDeleteTitle: The Pirate of Vallenta
Genre: MG fantasy
Fourteen-year-old pirate Lesath doesn't regret trying to steal the treasure from the castle; it’s getting caught that has her considering a career change – especially if Sir Reginald is serious about that whole execution thing.
Lesath convinces bumbling wizard-in-training Nembus to spring her from jail. Now, he needs her help: Sir Reginald’s going to seize power over the kingdom by manufacturing a civil war. Worse, Lesath’s fishy pirate captain has just arrived demanding the treasure she didn’t steal. The only help available is Lesath’s fellow prisoner, an irritating young warrior.
Lesath contrives a plot to end the war, save the kingdom, and maybe even get away with the treasure. But when she discovers that her disagreeable companions are actually her disagreeable relatives – and the keys to Sir Reginald’s scheme – her plan goes from daring to downright dangerous.
The Pirate of Vallenta is a middle grade fantasy complete at 66,000 words. Thanks for your time and consideration.
Name: Deirdre Hall
ReplyDeleteTItle: The Spark
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Dear Ms. Albright,
When you’re sixteen, daydreaming about a life filled with adventure and romance, like the kind found on the inky pages of fantasy fiction, makes living in a Podunk town almost bearable. With a mom too busy to notice you’re unhappy and a dad on duty too far away to, well, do anything; when it starts to seem like your friends don’t understand you anymore, when your name is Neeve and you’re tall, gawky and feel awkward in your own skin, an escape into books feels like your only hope.
After a mysterious stranger arrives in town looking for you, followed by your favorite author upon the release of his latest book Under Clouded Sky and a boy so intriguing you forget you’d sworn off the local guys on a proximity principle alone and promised yourself to the perfect blend of Edward Cullen, Peeta Mellark and Sam Roth, you think just for an instant maybe you’re living in a dream. You fervently hope no pinch wakes you up, especially during that first kiss.
The love and danger unfolding in your suddenly very drama-filled life point to the truth that the Celestial Pantheon, a secret society, as described in Under Clouded Sky, is real, the mysterious stranger’s interest in you is sinister, the author who came to town hadn’t written a work of fiction after all and you and prince charming have to save the world from the power hungry House of Cruxis who threaten to cause a supernova.
You realize getting what you wished for comes with a price. If you fail it means the end of love, the end of the world, the end of existence, but if you succeed the fantasy can live on.
I am delighted to submit for your consideration THE SPARK a young adult contemporary/fantasy complete at approximately 85,000 words.
The sequel to THE SPARK, The Dust, is currently in progress. I thank you for your time and look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Deirdre
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMara Rutherford
ReplyDeleteFOREVER FRIDAY
YA Urban Fantasy
Friday Anderson’s life is over. She just doesn’t know it yet.
Ever since she survived the accident that killed her mother, seventeen-year-old Friday has felt stuck. She’s lost her only parent, she’s living in a town where dreams go to die, and even her hair and nails have stopped growing. Her only hope for getting out is earning enough money for college tuition, so when a mysterious ad appears in the local paper for a job assisting a rock band, Friday jumps at the opportunity.
Spending time with the gorgeous guitarist, Craig, certainly beats baling hay, but there’s something odd about the four young musicians, who spend most of their time bickering while their instruments gather dust. When Friday overhears a hushed conversation behind closed doors, she finally learns the truth: the band members are Athanatos, immortals trapped somewhere between life and death. Not only is Friday one of them, she’s the only immortal capable of killing another, and it’s up to the others to keep Friday from becoming a deadly weapon in the world’s oldest blood feud. Between magic rings, ancient curses, and the fact that Friday’s going to have to live with the same haircut for the rest of her life, it’s definitely going to take some time getting used to this whole “undead” thing.
Forever should just about do it.
Forever Friday is an 85,000-word YA Urban Fantasy. I have written and edited professionally for two magazines as well as several newspapers and websites. I am a member of SCBWI and I have a Master’s degree from the University of London. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Ryan Hancock
ReplyDeleteTitle: An Uncommon Blue
Genre: YA Fantasy with Sci-Fi elements
Dear Ms. Albright,
Days before graduation, sixteen-year-old Bruno Nazaire makes the worst mistake a Blue can make—he grabs the hand of a suicidal Green, saving the boy’s life and forever altering his own.
In Télesphore, the glowing color of a person's palm determines their place in society, and touching hands with another mixes the colors permanently. Changing identities might not be so bad for the weirdoes and wallflowers, but Bruno is the most popular guy on the rugby team. Or, was. Now with a turquoise palm, the best he can hope for is a backbreaking life in the sewers. Only a last-minute arranged marriage to another Blue might save him. The problem is, Bruno has already fallen for Véronique, a girl from the Red Slums who's opened his eyes to the suffering of the lower colors.
As classifications approach, Bruno sees only two choices: turn his back on the oppressed and embrace the posh life he was meant to live; or be disowned by his family, hide from the law, and continue diluting his color to give the less fortunate a chance at a better life. But when he learns Véronique is in danger of falling victim to a lecherous member of the Royal Council, Bruno decides neither option will do, and he'll face the fight of his life to tear down the color boundaries and win the girl of his dreams.
Complete at 91,000 words, AN UNCOMMON BLUE is a YA Urban Fantasy with a colorful twist. My previous publications include a collection of comedy sketches by Meriwether Publishing Ltd, and various other skits for Brand X Comedy, a university performance troupe. I have a BS degree in Youth Leadership, which provides me with insight into adolescent trends and struggles.
Name: Wendy Wilson O’Connell
ReplyDeleteTitle: Wolf Drawing
Genre: YA Horror
Protecting the town means sacrificing someone to the wolf every year and seventeen-year-old Red wants to rip out beating hearts.
Mama has to draw. I begged her not to go tonight. My face still stings from where she slapped me. She left a mark as bright as my name – Red. Her shit brown eyes glared defiance at me leaving the stench of her ignorant pride up my nose. I shouldn’t worry. She has more of a chance this year not to draw the paper with the wolf symbol. There are twenty more names in the drawing because of the high school graduates just turning eighteen. Next year, I’ll be eighteen and I dare this town ask me to go. I double dare them to lead me to the edge of those woods.
That wolf should be coming after me, not Mama. She’s all I’ve got, and being alone is the only thing I’m afraid of. I shouldn’t be here, but when have I ever done anything I’m supposed to do? My body presses farther into the tree behind me. The night air should numb me to what’s going on in that big white Plantation house on the hill, but it doesn’t.
My awareness warms me. You could even say it has made me wolf-like. It will soon enough. It’s dark, and the full moon passes behind the roof. Its six large windows on both floors make it look like a real mansion, but close up you can see the paint peeling, just like this town and all of its traditions built out of fear and superstition.
Name: Michelle Smith
ReplyDeleteTitle: ONLY HUMAN
Genre: YA Thriller
Dear Ms. Albright,
Elaina Andrews never thought she would see her former best friend, Cole Hudson, again - not after he ditched her to join the "in" crowd in high school. However, one year after graduation, the two find themselves thrust together while on a camping trip with mutual friends...one of whom winds up brutally murdered. Isolated and alone in the wilderness, Elaina and Cole must work together to avoid becoming victims themselves. While dealing with the aftermath, Elaina realizes that there is much more to Cole than meets the eye. As they rekindle and mend an old friendship, a serial killer is still lurking in the background, waiting for that oh-so-perfect moment to strike.
At 65,000 words, Only Human is a young adult thriller told from Elaina’s point-of-view. Thanks so much for your time!
Name: Carolyn
ReplyDeleteTitle: PERFECT EQUATION
Genre: YA Romance
Still grieving for her dead mother, track star and math expert, Raz Rinaldi must win the Stark Scholarship for the best athlete in track or she won't be able to afford to go to college next year.
Track star Logan Spenser's a gorgeous guy of mixed race who can get any date he wants in their northern Wisconsin school, including the girlfriends of some bullies, but he doesn't get math.
When Raz and Logan discover they're competing for the same track scholarship, neither one wants Raz to be Logan's tutor, but his cop father and her financial situation force them into it. The teens struggle to get along and do the math. As they become friends, they help each other with their family problems and a romance grows between them that could be the perfect equation...unless stereotypes and misconceptions tear them apart.
Thank you for considering PERFECT EQUATION, a 64,000-word,young adult contemporary novel told in alternating Raz and Logan viewpoints.
PALM PRINTS, the University of South Florida's writer's journal published one of my short stories and RIVERWALK published another online. I took first place for young adult in the Utica Writers Contest and second place for YA fiction in the Florida State Competition. I'm also an enthusiastic member of two online critique groups.
Thank you for considering my work.
Sincerely,
NAME: Tyson McFrost
ReplyDeleteTITLE: Portrayer's Wrath
GENRE: YA Urban Fantasy/Romance
Up until her sixteenth birthday, Soraphinephra's biggest concern was finding a date for the prom and turning in her midterm on time, but all that changed when she was drafted into a secret Academy of Superheroes that combat supernatural forces. Now she has to dodge the fangs of cybernetically enhanced Werecats, survive the grind of magic training and literally blast her way from the center of the earth in Gucci. As if that wasn't enough, a UN Ambassador for Peace wants to destroy the world, and from its ashes create a Utopia free of suffering. The catch? Every man, woman and child must relinquish their freedom and surrender their soul. Or else...
The only one who can stop him is another Portrayer. And Sora is the last in existence. Blessed with the power to do remarkable things, like raise the dead or destroy the sun, Portrayers are an ancient race who can perform such feats by tapping into their spirit companion. Sora's Portrayed Spirit, Raphael, has been with her since the day she was born. He's saved her more times than she can count, and only recently has she finally been able to meet the silent protector who has never left her side. Sadly, Raphael is existing on borrowed time. Because to defeat the other Portrayer, she will have to destroy the only soul she ever loved, but in order to save every smoldering inch of him, Sora will have to turn her back on the world...
And watch as it burns to ashes.
Name: Christina
ReplyDeleteTitle: THROUGH THE EDGEWOOD
Genre: MG Fantasy
Eleven-year old Izzy’s day is off to a very unhappily-ever-after start when her little sister, Hen, disappears into the woods behind their house. The nutty old woman next door claims the faeries stole her, but Izzy can’t bring herself to believe it. It’s not until she follows the neighbor into the enchanted forest of the Edgewood that she realizes Faerie is real – and a more savage place than she ever imagined. Within hours of their arrival, ghostly cobwebs attack the old woman, and Izzy barely escapes becoming cocooned in their icy tendrils.
She soon runs into a group of outlaw changelings, shape-shifting orphans more likely to steal her shoes than help her out. She befriends them, and learns they're the last three changelings left in Faerie - all the others have mysteriously vanished. The new friends set out on a joint search-and rescue mission across eastern Faerie. Together, they battle goblins, out-swindle elfin con-artists, and soar through underwater kingdoms on the backs of Selkies. But when they discover Hen and the missing changelings have been imprisoned by an evil queen, they know they've bitten off more than even a changeling can chew.
If they can’t defeat the queen, Izzy will never go home, the entire changeling race will be enslaved, and Hen won’t be the last human victim of the queen’s sinister plans.
THE EDGEWOOD is a middle grade fantasy adventure, complete at 70,000 words.
I am a member of the Austin chapter of SCBWI and the Writer's League of Texas. For the past six years, I have written for a child audience as the Science Content Developer at the Austin Children's Museum.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Mary Holm
ReplyDeleteTitle: DARKLING
Genre: YA Fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
Seventeen-year-old Taela doesn’t think of herself as a murderer, but when the sister she idolizes is arrested for treason and executed, Taela vows to avenge her death--even if it means killing the kingdom’s only hope for salvation. Some believe rebel leader Hawke is the man destined to save their land from an ancient evil. To Taela, the drunken ass who charmed her sister and left her to die is no hero.
Taela sets out after the seasoned warrior, and even with the element of surprise on her side, she knows he won’t be easy to kill. She’s determined to thrust her dagger into his craven heart. The road to revenge leads Taela to the mysterious Darkling Forest where the truth about her sister’s death and its connection to the power struggle in the castle ties her destiny to the very man she wants to destroy.
DARKLING is a YA fantasy novel, complete at 72,000 words. It will appeal to fans of Kristin Cashore or Leigh Bardugo.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Mary Holm
Member SCBWI
Name: Katie C.
ReplyDeleteTitle: ENSLAVED
Genre: YA Dystopian
Seventeen-year-old Hana Norfolk is watching her life fall apart. When her mom is diagnosed with the mutation—or cancer, as it was called in the Early Days—she takes a turn for the worse and confides to Hana that she doesn’t know what will happen if she dies. Fischer, a medic at the hospital, suggests there is Someone who can help them—except religion’s been outlawed for the last hundred years. How do you find God when no one knows he exists?
Hana embarks on a dangerous journey, seeking the answers that Fischer insists are available. Her list of crimes mounts as her mom’s condition worsens, and time is running out as quickly as the medical allowances.
I am seeking representation for my 70,000 word YA dystopian, ENSLAVED, which has been described as The City Of Ember meets Delirium. Enslaved is part of a planned trilogy with possible second and third titles of DELIVERANCE and REDEEMER.
Kate Brauning
ReplyDeleteTHE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE
NA mythological fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright:
I am querying you because of your interest in fantasy and new adult novels. THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE is a 101,000-word new adult fantasy novel with series potential.
Ava’s nineteen, but she feels like she’s thirty, and every one of those years has been lonely. When the Olympians rescue her from her abusive father and bring her to the Garden of Eden, Ava falls in love with their world. But war looms on Eden’s horizon. Ares, god of war, has vowed to remake Earth as one monotheistic nation- where all people worship him. The Muses say only Ava can defeat Ares, but she’s not magical at all. She could barely handle her home life; defeating the god of war is hardly a skill on her resume.
When Ares kidnaps her and says he loves her, Ava thinks this might be the fulfillment of the prophecy. Being loved is more tempting than she ever expected. Marrying him will make her the enemy of the Olympians she loves, but mediating between Ares and humans might be the only way to stop the war and save Eden.
Readers who enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss may enjoy its base in mythology, magic, and history.
Thank you for your consideration.
NAME: Kaitlin Adams
ReplyDeleteTITLE: The Show Must Not Go On
GENRE: YA Fantasy
Sixteen-year-old Lori Gibbs’s parents have entered her in Easten's Talent Show. If she impresses the judges, her parents get to move into the Palace for life. If she fails to impress, she'll hang.
The bright side? Either way, she’ll be free of her parents.
Lori can fly, and with that talent comes her parents’ plan for her life: levitate, impress, secure them a Palace room, and then go home to pop out her own talented children. But during registration, she starts to bond with another contestant, even though friendship is forbidden.
Davis is a smart, timid boy with a die-hard loyalty to the system and a talent of holding his breath. While he thinks he'll impress, Lori knows the truth. Davis's talent is just as ridiculous as his love for Easten and even lamer than the kid who can pick up marbles with his toes.
She devises her own plan: save Davis. If she doesn't try, she'll lose her only friend and become a part of the system she’s vowed never to follow. But if she gets caught, she'll hang alongside him.
The Show Must Not Go On is a 70,000-word, YA fantasy novel with trilogy potential. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best,
Kaitlin Adams
Name: Chris V
ReplyDeleteTitle: Ungifted
Genre: middle-grade epic fantasy
Dear [Agent],
Twelve-year-old Dwyth can’t control animals worth a stinking piece of bird scat. That’s a problem when you live in the Amnar tribe, a group of humans whose telepathic power over animals is a key means of survival. Frustrated with his future prospects and the constant teasing he endures, Dwyth sneaks into the neighboring enemy territory of Metrod City where he bumps into a ten-year-old peasant girl, Zarana. Unlike the other Metrodites, she has a weak Charge, an innate electric current that powers the country's unique machines. But she has strong telepathic control over animals like the Amnarites. Dwyth, on the other hand, finds he has an incredibly strong Charge and uses it to help him and Zarana survive in the city.
But then the city’s leaders discover Zarana’s gift. They abduct her and create a machine that can harness and multiply her telepathy’s scope and strength a million times. Zarana’s enhanced telepathy can easily override the Amnarites’ control of their animals, making it a cinch for the Metrodites to finally conquer them.
Now Dwyth must use his own newfound abilities to save Zarana and his home country from a horrible fate. All the while, he learns more about his true past and how it intersects with Zarana’s.
Ungifted is a middle-grade epic fantasy novel, complete at 65,000 words. It will appeal to fans of Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan series, and the movie Avatar.
I have recently acquired a degree in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and won the individual award for Outstanding Achievement in Creative Writing. I am also enrolled in Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction MFA program.
This is a simultaneous submission. Thank you for considering Ungifted and I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
Chris V
[email address]
[phone number]
Name: Laurie Litwin
ReplyDeleteTitle: GRIPPED
Genre: YA Contemporary
Dear Ms. Albright
I am seeking representation for GRIPPED, a 54,000 word contemporary young adult novel.
Taylor Stewart has it all: looks, money, popularity, and intelligence. She is the captain of the cheer squad at her exclusive high school, and she manages to snag the hot tennis star as her boyfriend. But she hasn’t done so without a little help. Taylor is an alcoholic.
Alcohol is the perfect partner, giving her the boost of confidence she needs to excel in the high school scene. It offers an escape from her pressure-filled life. And it numbs the bitterness, hurt and resentment she feels toward her absentee mother and cheating father.
But Taylor is quickly reaching her limit. When she is unexpectedly dumped, the delicate facade she has built crumbles. She begins drinking more to cope with her growing list of problems and simply make it through each day. But the more she drinks, the more careless she gets. Troubles at school and home grow in number and severity as her life spirals out of control. The end result is catastrophic and threatens to change the course of her life forever.
I spend my days writing technical environmental documents for a large environmental consulting firm. I spend my nights writing young adult fiction. I am a member of SCBWI.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration. I would be happy to send a full or partial manuscript upon your request.
Sincerely,
Laurie Litwin
Name: Chanteé Hale
ReplyDeleteTitle: HEAT
Genre: YA Sci-fi
Dear Taryn:
Seventeen-year-old Arie has learned to count on one thing - her boyfriend Steven will alway come back. But when his dissaproving father drags him away, Arie can't wait for him to find her like he promised. Arie is pregnant.
Like her life, the world's one hot mess. Whole cities are melting down, and Arie is beginning to suspect her boyfriend's family may be hiding some life-changing truths. As her loyalty to Steven is tested, Arie has to find the strength to save herself and the ones she loves.
HEAT is a YA sci-fi complete at 60,000 words. I am an active member of SCBWI and YALitChat. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Chanteé Hale
Name: Jenn Brisendine
ReplyDeleteTitle: MIRROR OF SAND AND FLAME
Genre: Upper MG Fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright:
Twelve-year-old Zeb Reardon just saw his cousin Bryce disappear down a mine shaft in smoky, abandoned Martinsville, PA, but no one believes him--and he's not surprised. Six years back, Zeb kept quiet about the underground coal fire he found until it was too late. The fire demolished Martinsville, and the whole town had to relocate a mile away in New Martin. Since Zeb didn't save them when he had the chance, folks still doubt his every word, even the plain facts of Bryce's fall. When rescuers insist that nobody's down the shaft, Zeb goes after Bryce himself.
That's when Zeb discovers how the old coal mine tunnels around Martinsville lead to the eerie desert setting of his father's bestselling fantasy novel. In this burnt-up world of yellow sand and poison flame geysers, the cruel empress Avella threatens to destroy not only Bryce but all of New Martin. Zeb's no hero--he's proven that before. But he's holding the secrets that might save everyone, right there in the pages of his father's book. Now he just has to find the nerve to trust himself...and walk through fire.
Mirror of Sand and Flame, a 43K upper middle grade fantasy with series potential, will appeal to fans of Rebecca Stead's dual worlds in First Light and Ingrid Law's regionalism in Savvy.
I've been published in Rosebud, Seal Press's The Maternal Is Political, The Pedestrian, Mom Writer's Literary Magazine, and Literary Mama. I'm a contributor to the award-winning Many Genres, One Craft: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction and Women Writing on Family. I hold an M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, and I'm a member of SCBWI. After twelve years of secondary English teaching, I'm now a freelance writer and editor.
Thanks so much for considering Mirror of Sand and Flame. I appreciate your time!
Sincerely,
Jenn Brisendine
Name: Iris St. Clair
ReplyDeleteTitle: LOUDER THAN WORDS
Genre: YA
Dear Ms. Albright:
Life has kind of been sucking lately for Ellen Grayson—dad’s dead, mom’s drowning her grief in drugs and alcohol, and her favorite teacher just stuck his tongue down her throat. Having a boyfriend like Rex, the new kid, would have been nice, if she hadn’t shoved him on his ass and into the arms of her archrival.
If only Rex would make up his mind—is Ellen forever stuck in the dreaded perma-pal zone or he is incubating her for a second attempt? Talk about confusing! Ellen can’t wait to get through her last year of high school, graduate with honors and win a scholarship, so she can escape her hometown and start fresh.
But hometown skeletons don’t stay in closets for long. When Ellen catches her teacher up to his old tricks with another girl, she must make a difficult choice—snitch and clear her conscience but become the school pariah, or hold her tongue for a shot at the boy that got away.
LOUDER THAN WORDS is a contemporary young adult novel, complete at 83,000 words, and targeted to readers of Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and Stephanie Perkins’ Anna and the French Kiss.
I write young adult stories as Iris St. Clair. My previously published works include short stories and 2012 debut novels targeted to adults under different pen names.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Iris St. Clair
Name: Michelle Mason
ReplyDeleteTitle: DUET WITH THE DEVIL’S VIOLIN
Genre: MG magical realism
Dear Ms. Albright:
Thirteen-year-old prodigy Miranda Harper craves the kind of perfection that goes beyond hitting all the right notes – she wants to be inside the music. Thanks to her new violin, she achieves her goal, but it's more than she bargained for. A flawless performance of Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” lands her in a flying chariot piloted by a Valkyrie transporting a dead soldier. She’s sure there shouldn’t be dead bodies inside the music.
Miranda snaps back to reality, only to battle exhaustion and a reluctance to play for several days. She decides the Valkyrie incident was a hallucination, until the magic strikes again during a Halloween concert. This time her world goes black and white, and a dress-clad psycho chases her with a butcher knife. As a bonus, the scratches Miranda gets during her escape come back to the real world with her.
With each trip into the music, it’s harder to return and the side effects get worse. Miranda knows she should stop, but the violin and its promise of perfection call to her. The euphoria of one extraordinary performance is worth a few days of exhaustion and some cuts and bruises. But when she discovers continuing to play the violin could trap her forever in an alternate reality, she must decide what perfection is really worth.
DUET WITH THE DEVIL’S VIOLIN is a 43,000-word upper middle grade novel that will appeal to fans of Lindsey Leavitt’s PRINCESS FOR HIRE series and Jacqueline West’s THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE.
Thank you for doing this contest!
Sincerely,
Michelle Mason
NAME: Julia Byers
ReplyDeleteTITLE: Dreamcatcher
GENRE: YA Psychological Thriller
Dear Ms. Albright,
Dare to wake up…
DREAMCATCHER is an 82,000 word young adult psychological thriller about sixteen year old Greek mythology lover and self-proclaimed “Girl Next Door” Lauren Brender, who discovers she has been living in a dream world for the past half a year, due to being in a coma, and must find a way to wake up in order to reunite with her fractured family.
After Lauren realizes her recent bout of insomnia has been brought on by the fact that she’s in a coma, she must team up with the dream-version of her best friend Joshua, who is also her conscience personified, in order to try to figure out how to wake up. However, Lauren’s subconscious, who has taken on the form of one of her best friends as well--the gorgeous Angela--likes Lauren being asleep, because as long as she remains in the dream world, her subconscious rules. And Angela isn’t going to let go of her power easily. She uses everything she has against Lauren to keep her from waking up; knowledge about Lauren’s crush on the unattainable senior class president, insecurities about her plain looks, and her deep-rooted fear of growing up to be like her recently divorced parents are all tools in Angela’s manicured hands.
Meanwhile, every time Lauren goes to sleep in the dream world, she wakes up just enough in real life to hear what’s going on in her hospital room, and she becomes aware of the way the real Joshua spends day after day at her bedside, just waiting for her to wake up. But in order for Lauren to do so, she must learn what put her in a coma in the first place… and that may be an event too tragic for her mind to bear.
I have had several pieces published, including in Teen Ink magazine, and I’ve placed in several contests on Figment, including winning the Fringe Society Contest with Darren Shan and the Enemy Contest with L.A. Weatherly. In January 2012, I received several silver keys and honorable mentions on pieces I submitted to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and I recently took home second place in the annual Michigan Future Problem Solvers Scenario Writing short story competition. I am the 2012 recipient of the Detroit News/CATCH Outstanding High School Graduate Scholarship, in the Language Arts division. Previously, I have attended the Writer’s Digest Conference 2011, Write On Con 2011, Writer’s Digest Conference 2012, and, most recently, I hosted the Chapter One Young Writers Conference 2012.
Thank you very much for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon!
Sincerely,
Julia Byers
Name: Lela Casey
ReplyDeleteTitle: Liora
Genre: YA Coming of Age
Dear Ms. Albright,
I am excited for an opportunity to be critiqued by someone in your unique position. Like you, I was a girl who would have rather spent her time reading and writing than doing homework. It is wonderful to see that that path has led to success for you.
Liora is a story about the difficulties of growing up in a small coal mining town when you are quiet and shy and just a little too Jewish. Liora is the only kid in middle school with a foreign parent, and one of the few who isn't Catholic. Even worse, her friends are making the leap into adolescence one by one, leaving her alone and vulnerable to an attack from The Creature.
Besides all that, her mom dresses like a stripper, her dad is convinced she's five years old, and her little brother is still sharing a room with her. None of these things makes it easy for a girl to grow up. But, when her feelings for a boy in her class start to grow, Liora doesn't have much choice.
Thank you so much for considering my submission. I look forward to hearing from you.
Name: Amber Mauldin
ReplyDeleteTitle: PERFECTLY BROKEN
Genre: YA narrative memoir
Fifteen-year-old Amber Harville is a spitfire of a girl who’s as quick to throw a punch as she is to steal a kiss. When she’s kidnapped and raped, she puts up one hell of a fight.
She’s set free. Numb and in shock, she flees to the police, but doubts they’ll ever find the bastard. Three days later the serial rapist is caught.
While preparing for trial she puts on a brave face for the world, but the invisible scars leave her incapable of being touched. The one boy who tries almost gets a cheek full of knuckles.
A summer foreign exchange program comes at the perfect time. With the court date months away, a break from the pressures of the trial is exactly what she needs. The last thing she wants is a gorgeous Spanish boy pursuing her. She tries to resist his dreamy eyes and beckoning smile, but all her girl parts go beep, beep, beep every time he looks her way. The walls she spent all year building come crashing down as she learns to laugh again, touch again, love again. Now, torn by her desire to stay with the boy she loves, she dreads returning home to face her past. She knows her case is the only solid one they have against that madman, but it would mean saying goodbye to Pedro. She has to decide what is more important- protecting her heart or protecting other women from a monster.
Name: Kristen Wixted
ReplyDeleteTitle: SILVER POOL OF LIGHT
Genre: MG magical realism
Eve Tilton is the kind of eleven-year-old you would expect to be much more interested in shopping for her next celebrity gala than anything that happened a hundred years ago. But Eve is captivated by Jane Mayhew, who lives on Martha’s Vineyard in 1872, because Jane writes to her. In an old diary, through time. From 1872. Eve and Jane’s letter-writing and eventual friendship across a century is so, so much better than shopping for party dresses, even for a girl on the fringe of celebrity.
Their differences lie in the fact that Jane, who barely remembers her mother, has a passionate desire to sail the seven seas while Eve, who was with her mother when she drowned, has a passionate fear of the ocean. Since they live 140 years apart and communicate through letters, it doesn’t seem to be a problem until Jane is invited to go on a whaling voyage around the world, and Eve finds out, to her horror, that the ship is doomed.
Eve’s focus on saving Jane is splintered when she is suddenly invited deeper into the polished world of her famous friends. The best friend Eve’s ever had is about to die, and every choice she makes seems to lead Jane to a horrible, watery fate.
SILVER POOL OF LIGHT is about the importance of true friendship, family secrets, and the power of the ocean to deposit the perfect treasure on shore in time for the right person to find it. It is complete at 46,000 words. Comparison titles could be Bigger than a Breadbox by Laurel Snyder or possibly When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead.
Thank you for your time.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Angelica R. Jackson
ReplyDeleteTitle: CROW'S REST
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Dear Agent,
Sixteen-year-old Avery arrives for a visit at her Uncle Tam's, eager to rekindle her summertime romance with crush-next-door, Daniel. Instead, she discovers that Daniel's body has been taken over by a corbin, a creature which usually crosses into our world by inhabiting crows.
The corbin, Lonan, warns her that some of his kin aren’t satisfied with crow bodies (or even the occasional human body) —they want to come here in their natural forms, with their full, terrible powers intact. It’s happened before, leading to the fall of Rome and the Dark Ages, but this time Lonan has been sent to stop them. And he believes Avery's apparent resistance to magic could help.
But Avery will only cooperate if Lonan brings Daniel back. They make a deal for the two boys to share Daniel’s body, switching between personalities in an uneasy truce. Avery should be grateful to have Daniel even part-time, but his experience in Lonan’s world has left him resentful and restless.
Now that she knows he’s one of the good guys, it’s much easier to let herself fall for the charming Lonan—until she realizes that even if they do save the world, only one of the boys will get sole custody of the body, leaving her heartbroken either way.
Meanwhile, the dark forces are gathering, and when Lonan’s spell to stop the invading creatures goes disastrously awry, the fate of the world will lie in Avery’s magic-less hands.
I am a PAL member of SCBWI whose past publishing credits include a MG short story, “Hornworms", in Hunger Mountain, a YA short story called "Ebb Tide" which took third place in the WOW! Women on Writing Spring 2010 Flash Fiction Contest, and numerous nonfiction pieces in such magazines as Birds & Blooms and Sierra Heritage Magazine. I also recently was awarded our SCBWI Regional Chapter’s grant to attend the International Conference in Los Angeles this August, based on my sample of Crow’s Rest.
For a complete list of my writing credits, please see my blog. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Name: Melinda Gray
ReplyDeleteTitle: UNVISIBLE
Genre: YA light sci-fi
Dear Ms. Albright,
Five years ago a scientist injected Owen with an invisibility serum. Four years ago he ran away. The invisibility was permanent, and returning to his old life too dangerous, so he went into hiding.
Now seventeen, Owen lives in a high school—where he has food and shelter, plus it’s the closest to a normal life he can get. Owen’s lonely, but at least he’s safe. Until a stupid little decision to “borrow” a book from a girl at his school steamrolls into a series of major mistakes, and he gets on the radar of a gang of unvisibles. The people who injected him don’t want loose ends. Their goal isn’t scientific advancement, but creating undetectable criminals. If they find Owen, they’ll force him back in or they’ll kill him. The smart thing is to get out of town, fast—except for the girl, Juliet.
Thanks to Owen’s screw-up, the unvisibles think she has a connection to him, which means she’s in danger too. He has to decide: save himself or protect her. But not hiding anymore could mean risking more than he realizes—like his chance to ever be cured.
UNVISIBLE, YA light science fiction, is complete at 60,000 words. I look forward to hearing from you.
Name: Robin
ReplyDeleteTitle: Lovesense
Genre: YA Magical Realism
Because you’re so awesome I thought you might be interested in my magical realism YA, LOVESENSE (55,000 words).
For seventeen-year-old RAE, and her unfortunate gift of “lovesense,” love literally stinks and relationships are rotten. The worse the stench, the nastier the breakup. Selling this seventh sense from the school’s abandoned tampon dispenser isn’t a bad idea. Working at a photo counter in the only store in town could be. Peeking at an engagement photo sends Rae reeling at the scent of rotten eggs, bat guano, half-masticated rotting seal, or worse (if you can imagine).
As Rae focuses on passing Junior English and conquering the 100-meter hurdles, she becomes more and more convinced that true love doesn’t exist in this century. That is until a baby picture in her attic changes everything: Rae smells something good. And, this time, she’s in the picture.
Finding the grown-up version of the mysterious baby boy becomes her obsession. But just as Rae begins to open herself to the idea of true love, her secret talent and illegal school activities are exposed. Now she’s suspended from school, banned from the City-County track meet, and rumored to be a psycho gypsy freak.
Rae needs to embrace her lovesense and brave going back to school is she’s ever going to overcome her nemesis and find her true love.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Ellen Rozek
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE RECRUITED
Genre: YA thriller
Dear Ms. Albright,
Convicted murderer Naomi Williams expects a transfer to an adult prison for her eighteenth birthday. Instead she gets a job offer. The US government wants her to join a secret offshoot of the CIA and help bring down a domestic terrorist cell called the Renegades. Because she killed the son of a prominent Renegade leader, she’ll be the terrorists’ next victim unless she accepts their offer.
During her first assignment she meets James, a gang member she knows she should avoid. And yet, Naomi keeps running into him everywhere. When he protects her during another assignment, only to kill a Renegade she’s supposed to capture, Naomi realizes his intentions may not be as clear as she thought.
Then James uses dubious methods to uncover who she works for and who she hunts. Naomi has to keep him close so he doesn’t blow her cover, but she’s still not sure she can trust him and fears the government would view him as a threat. With the Renegades closing in, she’ll have to choose between his life, and her own.
THE RECRUITED is a 76,000 word YA thriller with series potential. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Sarah Turnbull
ReplyDeleteTitle: AND WE ARE ALL DAMNED
Genre: YA dark fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
On an isolated island, beneath a lush canopy of resurrection ferns and prickly palmettos, a Victorian colony festers. Monetary wealth carries little weight. Lineage is currency, and nothing is of greater import than blood.
Orphans Haeden and Veanne are fifteen-years-old when their adoptive father, the sole doctor, mysteriously dies, leaving them without knowledge of their parentage and defenseless against rumor of a spreading illness threatening to divide the decaying hierarchy.
The unexpected return of the doctor’s biological son, vanished from the island for over a decade, presents a double-edged sword equally sharp as the one buckled at his waist. Even as he offers protection, and romances Veanne, he harbors devastating secrets.
Combating plague, pirates, and moral corruption, Haeden and Veanne must unearth both the truth behind the sickness and their birth in order to survive the systematic destruction of the only home they have ever known.
AND WE ARE ALL DAMNED is a YA dark fantasy novel complete at 77,000 words, divided between three points of view: the children, their champion, and the evil seeking to consume them all. It is of a similar vein as A GREAT AND TERRIBLE BEAUTY and CLOCKWORK ANGEL; dripping with the taste of resplendent Gothic glamour and intestine ripping passion.
After reading several blog posts (stalking Twitter, whatever), I am in awe of your impressive writing resume. I don’t want to add, “for someone so young,” but I feel that I should because holy crap, girl, have you been busy! I am charmed by your demonstrated loyalty to genre fiction, and appreciate your query critique comments on Twitter (very helpful).
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best Regards,
Sarah Turnbull
Twitter @thesaturnbull
Name: Robin Weeks
ReplyDeleteTitle: DUSTED
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Dear Taryn:
St. Anselm High doesn’t care about rivalries between jocks and computer geeks: it’s too busy trying to encourage humans and praci—don’t call them pixies—to get along. That’s hard to do when the only thing they agree on is that Brina, the world’s first human-pracin hybrid, is dang freaky.
Sixteen-year-old Brina’s brown skin and white wings mark her as neither wholly pracin nor human. But when pracin-dust traffickers forcibly harvest her dust, she learns she’s a lot freakier than anyone suspected. While normal pracin can produce three kinds of dust, Brina’s now making all eight. Just like the pracin royals, who get all upset when her new abilities jeopardize a secret they’re cursed to protect. Worse, her disturbing power boost attracts the wrong sort of people. People who want that power for themselves . . . and for their children.
If Brina can’t stop those who want to exploit her, humans could soon find themselves seriously outnumbered. But if Brina doesn’t help expose the royal secret, the praci will remain enslaved to an ancient curse. Either way, her peculiarity will rock the foundations of what it means to be human.
Described as Melissa Marr meets TruBlood, fans of each should enjoy the alternate-history fantasy and touch of romance in DUSTED, set in a version of modern day San Antonio. This young adult urban fantasy is complete at 94,700 words.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Stephanie Scott
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE ASTRONAUT'S DAUGHTER
Genre: YA Historical
Dear [Agent]:
Raised in a military family, sixteen-year-old Evelyn is used to starting over. When her father accepts a position with NASA’s Project Gemini to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade, moving to Houston seems like the perfect launching point for her new popularity plan. Shy football player Kip is the perfect match, and his sister eagerly plugs Evelyn into the elite social hierarchy at school.
But then Evelyn meets David, a colored boy with military connections, who challenges the expensive space program in light of the burgeoning civil rights movement. Witnessing vandalism at his family’s grocery store shows her the reality of what she’d only known from photo spreads in LIFE magazine. She’s drawn to his passion for a cause greater than himself.
When Evelyn speaks too readily to a reporter that segregation is immoral, her actions threaten not only her popularity at school, but also her father’s job. Tensions rise between Evelyn's classmates and rival East High – the all-Negro high school in Houston’s still-segregated school system. As David emerges as a leader for civil rights, staging student sit-ins and peaceful demonstrations, Evelyn must decide whether her dreams of a picture-perfect high school experience are worth staying silent. But if she does speak out, will her father lose his chance to set foot on the moon?
THE ASTRONAUT’S DAUGHTER is a 73,000 word Young Adult Historical novel that takes place in the Mad Men-era -- with a Texas twist. I am a member of SCBWI and RWA and am active in local chapters. Thank you for your consideration.
Name: Amanda Burckhard
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE UNLEASHING
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Dear Taryn:
Princeton-bound Alita plans to ace exams, make new friends, and flirt with boys. She definitely doesn’t plan to unleash the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
But her eighteenth birthday triggers the power to manipulate energy. If she loses her temper, crowds burst into riots or buildings black out. Worse, a stalker exploits her inability to control the power and goads her into unleashing the Four Horsemen. Violence, disease, and insanity spread throughout her city. Goodbye, Princeton.
Alexareus, a boy with powers of his own and a touch that sets her skin on fire, wins her trust and teaches her to control the potent power. With his help, she can reverse the mistake. She can send the Horsemen back to whatever stinking hellhole they came from. But it requires sacrificing Alexareus, for the Horsemen vow if they have to go, so does her love.
THE UNLEASHING, complete at 76,000 words, is a suspenseful YA urban fantasy laced with steamy romance.
Name: Lori Tussey
ReplyDeleteTitle: POTION OF DOOM
Genre: MG Fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
Eleven-year-old Stella has never seen an upside-down flying dog. She doesn’t know how to sing to a whale and she’s never had to fight a poacher. And she certainly doesn’t talk to the Animal Spirits. That was her grandmother’s job.
But when Stella discovers her grandmother was murdered and was a secret agent, everything changes. Stella's quest to solve the crime leads her to Earth City, where animals monitor the Earth’s environment and the big boss is Mother Nature, who wants Stella to take her grandmother’s place. But if she takes the job, the murderer will be after Stella.
I am inquiring as to your interest in POTION OF DOOM, my 36,500-word middle grade fantasy. I would be happy to provide my manuscript for your review.
Name: Janeal Falor
ReplyDeleteTitle: YOU ARE MINE
Genre: YA Fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
As the eldest of fourteen girls, Serena does what she can to protect them. They must dress, eat, and read only what Father allows or suffer his beatings and hexes. But on her seventh birthday, she's entered into the marriage pool and gains a new master. Her soon-to-be husband is as domineering and abusive as her Father. If she submits to his will, on occasion she'll see her sisters. If she fights against him, she'll become one of the Tarnished, servants worth less than the shadows they cast. To Serena, there's no choice. She prepares herself for another master she abhors to help her sisters when she can.
But when her new master dies in a duel, she becomes the killer's possession. With a new, unpredictable master, her fate is no longer certain. When a chance to venture out on her own arises, Serena must decide if she'll take a stand for herself or continue being a slave to society's demands.
I enjoy reading your blog and twitter and was excited to learn of you were doing this contest. I thought you may be interested in my manuscript, YOU ARE MINE, an 90,000 word YA fantasy.
Sincerely,
Janeal Falor
Name: Jeanmarie Anaya
ReplyDeleteTitle: OPERATION BREAKUP
Genre: Contemporary YA
Dear Ms. Albright:
After perfecting the technique of blending herself into the background, sixteen-year-old artist, Abby Wheeler, is practically invisible. Even the guy of her dreams, Cooper Deal, barely knows she exists, which isn’t hard to fathom. He’s the soccer team captain with the popularity status to match. Art freaks need not apply. Besides, Miss Teenage Dream herself, Lauren Hargood, has already claimed Cooper as her own and no amount of brute force will tear that she-monster away.
In a moment of epic romantic weakness, Abby lets her secret infatuation slip in front of master manipulator Ian Koch. Welcome to life as Ian’s blackmailed slave. Craptastic. Except he makes an enticing proposal instead: he’ll keep his trap shut about Abby’s crush if she joins forces with him to end Lauren and Cooper’s relationship. Operation Breakup. Seems simple enough—Ian loves Lauren, Abby loves Cooper, throw a wedge between Lauren and Cooper, and voilà! The perfect opportunity for Abby to change the course of her life. Staring at the back of Cooper’s head in class certainly hasn’t scored Abby any points. She’s got nothing to lose.
But making a deal with the devil comes with a price. As Ian’s demands grow increasingly risky, Abby’s list of enemies piles high and Lauren Hargood is at the top. Abby finds herself knee-deep in blackmail, bribes and threats of exposure. The only thing keeping her grounded is the spark between her and Cooper—a spark she hopes is real. But at the rate she’s going, Cooper Deal may not know the real Abby or her true intentions when Operation Breakup’s mission is complete. She’s not even sure she’ll know herself.
My contemporary YA novel, OPERATION BREAKUP, is complete at 80,000 words. It won first place in the YA category of the San Diego RWA’s 2012 Spring Into Romance Contest and is also a finalist in the River City Romance Writers’ 2012 Duel on the Delta Contest.
I am a member of SCBWI and a corporate attorney who has published nonfiction legal research and commentary articles. OPERATION BREAKUP is my fiction debut.
Thank you for considering my novel.
Dear Ms. Albright,
ReplyDeleteSeventeen-year-old psychic apprentice, Ashton Greenly, is a master at predicting the future except her own; when Paul Monday trudges into her mom’s psychic shop, she never foresees falling for a vampire prince.
When Paul is kidnapped by mysterious black hooded figures, Ashton has no choice but to report it to the keeper’s, the supernatural council in Chicago where she tells them, Paul is a human/vampire half-breed. They laugh in her face because they have never heard of such a creature. Driven to prove the council wrong, she uses her psychic abilities to track Paul, help him escape from an underground supernatural political party and goes into hiding with him.
She and Paul find comfort in each other’s arms, but it doesn’t last long when the King of vampires learns of their location, and finds his heir, Paul, fraternizing with a lesser supernatural species and imprisons Ashton. The king gives her two choices; forget Paul existed and lose the love of her life or be executed for a forbidden romance.
SEER TOUCH, is a 60,000 work YA paranormal romance. I am a member of SCBWI and a contributor to the literary blog, Our Pages Aren’t Numbered.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Stacey Hays
Name: Lyla Lee
ReplyDeleteTitle: POINT BLANK
Genre: YA Futuristic Fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
Seventeen-year-old Norah is a Tracker, a highly trained student of a government-run military academy that specializes in the extermination of Shifters—monsters that look like humans but can transform into animals. For several years, Norah has trained in martial arts, weaponry, and virtual reality simulations with only one objective in mind: exterminate Seth, the phoenix Shifter that caused the fire that killed her family.
When Norah infiltrates a community of Shifters hiding in the decrepit mansions that were once known as Beverly Hills, she discovers that Seth and the other Shifters are disturbingly more human than she was raised to believe. To make things worse, Seth claims that the fire was an accident due to his inability to control his Shift, which is a far cry from what her government told her—that Seth started the fire on purpose to rally the Shifters against the humans.
Norah must quickly figure out who’s telling the truth—the boy who killed her family or the government that took her in when she lost everything—before she ends up shooting point blank the wrong side.
POINT BLANK is a YA futuristic fantasy novel complete at 75,000 words. Because of its thriller, sci-fi, and dystopian elements, my novel will appeal to fans of LEGEND and BRAVE NEW WORLD.
Name: R.A.Desilets (Rachel)
ReplyDeleteTitle: SOUL THERAPY
Genre: YA Paranormal
Dear Taryn,
When her father walked out, Jessica became ridden with anxiety and panic attacks. In her town God's word prevails, leaving her with nothing more than prayer to solve her problems. Her mother and boyfriend, Kevin, believe that God's words can heal, but Jessica lacks their same faith.
When Henrietta, an herbalist, moves into town, Jessica greets the newcomer with curiosity. She receives an herbal tea prescription and a warning. Too much tea can cause life-altering hallucinations. Jess tries the tea for meditation and is transported to a different world, a remote place where she can just exist in a grassy field all her own. No stress, no anxiety, and best of all, no one.
That is until Luke shows up in her field. The cocky college boy thinks he's been through it all. After several arguments, Jess realizes she has fallen for him, his self-confidence and easy-going nature. Problem is: she's not sure if he's real. And she doesn't know what to do about her real-life boyfriend, Kevin. Will Jess be able to figure out her relationship with Kevin, or will she risk it all for Luke, the boy who literally might just be in her dreams?
Soul Therapy stands complete at 60,000 words. It is YA Paranormal Romance and is intended to stand alone. The paranormal elements take a backseat to Jessica’s coming-of-age.
Thank you,
Rachel
Name: Alison Miller
ReplyDeleteTitle: CHICK MAGNET
Genre: YA Paranormal
Senior JD Marshall has a power most guys would trade their left nut for. With one hypnotizing look, he can get a girl to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants. And for three years he’s racked up more scores than Brett Favre. But his power’s not a blessing. It’s just a curse.
And it is a curse. One he’s got three months to break or lose any chance of ever having a real relationship. The only way to break the curse—learn to love and be loved. Like that’s going to happen. JD needs to focus on quarterbacking his team to the state finals. He needs to pass freaking math. And he needs to quit thinking about Susan Milton. She’s taken. She’s forbidden. Worse—she seems to be the only one immune to his power.
But JD can’t get away from her. The principal (aka Mom) arranges tutoring with Susan to save a shaky English grade. But when math and football botch the after-school sessions, the “tutoring” continues over late night phone calls. JD discovers that he’s going to have to do a little more than just look at a girl to charm the skirt off her. And he finds that underneath that tight little body lies a pretty screwed up past, one that parallels his own.
What blooms is a relationship JD can’t tell anyone about—not even his best friend. Because the one he wants, the one he can’t avoid, the one who could break the curse, just happens to be his hot new English teacher.
At 85,000 words, my young adult paranormal CHICK MAGNET is modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a Paradise Lost twist. It explores second chances, defying odds, and the bonds of friendship.
I am a member of SCBWI, the South Carolina Writers Workshop, and the Write Brained Network. Thank you for your time and consideration.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Lisa Gant
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE SPIRIT SIGHT
Genre: YA Fantasy
Fourteen-year-old Fayana Epoch has medium brown skin, micro-braids, dragonfly wings and a mouth that will slap you sideways if you’re not careful. She's also the only Winged One in her generation who has the Spirit Sight, a unique ability to always see the truth---no matter how deeply it is hidden. If used well, it could help her save the entire planet of Gaea from destruction. Of course, that's assuming it doesn’t drive her insane first.
Jeremy Spencer isn’t a typical high school freshman. He is one of the few humans who can manipulate energy with his mind and see the future in his dreams. Those little talents are exactly why Fayana snatches him out of our world and into hers. If he ever wants to see Earth again, he’ll have to help her defeat a creature that’s worse than anything either of them can imagine.
Erebos isn't a Winged One and he isn't human. He's something else. Something ugly. And for the past twenty-three days, he has been kidnapping Winged Ones using dark magic that brings their worst nightmares to life. His latest victim is Fayana's father, and it’ll take a trip across the galaxy inside the belly of a nebula worm and every ounce of courage Jeremy and Fayana can muster up to find him.
Along the way, their mutual disgust will blossom into romance, and their most powerful weapon against Erebos will be the last thing they expected.
At 90,000 words, THE SPIRIT SIGHT is the kind of young adult fantasy novel where good and evil aren’t as clear-cut as they seem, and “happily ever after” is never guaranteed.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Stacy Stokes
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE STAIRS AND THE FLY
Genre: YA Magical Realism
Taylor always imagined an afterlife filled with fluffy clouds and harp playing angels. But after the accident, instead of a heavenly tickertape parade or gaurdian angel greeting, she opens her eyes to find a cloudless sky and endless gray staircase climbing up, up, up. Led Zeppelin? Yeah, turns out they totally nailed it.
Until the ghosts appear.
Not the ghosts of her fellow dead – Taylor would welcome a visit from anyone who might be able to explain why it is she physically can’t turnaround, who the mysterious voice belongs to, or how the snow can fall when there’s not a cloud in the sky.
Instead, the ghosts of the people she would give anything to forget swirl before her and plunge her back to the horrible week before the accident. The week when her best friend Sunny did the horrible thing that turned their entire high school against her. The week when Justin Cobb, the object of Taylor’s desire, abandoned her for Sunny’s charms. The week when Taylor wished more than anything that she could disappear.
But the staircase is more than the haunted punishment it first appears to be. Within it lies a second chance to uncover the true value of everything Taylor thought she wanted to leave behind, but first she must learn the truth about Sunny’s betrayal, and find the strength to forgive the unforgivable.
Unless the staircase and the ghosts of her past break her before she can reach the top.
THE STAIRS AND THE FLY is a 61,000 word YA novel with contemporary and fantastical elements, exploring friendship, love and what happens when we die. It will appeal to fans of Gayle Forman's IF I STAY and Lauren Oliver's BEFORE I FALL.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Jolene Haley
ReplyDeleteBump in the Night
Urban Fantasy / Horror
Dear Ms. Albright,
I’m an enthusiastic reader of your online blog and I appreciate your tips, humor, and knowledge. I'm submitting to you, per your website listing that you are interesting in YA fantasy. With that said, I’m hoping you’ll consider Bump in the Night, my supernatural, young adult novel that is complete at 50,000 words.
Sixteen-year-old Sam’s life is turned upside down the moment that she returns from the store to find her Grandmother, Eliza, missing and blood covering the walls. Sam’s instincts tell her that this was a calculated attack and is sure that something similar is bound to happen to her.
Sam and Eliza are not a normal family; they are monster hunters that valiantly pursue anything that goes bump in the night. Sam is now left to develop her monster hunting skills, while keeping it a secret in a small town where being different isn’t easy.
It doesn’t help that Deacon, the Sheriff’s son, starts to ask questions after seeing something he
shouldn’t have. Sam has lived by the rule that no one else can know about the hunting. That is, until Sam’s feelings for Deacon tell her that she can confide in him, even if every other instinct tells her that it will drive him away. Or worse, put his life in danger.
As we all know, growing up and making mistakes is part of being human. Unfortunately for Sam, any mistake that she makes can prove to be deadly for herself and the people she cares about. With an atmosphere full of mistrust, danger, romance, and growing pains, Sam is desperate to make things right.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Composition from California State University Fullerton and am a member of ALA and SCBWI.
Thank you very much for your time and attention.
Jolene Haley
J.E.Neville
ReplyDeleteCaught Away
YA
Abby Byrd, who lives in a small town on the Oregon coast, is nearly 16. Her father vanished two years ago and she doesn't believe the official story that he abandoned her family. She thinks he was "caught away," her term for being abducted by aliens. What better way to escape the horrors of high school and the even worse conditions of adulthood?
When she's excessively punished for a minor infraction in school, she decides to run away, only to discover a secret plot to overthrow the government. The leader, Moose, secures Abby's allegiance by claiming to believe her father was abducted. While on a mission for Moose, Abby confronts a fearsome creature she thinks is a government DNA experiment. Or is it actually an alien? And why does it want to kill her?
Name: Dana Edwards
ReplyDeleteTitle: HAROLD – THE KID WHO RUINED MY LIFE AND SAVED THE DAY
Genre: MG, contemporary
Dear Ms. Albright,
Harold has ruined twelve-year-old Jake’s life for the last time. So what if Harold has Asperger’s and is a genius when it comes to baseball trivia and sixth grade Algebra. Jake’s D-O-N-E.
Harold collects baseball facts like the Smithsonian collects dead things and Jake is convinced that Harold also has a talent for killing his social life. But Jake’s finally found a way to put some distance between himself and Harold—middle school. His plan is to not only ditch Harold, but also the Titans, Jake’s baseball team. The team he’s played on since T-ball. The one his dad coaches. It seems the best the Titans can do is second place and Jake wants to find a spot on the number one team, even if it means leaving his old friends behind.
Jake meets Mr. Williams who was once a Little Leaguer himself. Only no one would play his team because in the 1955 South, white teams didn’t play black teams. Mr. Williams helps Jake understand that some people have a gift to make us better individuals and Harold might just have that gift. It’s also possible that Harold’s knowledge of expert plays can help Jake’s team beat the undefeated Comets.
Lucy, the girl who sits beside Jake on the bus, tries to convince him that there are more important things than winning and that friends come in all sorts of packages. Jake discovers that Lucy, while annoying, might be right and…kind of awesome to sit by.
HAROLD - THE KID WHO RUINED MY LIFE AND SAVED THE DAY is a 32k middle grade novel. It’s a story full of baseball action, humor, and a lesson about true friendship. As a teacher and school counselor for over twenty years, I’ve worked with kids like Harold who fall on the high end of the autism continuum and who struggle to find acceptance. Currently, I’m a middle school counselor with the largest school system in the Southeast.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Name: Sakura Eries
ReplyDeleteTitle: Cynisca and the Olive Crown
Genre: YA Historical
The Games at Olympia have ever been a competition of men–until Princess Cynisca's brother convinces her to enter her chariot for the sake of the Spartan Royal House.
Seventeen-year-old Cynisca is the odd one in her family. Unlike her siblings, the awkward princess is a political nonentity, devoting herself instead to equestrian pursuits. But that changes when her crippled older brother Agesilaus abruptly becomes king. His ascension sparks controversy throughout Sparta, and when the prominent Lord Lichas mocks not only Agesilaus' sovereignty but that of the Royal House, Cynisca snaps. Challenging Lichas to a horse race, she humiliates him with a decisive win and gives Agesilaus an idea: to cement royal authority by having Cynisca defeat Lichas in the great chariot race at Olympia.
Cynisca readily agrees to his plan, but the stakes–Olympic glory and unparalleled political clout–are higher than anything she's competed for. Moreover, no female has ever dared enter the Olympic Games, and her bid incites hostility among officials and entrants alike. With opposition in and out of Sparta, just getting to Olympia may prove more treacherous than any track Cynisca's raced.
Based on events from Spartan history, Cynisca and the Olive Crown (65,000 words) relates the story of the first woman to enter and win in the ancient Olympic Games.
My short stories have been featured in two anthologies and Scape e-zine. I am also a member of SCBWI and a staff writer at The Fandom Post where I contribute book reviews.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Rachel Pudelek
ReplyDeleteTitle: DARK WATERS
Genre: YA dark fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
Sixteen-year-old Allura is done following rules.
#1) No hunting alone
#2) No saving humans
#3) No falling in love
So when her inner predatory switch is flipped to the “on” position while saving an injured human, she has nobody to blame but herself. That is, until her new flesh-hungry fantasies begin to flicker through her mind like a movie, bloody scene after bloody scene. Then she has everyone to blame—her mother, her grandmother, her great-grandmother—because Allura comes from a long line of man-eaters.
But it isn’t until David, the guy she’s falling in love with, lands a lead role in her private film as her delicious victim, that Allura realizes two things. One: She refuses to live without him. And two: She can’t turn off the switch.
DARK WATERS is Dexter meets Splash, where the deadliest of female folkloric creatures are raised in today’s society and commanded to play well with others.
Please consider my YA contemporary dark fantasy, DARK WATERS, complete at 74,000 words.
I am a member of Romance Writers of America and my credits include an article on market strategies, Guest Speaking to Get the Word Out, published in the spring edition of the C.A.P.P.A. quarterly newsletter.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely, Rachel Pudelek
Name: Kelly Metz
ReplyDeleteTitle: REMEMBERED
Genre: YA paranormal romance
AJ Ashford curses too much, is failing French and holds top spot on her principal’s shitlist. She’d much rather play guitar than conjugate verbs, but when said conjugation is interrupted by a creature only she can see, the resultant spaz-attack sends her freak status at school rocketing, until she silences the star quarterback with her right hook. Suspension equals one unhappy dad.
Xander Sorokin, future commander of the demon-hunting Sentinels and heir to the Nephilim throne, is wanted for the murder of his foster father by the very people he was destined to lead. In his dreams, Xander remembers the feel of the sword as it cut down the man who helped raise him, can still feel the hatred coursing through his veins at that moment…only he doesn’t believe he did it. Can’t believe it. Hunted by his closest friends, he searches for answers, striving to stay one step ahead in order to keep his head. Until he meets AJ and her black eye, and his need to defend the weak awakens for the first time since his escape.
AJ doesn’t do demure damsel; she prefers to swing the verbal ax.
With AJ’s rejection still stinging, Xander’s past slips into the seat across from him, armed and dangerous. Exploiting Sanctuary law, Xander evades capture only to be ambushed by demons and used as a speed bump for AJ’s truck. While Xander fights to pull an unconscious AJ from the wreck, she is drafted into Xander’s war, sent back from death with an angel’s mission to help the antagonistic punk who caused her death. Heaven and Hell better both watch out.
REMEMBERED, a young adult paranormal romance for fans of Cassandra Clare and Lauren Kate, is complete at 80,000 words.
NAME: Ashley Gipson
ReplyDeleteTITLE: Drego’s Sword
GENRE: YA epic fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
Drego never thought he’d be thrust into the middle of a war with him as the enemy’s main target. But when dictator Gordar marches his army across the lands, Drego leaves his coastal hometown at the urging of a mysterious, ghostly woman to find three magic gems. These gems are said to hold a huge amount of power, and Gordar has set his sights on them.
Drego always thought his worst problem was dodging his pacifist parents so he could train with his retired soldier uncle. But when he finds the first gem on accident, he decides he has to leave for this so-called destiny the ghostly woman told him about. To stop Gordar and save his home, and to find the reason why she knows so much about him.
Aided by a kindly blacksmith and a headstrong young woman, Drego stores the first gem into the hilt of his sword, turning it into a powerful weapon. But using it and controlling it are two different things. As Drego travels to find the other two, he battles not only Gordar but a ruthless assassin, a seer whose alliances are in question, and a darker, more violent part of himself he hadn’t known existed.
Drego’s Sword is an epic fantasy with series potential. It has 94,000 words.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Ashley Gipson
Name: Marianne Su
ReplyDeleteTitle: SHADOW DREAMS
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Adele is the heroine of SHADOW DREAMS, my recently completed 82,500 word young adult paranormal urban fantasy. As an immortal Seer Adele has helped hundreds of Enforcers adjust to their vampire-hunting lives, but Jared is the only Enforcer she’s ever loved. When he dies tragically, Adele’s heart told her she’d lost everything. Her head told her that if she waited long enough, he would return to the world.
Decades later and still seventeen, Adele has unfailing trust in her dreams when they reveal Jax is Jared re-born. When she meets Jax and they rekindle what they lost so long ago, they discover an old enemy has returned with a secret that threatens their happiness. Emil has his sights on Adele, the only Seer he can ask to perform a favour, one that will confirm his haunting suspicions. When Adele proves that Emil is a vampire in an Enforcer body, he vows to track down an ancient spell and the only living witch who can reverse the magic that created Enforcers, choosing a life of evil over the conflict of his dual self.
Unable to stop Emil, Adele feels the hum of Enforcer energy fade inside her as the race is obliterated from the earth, leaving Jax human but alive. Her unwavering loyalty to her secret world and her love for Jax drive her to infiltrate the vampire community, intent on reclaiming the spell and resurrecting Enforcers everywhere. But first she must appeal to a side of Emil he is unwilling to accept. With Jax’s life in the balance, Adele is forced to trust the one person who least deserves it, or risk losing what she’s waited so long for.
Name: Ashley Maker
ReplyDeleteTitle: SEER
Genre: YA sci-fi
Clare Palmer can't explain why her death was faked by her mother. Nor can she fathom why her biological father is a raving lunatic. That is, until the Corasha come for her. The secrets they hide explain everything, making Clare realize that maybe she had been dead for a very good reason.
Because they think she's a Seer. And after a few freaky visual occurrences, Clare starts to think they might be right. Her newfound abilities terrify her, especially when she finds out an underground society of rogues wants her dead.
Then there's Kade Kieran, the only person Clare trusts. And loathes. And maybe even loves? He wants Clare to be a Seer, but it's only because he needs her to lead a tracking team into the rogues' lair. There's a war coming, whether she wants in on it or not. If Clare's not careful, she could end up dead for real.
Dear Ms. Albright,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned you like contemporary YA, so I thought you might be interested in my 84 000 word novel, THE BOYFRIEND PLAGUE.
Livvie seeks refuge from the shambles of her life in the school art room—the one place her synesthesia helps rather than hinders. There she finds Bianca, the school ‘freak’. Free-spirited and confident, Bianca is everything Livvie isn’t . Shaken by her sister’s cancer, her mother’s desperation and abandoned by her friends, Livvie finds comfort and an attraction she’s never felt before with Bianca.
When their relationship is discovered, Livvie and Bianca become victims of persecution and bullying. At home, her mother’s behavior escalates to new levels of crazy and her sister is begging for help to end the pain once and for all.
While searching for the strength to make her life her own, Livvie must decide how far she’s willing to go for the people she loves.
My short stories have appeared in Halfway Down The Stairs, A Fly in Amber, Daily Flash Anthology, The Barrier Islands Review, Death Rattle, Drastic Measures, Rapunzel’s Daughters and Cutlass and Musket– Tales of Piratical Skulllduggery among others.
Per your submission requirements, you will find the first XXX pages of the manuscript attached. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards,
K
NAme: Shelley
ReplyDeleteTitle:CArving Change
Genre: YA romance
Breaking up is hard to do, and for fifteen-year-old, Stoney McCay it appears impossible. So, instead: She. Just. Stops. Seeing. Daniel Journey. That was last spring, but now school is starting and Stoney must face Danny.
This fear of facing the truth also keeps Stoney from visiting her father in the hospital for her entire fifteenth summer. Stoney knows if it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t be there, and she’s paralyzed at the idea that he will remember that, and turn away from her.
This secret guilt keeps Stoney from getting back into the woodshop she shared with her father, so she obsessively numbers the changes in her life, carving and shaping them anywhere she can find a suitable piece of wood: Kitchen counters, wood tables, trees and school desks. When Zen Derby, lands in one of these desks right beside her in wood shop Stoney’s too busy worrying about Danny, and dealing with her feelings over her father, to see Zen as the perfect change for her.
Zen recognizes the trail of hollowed out numbers as a symptom of Stoney’s grief and admits to her he is dealing with his own heartache. Unaware their misery is connected to that fateful day; Stoney begins to see Zen as a friend. Devastated when she learns he is moving back to California, and realizing she’s fallen in love with him, Stoney struggles with yet another loss. Meanwhile Zen brings up the obvious: that Stoney has already lost her father by not visiting. Struggling to accept all the changes in her life, Stoney makes her way to see her father and is happily surprised when Zen ends up beside her.
Name: Jen Veldhuyzen
ReplyDeleteTitle: Issue 339
Genre: YA
A popular comic book character lands a bullet in his author's chest--and has to live with that decision.
The comics industry drags teen superhero Skye through every plot twist imaginable: aliens invade, his true love becomes a zombie-plant, and a crime ring princess can't decide whether to kiss or kill him. Every time tragedy strikes, Skye claws past the rubble, drags himself to his feet, and faces the next day with courage.
Then the author writes Issue #339. Skye's best friend kills his parents--and then kills Skye. Through ridiculous inter-dimensional physics, the weapon meant to disintegrate Skye lands him in his author's universe, where a kindly inner-city cop takes him in. Skye becomes friends with the cop's son Jace, a quiet comic book aficionado. It's rough helping a roommate with Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, let alone your favorite superhero; Jace struggles to understand Skye, nightmares, mood swings, and all, but Skye breaks. He can't handle watching the books torture his friends. He shoots his author. While the cop investigates the author's murder, Jace must uncover his familiar-looking houseguest's real identity--and when the publishing company hires a new writer, Skye must decide whether one more murder will free his world, or damn his soul.
Name: Katharina Gerlach
ReplyDeleteTitle: BEAST HUNTER
Genre: MG Fantasy
Dear Ms./Mr. AGENTNAME,
Twelve-year-old fraidy-cat Tom is glad his older sister, Sally, always protects him, but when a strange monster attacks him unsuccessfully, everybody (including Sally) takes it for a rat. Only Tom's eccentric new neighbor, Beast Hunter Jake Saint-Clare, knows the Beast is a century old demon out to steal children's souls.
When the Beast attacks Sally and turns her into a ghost, Tom writes a diary to help his sister remember her life and keep her from fading away forever. But that won't bring her back, so he sets out to catch the Beast with the help of Mr. Jake and his (not entirely doggish) dog. Now, Tom has to discover his courage to find out if by defeating the Beast, he will be able to rescue the sister he loves.
(personal touch…) and thought you might like my stand-alone MG Fantasy, BEAST HUNTER. It is complete at 36,000 words.
I am a bilingual author and my German novels are under contract with the agency 'Schmidt und Abrahams'. My first novel in English was a finalist in the 2010 Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold Contest, and my short story "Wildrose" was a runner up in 2011 in the 80th Writers Digest Writing Competition in the Genre Fiction category.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Signature
Name: Susan Taitel
ReplyDeleteTitle: Random Acts of Nudity
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult
Nobody ever died of embaressment. That's what Viola's mother says, but thinks she will be the first. At fifteen Vi thought nothing could be more humiliating than her first boyfriend, Ethan, dumping her for a much skinnier and more popular girl. She was wrong.
Just as her broken heart is beginning to mend, a sex tape featuring Vi and her ex, goes viral amoung her classmates. In the course of a day, vi transforms from a quiet, plus size honors student to the school's biggest joke. Mortified that her most private moments are now public, and crushed by Ethan's betrayal, Vi is torn between striking back and crawling into her room to hide until graduation.
While struggling with her reputation as a Grade A slut, Vi desperately tries to conceal the scandal from her parents to avoid their bitter disappointment. When she falls for a boy from a neighboring school, Vi can't help wondering if he'll hurt her too, and if he would still like her if he found out she is Sex Tape Girl.
RANDOM ACTS OF NUDITY (72000 words) is a contemporary young adult novel taking you on one girl's journey from nobody to notorious.
Name: Ella Schwartz
ReplyDeleteTitle: Temple Falls
Genre: MG Fantasy
Banished from the palace after the death of her father, fourteen year old Nara is no longer a princess. Now her egomaniac cousin Roman sits on the throne as king. But Nara is the only one who can hear the Gods; and those Gods are angry. Darkness is the first plague, followed by the frogs and the flies. And the Gods are just getting warmed up.
By unraveling the cryptic clues the Gods send to her dreams, Nara thinks she knows how to stop the plagues. The Gods want a temple. Nara advises Roman begin construction on the temple at once, and Roman commands the commoners work as laborers. While Roman enjoys massages and pedicures, Nara must continue to decipher the mysterious clues from the Gods to end the worsening plagues.
Damian is a crippled commoner, but he has a big voice and bright ideas. Despite his disability, he smarts his way onto the construction site. But Damian doesn’t believe a temple is the right solution to the worsening plague problem. The laborers grow weary and angry, and rally around Damian; the visionary with a crooked leg.
Nara must stand in Roman’s shadow while trying to save the kingdom. She misses her father, and aches for palace life again. And now Damian, a mere commoner, is challenging everything. But when Nara and Damian’s moms fall victim to the worse plague yet, a mystery illness that puts them near death, they must work together before the Gods destroy everything they hold dear.
TEMPLE FALLS, a middle grade fantasy novel of 50,000 words, is told from the point of view of both Nara and Damian, appealing to girl and boy readers. The book stands alone, but has series potential. It’s like a rated G version of THE GAME OF THRONES meets THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY.
Name: Amanda Foody
ReplyDeleteTitle: RELIC
Genre: YA Fantasy
Far grew up knowing how it felt to die.
Far is a Relic, someone who has visions from their past lives. Even as a princess, the twisted legends and lies surrounding the so-called demonic abilities of Relics would nail her to a fiery stake if her secret were exposed.
After the death of her sister, Far inherits her seat and becomes the youngest member of her kindgom’s Council. She has little idea how to rule, and as a dark group of magi conquer neighboring kingdoms, she doesn’t know how to protect her people and her secret at the same time.
When invasion pushes her kingdom into the world war, Far realizes her past-life knowledge is her most powerful weapon. She is the only one who knows the magi’s secret. But somehow they also know hers. She can stay quiet at the expense of thousands of lives or speak up at the expense of her own.
RELIC is Young Adult fantasy complete at 85,000 words.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Emily Cushing
ReplyDeleteTitle: RACE TO BUTCH CASSIDY’S GOLD
Genre: MG Mystery
Dear Ms. Albright,
Twelve-year-old Maggie McCoy wants to be brave and spontaneous. But she’s not. So when she and her fearless cousin Jake stumble upon century-old clues leading to gold coins hidden by Butch Cassidy—farm boy turned infamous bank robber of the Wild West—she crumples her “to-do” list to prove that she really can be daring and impulsive.
And at first, searching for gold with Jake and their quirky Grandpa Jim in his beat-up motorhome is the grand adventure she’s always wanted. But Maggie’s newfound courage falters when she learns they must outsmart and outrun a dangerous thief who’s also after the treasure.
The race is on. They have only three days to discover the gold or Maggie will break her promise to a desperate friend to help save the camp for troubled youth founded in Butch Cassidy’s name. But, just as the cousins think they have solved the mystery, Jake is captured and Maggie must find her bravery—using the one thing she never imagined she'd have to use to free him.
UNITED STATES MYSTERIES: RACE TO BUTCH CASSIDY’S GOLD is complete at 41,500 words and stands alone, but can open the door for a series that exposes readers to fast-paced adventures across the fifty states.
I have a Master’s degree in Elementary Education and have been both an elementary and middle school classroom teacher. I am a regular attendee of writers’ conferences and have three published magazine articles. I created the successful marketing website, Giveaway Today, with an apex of 176,000 page views per month.
Thanks for your time and consideration.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName: Mia K Rose
ReplyDeleteTitle: OF FIRE AND SHADOW
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Sixteen-year-old Talitha Martin has struggled to feign a normal life ever since her entire body turned into smoke three years ago—and life just got stranger.
Living shadows stalk her at every corner, and one night she is no longer safe. Beings of flames intervene and save her and her good friend Caspar. They are both from battling factions—the Umbran and the Ascended. One thinks her an abomination, and the other needs her help. Both factions come from higher planes, bringing their war with them. What she sees is an opportunity for control of the smoke.
Talitha is poised to be the defender of the Ascendeds’ human vessels for their continued survival, and all humans. For if the Umbran destroy the Ascended, they will consume Earth in shadows too. First, she must harness her ability and help locate the vessel in her town, before the Umbran do. It is either cooperate or face a premature death. Either way, her dreams of a normal life just went up in smoke.
OF FIRE AND SHADOW is a YA Urban Fantasy completed at 62,000 words.
Name: Rachel Solomon
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE ALMOST ADULTS
Genre: NA contemporary
Grad-school dropout Jordan Daisey has spilled enough bowls of palak paneer to know that being a waitress definitely isn’t her calling.
After moving in with her parents in Seattle, 23-year-old Jordan takes a job at the Indian restaurant to pay off her student debt. In her free time, she chases a real career—never mind that she’s still trying to figure out what that means.
India Palace is limbo between adolescence and independence, and Jordan’s coworkers are stuck, too. Reed plays customer bingo to forget that his punk band never got famous. Lux masks grown-up addictions and childish habits with smiles so broad her face must hurt. Even the restaurant can’t pull itself together: the power shuts off, the owner disappears, and the health department spies like one of the paintings of Sikh gurus on the walls. The sole comfort is in the food. Punjabi kitchen ladies craft parathas and curries so spicy they’ll make you cry. In a good way.
A charming customer’s daily visits make the work tolerable—even enjoyable—and a scathing health inspection compels Jordan to fix the restaurant. But there’s more wrong with India Palace than broken dishes. When confronted with the immorality of the people around her, Jordan must figure out how to grow up, though this dead-end job was never meant to be an education.
THE ALMOST ADULTS is new adult contemporary, complete at 105,000 words. It’s a story about the struggle of extended adolescence and the simple pleasure in a hot bowl of mulai kofta.
Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
Name: Jennifer M. Hartsock
ReplyDeleteTitle: Battleground
Genre: Realistic YA
Dear Ms. Taryn Albright,
From visits to your website, I believe my relationship-driven YA novel Battleground will fit nicely into your list of works. Complete at 63,000 words, Battleground discusses faith, drug abuse, and self-discovery through its teenage characters.
When fate is out of the picture, all that’s left is free will.
Sixteen-year-old Lilly Dawson was never one to question fate. That is, until she meets Parker, a troubled yet persuasive realist. As he challenges her hold on fate, new meaning shapes Lilly’s world — our choices, not some ultimate plan, define who we are. So when Parker chooses to abuse drugs, Lilly knows it’s up to her to steer him away from a path of self-destruction. It isn’t easy. One moment he’s putting down the needle, the next he’s shooting up. Then Lilly is raped. Her self-worth is shattered and her healing becomes tied to Parker’s rehabilitation. Can he abandon his old life to save hers? If not, Lilly must redefine faith, love, and identity for herself.
I work as a college-level writing assistant and tutor in writing and literature. I am the former opinion editor for the Linn-Benton Community College newspaper, The Commuter, and write the weekly opinion column Straight from the Hartsock and the humor column Dear Conscience. I work as a freelance editor in the community and manage a blog in my spare time.
Thank you for considering Battleground. I’ve included the first 10 pages, and I’m happy to forward exclusive materials upon your request.
Sincerely,
Jennifer M. Hartsock
Name: A.J. Cattapan
ReplyDeleteTitle: Seven Riddles to Nowhere
Genre: Middle Grade Mystery
Dear Ms. Albright,
Despite being a world-class yo-yoer, seventh grader Kamryn Boyd cannot speak to adults outside his home. Due to his selective mutism, his mother has bounced him from school to school in hopes of an answer. When Kam arrives at St. Jude Catholic School, he feels he’s finally found a place where he’s understood, even if his tongue remains speechless.
However, Kam’s feelings of belonging are wrenched out from under him when financial problems threaten to close the school. If that happens, it’s back to public school for Kam while his best friends Delta and Cooper get shipped off to an expensive boarding school.
Then a message arrives with the opportunity to change everything. A stranger texts Kam a series of seven riddles that lead to a valuable treasure. The riddles start Kam on a scavenger hunt through the churches of Chicago. If Kam can decipher the hidden messages in the religious artwork, he’ll win the treasure, solving the school’s financial problems and keeping St. Jude’s open for years to come. But two things stand in his way. He’s not the only way deciphering the clues. And if he doesn’t find the treasure within a week, the Archdiocese is closing the school for good.
SEVEN RIDDLES TO NOWHERE, an upper middle grade mystery, is complete at 43,000 words. It combines the scavenger-hunt style mystery of The 39 Clues with the coded religious artwork of The DaVinci Code.
I am a graduate of the Institute for Children's Literature and a member of the SCBWI, MWA, and ACFW. My short stories and articles have been published in Hopscotch for Girls, Pockets, and My Light. Recently, I've also had an article selected for publication in the February 2013 issue of Highlights.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
(Pen) Name: Carrie-Anne Brownian
ReplyDeleteTitle: And Jakob Flew the Fiend Away
Genre: Upper YA historical fiction, Bildungsroman
Dear Ms. Albright,
I noticed you listed historical as one of your interests, and hope you will consider And Jakob Flew the Fiend Away, an upper YA historical Bildungsroman spanning the years 1940-46 and set in the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies.
Fourteen-year-old Jakob DeJonghe can think of nothing but revenge when the Nazis coerce his father into suicide and his little sister mysteriously disappears the day before Yom Kippur 1940. The situation in occupied Amsterdam soon worsens, with increasingly restrictive laws and barbed wire around the Jewish Quarter. All the while, Jakob is more and more determined to do something, anything, to fight back and be the master of his own destiny, just as his heroes the Maccabees did in ancient times.
In November 1942, he feels his chance has finally come. Knowing it’s now or never, Jakob jumps from a death train and severely breaks his foot. As he’s trying to run to safety, he’s found by four young resistance fighters and taken to a safe house to recover. Even though Jakob has been left with a permanent limp, he’s still determined to defend his country and track down the men who killed his father.
His dream comes true when he joins the resistance and later is recruited into the Princess Irene Brigade of the Dutch Free Forces. But he can’t stop thinking about Rachel Roggenfelder, a beautiful, spirited young woman he ran into on one of his missions, and he starts to feel the slow reawakening of emotions he thought he’d buried when he went on his quest for revenge. Jakob is even more surprised when they cross paths again a year and a half later.
Finding his dream girl again seems like a dream come true, but shortly after their quick marriage ceremony, Rachel is given the opportunity to go to America as the wife of an Allied serviceman, and Jakob is called to a tour of duty in the Dutch East Indies. Their year of separation isn't made easier by constant nagging reminders from his surviving mother that he essentially married a near-stranger. Will Rachel really stay true to him an ocean away while he goes through the painful process of relearning how to be a part of humanity?
I have a degree in history from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, with one of my areas of focus being World War II and the Shoah. I also worked in the production room of a local newspaper for five years.
Name: Margo Berendsen
ReplyDeleteTitle: Startripped
Genre: YA science fiction
Blinded by a freak explosion, seventeen year old Camria is trying to finish high school without tripping over too many obstacles or losing any more friends. When a new transfer student, Lander, seeks her friendship, Cam is both flattered and suspicious. He sharpens her senses so much it’s almost like seeing again. But he knows more about her past than he should: details about the explosion that stole her vision, and her twin sister’s life.
Lander claims her sister is still alive, and he can help Cam find her. He even restores her sight with a mysterious device. But there’s a catch: she has to leave with him, and he can’t tell her where he’s taking her.
And he can’t promise if he can ever bring her back.
Cam agrees to Lander's terms, but she didn't count on adding space worms and new stars to her never-seen-before list. Lander is part of a group protecting Earth from mind-harvesters on his planet who want human minds to enhance their abilities. Racing across the stars to keep vital information out the enemies’ hands gives Cam a whole new definition for startripping.
When Cam finds her sister, complications get as tangled as astrophysics. Liz has been brainwashed by the enemy faction, and even worse, she’s dragging Lander over to their side. It’s not just a matter of saving the Earth, anymore. Now, it’s personal.
StarTripped is a 80k science fiction for young adults that will appeal to fans of I Am Number Four or Across the Universe. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Lorie Steed
ReplyDeleteTitle: ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS
Genre: YA Contemporary
Dear Ms. Albright:
Seventeen-year-old Leslie Craven has picked up a few tips trying to dodge her mother's mood swings: watch your step, stay on the sidelines, and take what you can get. Unfortunately, what keeps the peace at home works a little too well at school. So what if her football-player boyfriend scored her a seat at the popular table? Nobody notices her sitting there.
Leslie wants a mom who thanks her for cleaning the kitchen instead of yelling at her for missing a spot, and a boyfriend who cares enough to be Rhett to her Scarlet at the big Halloween bonfire. When she discovers the sparks flying between him and his lab partner aren't limited to Chem class, she's ready to throw in the tear-stained towel.
That is, until she finds two unexpected friends whose lives are just as screwed up as hers: Meredith, the cheerleader who rah-rahs her way through the breakdown of her own family, and Dennis, the new guy addicted to cigarettes and solitude. But when Meredith's boyfriend puts his bad-boy moves on Leslie, she's tempted to do more than help him cheat his way through English class, and she must choose between friendship, romance, or ending up right back where she started—alone.
ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS explores what happens when teenagers are forced to look out for themselves and each other because their parents can't see past their own drama. As such, I believe it will especially appeal to fans of Sara Zarr.
I earned an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and have published poetry in several literary journals, including New York Quarterly, Hollins Critic, and Evening Street Review. As a high school teacher and librarian, I have worked with teenagers for several years and am an avid reader of young adult literature.
Thank you for considering my work, and I look forward to hearing from you.
Name: Shiela Blankemeier
ReplyDeleteTitle: HOW SNOW CAME TO THE DESERT
Genre: YA Epic Fantasy
Monstrous jaguar warriors murdered Brisana's father. Now they hunt her.
Sixteen-year-old half-blood Brisana de la Cerra hides in the jungles of Cielito Lindo. Concealed in the misty mountains of Oldest Mexico, El Lindo is birthplace of earth gods, jalapeños, and dwarves like her father. She alone has the human blood that can release the were-jaguars’ imprisoned master: an ice god bent on unleashing a second ice age where he and his followers will reign. But she’s more at home in El Lindo surrounded by her much shorter family and friends than she ever was with her mother’s human kin. She’d rather hide there in danger than live safely anywhere else.
However, the were-jaguars have allies around every dark corner: giant birds of prey blocking the sunlight, blinking eyes in the shadows, waiting for her. Legend says that her dwarf ancestors knew a way to defeat were-jaguars. If she’s going to stay in El Lindo without ending up as an ice god’s key or worse, dinner, then she will have to figure out how they did it. And whether or not a half-blood chica can do the same. Estúpido human blood.
HOW SNOW CAME TO THE DESERT is a multicultural YA fantasy at 90,000 words, paralleling my own multicultural teen experience. Minus the were-jaguars.
Name: Heather Riffle
ReplyDeleteTitle: TERRA INCOGNITA
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Dear Ms. Albright:
In TERRA INCOGNITA, seventeen-year old Haylee Wells thought she lived in an ordinary world. But just out of sight, something not so ordinary lurks. Hidden in the shadows of city streets and forests – just like the one in her backyard – the Pale Ones plan their coming out.
In the future, the cities are gone and the land barren. Humans, fearing the deadly touch of the Pale Ones, know better than to venture into dark places. Haylee awakens to this unknown world, where the supernatural is common, inanimate objects become poisonous organisms, humans survive – and fight back – with powers of their own, and Seers discern what secrets lie within the confines of your mind and heart.
The Pale Ones know great power dwells within Haylee, and they have propelled her through time to claim it. She understands she should return home. But, between her growing affections for her new friends – particularly Derik, the duty-bound protector of the group – and her newfound purpose in life, she is no longer sure in which time home resides.
TERRA INCOGNITA is a Young Adult paranormal fantasy with romantic elements. This story will introduce readers to a new supernatural creature and immerse them in a future where humans must fight daily to survive. It will appeal to older teenagers and many adult lovers of YA romantic fantasy. My novel is complete at approximately 103,000 words.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Beck Nicholas
ReplyDeleteTitle: Allies
Genre: YA sci-fi
Dear Ms. Albright,
An inexperienced assassin must choose between restoring her family honor and saving the boy she’s falling for.
Sixteen year old Noemi was never meant to go undercover in the Governmental Force but when her sister dies she’s determined to succeed in her place. Her Offworlder leader, Miller, is decent and cute and has her re-thinking some of the stories she’s been trained by her Rebel father to believe.
She’s ordered to get close to Miller, an assignment she’s happy to fulfil, until she discovers he’s the perfect target. Executing Miller will bring the glory back to her family and expunge the shame of her sister’s failure. If she can do it.
But she’s not the only one keeping secrets. What Miller is hiding might free her to love for the first time or get them both killed.
ALLIES is complete at 82,000 words. I look forward to hearing from you.
Name: Christina Early
ReplyDeleteTitle: Like a Frothing Rabid Dog is Adorable
Genre: new adult horror
Dear Taryn Albright:
All gamer geek Ayako Futsurado wants is to spend spring break with her boyfriend in Michigan. At least until her train is delayed, compliments of the March snowstorm and the dead body she finds in the lounge car.
It doesn't help that the dead body goes missing, leaving Ayako the crime scene's only witness. Or that she gets suckered into helping two children who are about as adorable as frothing rabid dogs find their missing dad. Then the father turns out to be dead body number two and Ayako's really wishing she went to Florida instead. She'll have to make do with trying to prove her innocence to two guys who may as well be the Men in Black and insist she's some sort of natural vampire hunter.
Just when Ayako thinks she knows who the real killer is, she stumbles onto the snack car that's now full of dead bodies. Of course the bodies aren't as dead as she'd like them to be, especially when they try to drink her blood. All Ayako can do is use a couple trusty toothpicks and hope she'll be able to stake the vampires before they turn her into a blood-thirsty ghoul.
Like a Frothing Rabid Dog is Adorable is a 50,000-word horror novel in the same vein as the Lost Boys.
Adrianne Russell
ReplyDelete'TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU
YA Contemporary
Dear Ms. Albright,
I am seeking representation for my contemporary young adult novel. ‘TIL IT HAPPENS TO YOU, complete at 70,000 words, is a story that explores a young girl teetering on the edge of adulthood and facing hard choices much like Jennifer Echols’ GOING TOO FAR or Sara Zarr’s STORY OF A GIRL.
Seventeen year old Fischer considers herself below-average in practically every way. Her grades are the only exception and that’s because she uses schoolwork to avoid being the airbag in her parents’ car wreck of a relationship.
Then she meets JP and everything changes. He’s disarmingly handsome, naturally intelligent and of course popular. JP becomes Fischer’s tour guide to amazing experiences. Armed with new-found self-confidence, she pushes back against her family’s unrelenting demands. Bolstered by unexpected strength, she steps outside of her protective bubble and finds a new friend who accepts her warts and all, causing Fischer to question everything, including why JP seems more interested in taking than giving.
Suddenly, Fischer’s gone from being a girl with no options to one with too many choices and she has to decide exactly who, what and with whom she wants to be.
Currently, I maintain two blogs, Cabinet of Curiosities and The Writer’s Republic. I’m a freelance museum educator, Sucker Literary Magazine Staff Reader, bookaholic and unabashed art nerd. You can find me on Twitter at @adriannerussell and @writersrepublic.
Name: Lauren Harris
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE MARK OF FLIGHT
Genre: NA High Fantasy
The council’s preference for her tractable cousin is Princess Arianna’s biggest worry until her most trusted companion, Markmaster Tashda, kidnaps her to rekindle the centuries-long war with the neighboring kingdom, Centoren. In a fight for her liberty and the preservation of her homeland, Arianna is willing to sacrifice almost anything, but she can't escape an elite squadron of Centoreinian soldiers on her own.
A backwoods Mage and a stuttering stable boy, however, are the last champions she would have asked for. Bay is an Innate Mage who can escape neither the impulse to heal the ravaged borderlands nor the haunting absence of the master who taught him more Magic than anyone else seems to know. Even worse is Shiro, a slave illegally owned by the same inn harboring Tashda’s men. Horrified at the thought of slavery in her kingdom, Arianna swears to stop the unlawful trade if she can ever get home, and promises Shiro will never suffer chains again.
Then one of Tashda’s men catches up to them, and the glittering shield that bursts from Shiro’s hand shocks even him with the impossible: the slave is a Markmaster.
Bay departs to lead Tashda astray and Shiro, unable to explain how he got a Mark, refuses to accept his power. Arianna hopes that returning to the castle will solve their problems, but when Shiro is captured protecting her from slave-traders, she faces a choice: break her promise to Shiro and rush home to prepare her kingdom for war, or risk her life to free the Markmaster-slave who gave up everything to save her.
THE MARK OF FLIGHT is 123,000 words, and the first book in a trilogy that
deals with the conflict of destiny versus free will. Aside from running the
Pendragon Variety podcast for aspiring writers and the Fit-2-Write Podcast
for writers' fitness (along with Tee Morris), I tweet (@Marksmaster), blog
about writing at http://lscribeharris.blogspot.com/, and room with two
demanding cats and a pet librarian.
Name: Louisa Clarkson
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE SILVER STRAND
Genre: MG Fantasy Adventure
Twelve-year-old Isabelle Tresdon doesn’t have a magical bone in her body – but she does have one seriously freaky silver strand of hair.
The Silver Strand is that hair’s story. Okay, well, it’s Isabelle’s story, sure, but she's about to figure out that she’s nothing without that strand. Because of that hair, Isabelle can transform particles of energy into matter. Because of her strand, she will be invited to study magic at Mastermind Academy, a secret school inside the earth’s core. And because of that school, Isabelle’s life will change forever. So it’s too bad that her silver strand is about to suddenly wither and drain Isabelle’s magic and life in just five days.
At 55,000 words, The Silver Strand is a children’s fantasy adventure for fans of secret underground worlds, unexpected villains and monsters, high-tech flying devices, and the kind of humor featured in fantasies like Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl.
Name: Sarah Negovetich
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE WATCHERS
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
Stacie Gunthar is the newest Watcher, an esoteric and ancient sect charged with protecting humans from the Antagonists. Meeting the other three members of her group activated her mind reading power, but it’s up to Stacie to learn how to use it.
Practicing every day is cutting into her packed high school schedule. Of course, all that alone time with the group's hot Healer is one sacrifice she’s willing to make. But romance is complicated when you’re trying to save lives.
The Antagonists are determined to track down and kill the new group of Watchers. Stacie and the others need to master their powers and beat the Antagonists to the punch before they carve a path of destruction and unexplainable ‘accidents’ straight to them.
THE WATCHERS, complete at 60,000 words, is the first book in a proposed trilogy, though it can stand on its own. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Amanda Foody
ReplyDeleteTitle: RELIC
Genre: YA Fantasy
Far grew up knowing how it felt to die.
Far is a Relic, someone who has visions from their past lives. Even as a princess, the twisted legends and lies surrounding the so-called demonic abilities of Relics would nail her to a fiery stake if her secret were exposed.
After the death of her sister, Far inherits her seat and becomes the youngest member of her kindgom’s Council. She has little idea how to rule, and as a dark group of magi conquer neighboring kingdoms, she doesn’t know how to protect her people and her secret at the same time.
When invasion pushes her kingdom into the world war, Far realizes her past-life knowledge is her most powerful weapon. She is the only one who knows the magi’s secret. But somehow they also know hers. She can stay quiet at the expense of thousands of lives or speak up at the expense of her own.
RELIC is Young Adult fantasy complete at 85,000 words.
After many years of religious education, I have become fascinated with world belief systems and reincarnation. I have won a few minor fiction and poetry awards, and I am currently studying English Creative Writing at the College of William and Mary.
Name: Susan M. Fobes writing as T. J. Shelkey
ReplyDeleteTitle: THE LEGEND OF TAIRN GIRE: A PROPHESY REVISITED
Genre: YA Fantasy
Every bargain has a price, so when an unknown sorcerer invites the spirit of an evil king back to the land of the living and the two forge a deal, more than the loss of this sorcerer's soul is at stake-the evil spirit seeks revenge and he wants the royal family to be the first to pay.
All goes unnoticed as the Kingdom of Tairn Gire celebrates 100 years of peace, a legendary event that involves all races-Ordinal (ordinary human) and Otherkin. King Ulrich Kingston and Prince Agmund open their castle for the festivities despite a first hint at racial conflict, but on the morning after, King Ulrich lay dead.
Prince Agmund's world and the lives of everyone around him changes almost overnight. Humans now distrust those with magical abilities. Nightly roundups lead to unexplained disappearances. And anyone labeled "different" must conform to the new normal or face the same.
As the Prince ages, danger closes in, but his teacher, Balthasar Maldue, vows to protect him and others even if Tairn Gire crumbles around them.
THE LEGEND OF TAIRN GIRE: A PROPHESY REVISITED is a YA fantasy complete at 101,000 words. Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.
Name: J. Esplin
ReplyDeleteTitle: ABEL PIRATES
GENRE: YA Alternative Historical
Dear Ms. Albright,
A one-way trip to Gallows Point. That’s what sixteen-year-old Beatrix will inherit if she’s named “next-of-kin” to her grandfather, a notoriously cold-gutted pirate who eluded capture his whole life. According to the Transgressions of Pirates decree, unresolved crimes of piracy transfer to the next-of-kin.
The only person standing between Beatrix and the hangman’s noose is her father, the current next-of-kin. A sea captain in his own right, he’s proven to be just as elusive as her pirating grandfather—quite a feat, considering the bounty on his head. But when a weathered sailor arrives with news that her father is missing, presumed dead, and she’s now next-of-kin, landlubber-Beatrix must seek refuge on her father’s ship.
Standing upright and hanging onto the contents of her stomach are the least of Beatrix’s problems at sea. The hardened crew can barely disguise their contempt for her, and she’s sure the traitor responsible for her father’s disappearance is hiding in their midst. What’s more, the new captain seems less interested in ousting traitors and more interested in tracking a legendary map that promises the impossible: freedom for all pirate-kin.
Beatrix’s only hope for an ally among the motley bunch is Boone, a young jack-of-all-trades who was given the dreaded punishment of keeping an eye on her. Together, they discover her father’s disappearance was only the beginning of a bigger plot to trap pirate-kin and collect the bounties. Worse, behind it all is Brightside, a pirate captain with a formidable crew and a kraken-sized grudge.
To discover her father’s fate and save their own, Beatrix and Boone must outwit traitors, battle pirates, and race across an uncharted island to unravel Brightside’s plan, all before those ominous, dark sails on the horizon catch up to them.
ABEL PIRATES (94,000) is a YA alternative historical novel, set during the golden age of piracy. It's the first book in a planned series, with loads of swashbuckling adventure and elements of romance. I was a history major in college, and I have been writing for over ten years. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Name: Don McFatridge
ReplyDeleteTitle: PLANTED (I CAN WATER MYSELF)
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Dear Ms. Albright,
A humanlike girl with an affinity to plants arrives on Earth to defend our garden from invasion. To learn English, she deciphers Dr Seuss and christens herself, Sam I Am. While here, she grows and matures the equivalent of a year each day. Trillions of neurotransmitters inside her stomach, called Logic Cells, give new meaning to the term gut feeling. They are a sentient fail-safe, guaranteeing she complies with the airborne immunization of humans against alien mind control. At eighteen days old, these Logic Cells will use pheromones to seduce a human male into mating with Sam to pollinate her spores before her dispersal sack explodes.
At day thirteen, human soldiers with Yertle the Turtle shells on their heads discover her landing pod. Sam escapes, helped by Brooke, a teenage girl with leukemia. Sam is attracted to Brooke’s older brother Dylan, unfortunately, unless her Logic Cells play chemical Cupid, at four days (years) younger than him, she might as well have poison ivy. But when they do, the boost from Dylan’s carbon dioxide kiss helps Sam realize using pheromones to manipulate humans makes her no different than the aliens she’s fighting. Determined to resist, Sam hopes to blossom into a flower Dylan desires before she turns eighteen and her Logic Cells unleash their influence on him. Because, besides completing the mission, Sam wants to cure the disease circulating in Brooke’s red sap—even if she has to cut out her own stomach to do it.
PLANTED (I CAN WATER MYSELF) is a standalone 83,000-word young adult science fiction with series potential. I was the founder and president of Strategy First, a worldwide publisher of entertainment software for twenty years. Our franchise titles, Disciples, a fantasy, and Jagged Alliance, an adventure role-playing release, sold over one million copies worldwide respectively and were geared to a young adult audience.
Name: Sara Martin
ReplyDeleteTitle: PRINCESS OF SWANS
Genre: YA Fantasy
Dear Ms. Albright,
Seventeen-year-old princess Feyana Belmaron has never thought much about marriage. Why should she? Ever since a Cathysian plot disfigured her and killed her mother, the princess has been a prisoner, confined to a distant castle to keep her safe until the end of the war. After ten years pass without an armistice, Feyana gives up hope that her father will ever let her out -- and with a face like hers, no storybook prince is likely to come to her rescue.
So when a gravely injured volkarei witch materializes in the garden, she rattles Feyana's walled-in life. In return for aid and shelter, the volkarei foretells the princess's future: she will marry the handsome prince of Cathys, her country's bitter enemy, thus uniting the warring countries for good. Thrilled at the prospect of ending both the war and her forced seclusion, Feyana defies her father, scales the wall, and sets out to find and court the prince.
But her path to the altar runs through hundreds of miles of hostile territory, full of pirates, soldiers, and thieves angered by her father's policies. Unless the sheltered Feyana learns to protect herself--and fast--she could lose a lot more than just her freedom.
She could lose the war.
PRINCESS OF SWANS is a YA Fantasy complete at 94,000 words.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
I am so glad that I came across this post.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for sharing. Very brilliantly presented.
his time, we got the following crossword puzzle clue:Portrayer of Austin Powers' father
ReplyDeletethat also known as Misbehave, with ''out'' dictionary. First, we gonna look for more hints to the Misbehave, with ''out'' crossword puzzle. Then we will collect all the required information and for solving Misbehave, with ''out'' crossword . In the final, we get all the possible answers for the this crossword puzzle definition.
Name: Renee’ Wilson
ReplyDeleteTitle: HERE COMES THE THUNDER
Genre: YA Romance
Dear Ms. Albright,
Little ol’ mortal teen Lucy Oman wants Steve, but so does the great goddess Athena. What they don’t know: Steve doesn’t want Lucy or Athena. He has a secret, but it doesn’t matter once the fight begins.
Athena curses Lucy twice to get her out of the way. First, she turns Lucy into a monster with snake hair so hideous she can turn men to stone. Second she gives her a reason to want to turn them - Lucy can read their minds.
At first, Lucy doesn’t know she has this curse. Playing into Athena’s hands, she ends up petrifying her father and her brother Hurley (who’s a bit of stoner already). In order to save Hurley and Dad, Lucy has to be heroic. Her mission involves draining the venom of a Hydra in less than forty-eight hours, and stealing Hade’s whistle, the one that controls the three-headed dog guarding the Underworld. Too bad, heroic is not a term for a manipulative, single-minded teenager with a temper like Lucy.
With the help of the Gothic Gorgon twins - who are Medusa’s former sisters, a spider man who’s not so Peter Parker-ie, an old sea monster named Gaia, and Lucy’s Mom (who knows a thing or two about dealing with gods). The rescue begins with the clock ticking and mythology folks like Hades, and Hercules to act as further obstacles.
I am seeking representation for my 75,000-word YA romance novel, HERE COMES THE THUNDER. This book is the first book in a series where a modern day Medusa fights the great goddess Athena – eventually the two of them will become the greatest and unlikeliest of friends.
Thank you for your consideration.