My Query Letter

Actually, just the last two paragraphs. I've participated in a bunch of stuff to polish up my query of late and it has, seriously, been critiqued to the bone. I've learned something. Queries are much like manuscripts. You will not please everyone, no matter how hard you try. I've gotten so many conflicting opinions -- (Things like, "How did Finna become guardian? We need to know so we understand why she's not very powerful." VS. "How Finna became the guardian is unnecessary. Cut it. Just let us know what her responsibility is. *Ranee` runs screaming from the computer, vowing to NEVER WRITE ANOTHER QUERY AGAIN.*)

In Honor of GUTGAA: Query Critique #2

Another brave participant sends their query out into the world to be torn to pieces. Way to go!

WORLD OF SHELL AND BONE
DYSTOPIAN/SPECULATIVE FICTION (ADULT)
60,000 WORDS

Query:

In a world ravaged by a nuclear holocaust, Vika Cannon When I first read this, for some reason I thought it was a boy. Don't ask me why. Didn't realize until later that it's a woman. This thought could be of absolutely NO importance, but I thought I'd throw it in there. Ha! (Just FYI, it didn't throw me or distract me when I realized it was a girl.) knows there are no guarantees: no guarantees of safety, no guarantees that your neighbor is not actually a spy for the government, and no guarantees you’ll be allowed to emigrate to Asia, which is a person’s only chance for survival. Great hook. My only, little-tiny-nit-picky-thing is, can it be shortened?

Query Critique: In Honor of GUTGAA

So I'm participating in GUTGAA (check out the badge in the right hand sidebar for more information!) It's totally cool, a ton of help, and agents around to boot. In honor of it, I'm picking out query critiques from those of you who've submitted for Three Hundred Thursday and posting one a day for the rest of the week.

So on to courageous Victim #3

Dear Agent/Editor,

As you have successfully represented/published Awesome Author and her novel, "Really Cool Book," Or books by other authors can be in small caps: really cool book. I think you would be interested in my young adult science fiction novel EXISTENCE. Good opening. In his post on query letters, guru Nathan Bransford expounds on how important researching and personalizing is.

Seventeen-year-old Chrissie Fox can't imagine a life which that doesn't include Time Curving. She and her father have been working against Time Flyers, a group intent on changing the past to destroy the future. She's put off any thoughts of friendship or romance in order to keep her trips to the past a secret. Great hook. Small, minor, opinion on construction here. I'm totally interested in "Time Curving." I'd suggest using this opening paragraph to give me at least a hint of what it is and saving the explanation about the Time Flyers for the meat of the query. 

GUTGAA Meet & Greet Post

Hey, all!

Some of you might be new here. If you are you'll want to know who I am. Really, the three words in my header say it all.

Mom. Wife. Writer. Never sure what comes first. (Although writer is usually last and that's absolutely great with me. I like the other two a lot, so it all works out.)

I live with my superhero husband and two-point-five supervillains-in-training in Wyoming and love it. Except for winter. Which lasts about eight months here. That I don't love. But I make do because the husband loves it here and will never leave. And in case you were wondering, I grew up in Wyoming and could only love it more if the climate resembled something more like San Diego.

I write mostly YA fiction, fantasy and that kind of stuff, but dabble in a few other things. Like my major WIP right now is a contemporary romance for the LDS market, and I'm editing at Regency novella because I adore that time period and wanted to see if I could do it. I'll let you know how that works out.

And here's some more stuff about me

-Where do you write? 

In the middle of my living room. Remember that mom part of who I am? I write sometimes in 10 minute (or much, much less) intervals if I can and then during naptime. Having my desk in the middle of the living room works for me because I'm still available for my kids when they need me and I feel like that's important. But so is my writing; hence, desk in the living room.

-Quick. Go to your writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?

The first thing I see is a couch. 'Cause I'm in the living room. And I sort of want to go lay on that couch and read Georgette Heyer (remember the point-five part -- that is thankfully, actually more like point-seven-five -- of my two-point-five-boys?). 

-Favorite time to write?

Naptime. I'm not tired (usually ... most days. Except today. And some other days.) and while my oldest is in school it's so quiet and easy to concentrate.

-Drink of choice while writing?

Water. Or milk if I have heartburn. Which happens way too frequently of late.

-When writing , do you listen to music or do you need complete silence?

Depends on the day actually. Usually music and usually just the soundtrack station of Pandora or Spotify. Sometimes I listen to teen music, since, you know, I write YA. Yeah. That's why.

-What was your inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?

The WIP that I actually haven't written on in a week or so was inspired by Jimmer Ferdette. (BYU basketball player, wildly popular, if you didn't know.) I wondered, what if there was a girl who knew everything about a Jimmer-Ferdette-like character and used that to make him fall in love with her?

-What's your most valuable writing tip?

Love to write. When you're not loving to write, get up and read, or walk, or cook, or eat a lot of ice cream. (Lately, I would recommend adding raspberries and making a shake. You WON'T regret it.) But then come back and write so more; write through writer's block, write through crappy scenes until you get back to where you love it.

Welcome!