Manuscript Status: Finished
Mentor Name: Julia Nobel
Mentee Name: Stefanie Wass
Title: REACHING FOR STARLIGHT
Category: Middle Grade
Genre: Contemporary
Word Count: 47,000 words
Pitch:
A mysterious riddle could lead Sam to a long-lost violin that would pay for her mom’s last-chance cancer drug. If she can’t solve the clues, she might lose her mom forever. THE KEY TO EXTRAORDINARY meets COUNTING THYME.
Excerpt:
It’s three hours before the biggest audition of my life and Mom is slumped at the kitchen table, texting like her fingers are on fire.
Mom never, ever texts.
“You let me sleep in.” My eyes travel to the empty stovetop. I’m fine with cereal, but Mom usually insists on making a big breakfast, since she’s convinced that’s the key to a top-notch performance.
“Hi, Sweet Pea.” Mom drops her phone. Her mascara is smeared, and instead of her usual fashionable dress and bracelets, she’s wearing a t-shirt and jeans. “Thought you could use the rest. Want me to make toast? We’re out of eggs.”
“I can do it.” I shoot her a sideways glance. “Everything okay?”
“Absolutely. That was Dad. He’s meeting with students, but he’ll be at the audition.” She stands up and plants a kiss on my cheek. “He’s looking forward to hearing his favorite pianist knock the socks off the Young Artists Camp judges.”
My stomach turns into a soft pretzel. I love piano, but I’m not thrilled with the Mozart piece for the camp try-out. Classical music is beyond boring. “After the audition, can Kendall and I go to the mall?”
Mom opens the cupboard, grabs a loaf of bread, and twirls the plastic twisty tie. “What, Sweet Pea?”
“The mall. Can Kendall and I go?”
“Maybe. Right now, can you play through the Andante section? The dynamics still need work.”
The corners of my mouth hitch up in a grin. Practice, practice. The old mom is back.
Well, at least until we get in the car.
6 Comments
Marie Lamba · November 2, 2017 at 8:23 am
I’m loving the point of view here! Please submit your query to me at marie.jdlit@gmail.com with your query letter and the first 20 pages pasted into the email. Please put PITCH WARS REQUEST and your title in the message line. Also, attach the complete manuscript as a word file. Thanks!
Marie
Caitie Flum · November 2, 2017 at 10:00 am
This looks great! I love anything with music and riddles. I’d love to take a look.
Please send the query in the body of the email + full manuscript as a Word attachment to querycaitie@lizadawson.com with “Pitch Wars request” in the subject.
Melissa Edwards · November 2, 2017 at 10:41 am
I’d love to take a look! Please email the first 50 pp as a .doc to medwards@stonesong.com. Thanks! (Also hi to your mentor from me!!)
Penelope Burns · November 2, 2017 at 1:22 pm
Hi Stefanie,
I would LOVE to see this. Can you please send the full manuscript to penelope@gelfmanschneider.com, with your query in the body of the email and #PitchWars and title in the subject line? Thanks so much!
Penelope
Whitley Abell · November 2, 2017 at 4:11 pm
I’d love to see more! Please submit your query, synopsis, and first 50 pages to https://querymanager.com/query/inklings_whitley/PitchWars. I can’t wait to dive in!
Brianne Johnson · November 3, 2017 at 3:39 pm
Hi Stefanie,
I would absolutely LOVE to take a look at this! Please could you send the first 50 pages attached in a word document? I would really appreciate it if you would label your query REQUESTED: Pitch Wars and label the document with your last name and the title.
Thank you so much! I truly can’t wait to dive in!
Warmly,
Bri
Brianne Johnson
Writers House
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