I participated in Pitch Madness in March of 2014 (go Team Fizzee!) and received several requests for more material during the game. Ultimately, all of the agents who requested passed, but they all gave me great feedback and encouraged me to keep trying to find the perfect home for my book. In June of 2015 (yes, over a year later), I got an email from Evernight Teen saying they were interested in publishing my book! It’s been a bit of a whirlwind since then, and my book releases September 25, 2015, a year and a half (and around 70 query letters) after participating in Pitch Madness.
My book, Emerald Bound, is a dark YA twist on The Princess and the Pea. Here’s the blurb:
A princess, a pea, and a tower of mattresses. This is the sliver that survives of a story more nightmare than fairy tale.
Maggie Rhodes, high school junior and semi-reformed stalker, learns the tale’s true roots after a spying attempt goes awry and her best friend Kate ends up as the victim of an ancient curse. At the center of the curse lies an enchanted emerald that has been residing quietly in a museum for the past fifty years. Admirers of the gem have no idea that it feeds on life. Or that it’s found its next victim in Kate.
Enter Lindy, a school acquaintance who knows more than she’s letting on, and Garon, a handsome stranger claiming he knows how to help, and Maggie is left wondering who to trust and how to save her best friend before it’s too late. A princess, a pea, and a tower of mattresses. This is the sliver that survives of a story more nightmare than fairy tale.
Maggie Rhodes, high school junior and semi-reformed stalker, learns the tale’s true roots after a spying attempt goes awry and her best friend Kate ends up as the victim of an ancient curse. At the center of the curse lies an enchanted emerald that has been residing quietly in a museum for the past fifty years. Admirers of the gem have no idea that it feeds on life. Or that it’s found its next victim in Kate.
Enter Lindy, a school acquaintance who knows more than she’s letting on, and Garon, a handsome stranger claiming he knows how to help, and Maggie is left wondering who to trust and how to save her best friend before it’s too late.
About the author …
Teresa Richards
Teresa writes YA, but loves anything that can be given a unique twist. Her zombie stories ‘Are You My Mombie?’ and ‘The Zombie Code’ can be found in Z Tales: Stories from the Zombieverse by The Fairfield Scribes. When Teresa’s not writing, she can be found either chasing after one of her five kids, or hiding someplace in the house with a treat her children overlooked. Emerald Bound is her debut novel.