Manuscript Status: Finished
Mentor: Natasha Neagle
Mentee: Cori Vella
Title: SOMETHING WICKED
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Word Count: 93,000
Pitch:
When high school senior Lydia scores a job at a hotel claimed to be haunted by a witch hanged in 1660, she’s ready for ghostly encounters. What she’s not prepared for is being the final ingredient in a witch’s sinister ritual.
Excerpt:
THE GRIMOIRE
To spark attraction…
INGREDIENTS:
Locks of hair from BENEFICIARIES
Lengths of cord for passion, love, and attraction: 1 red, 1 pink, 1 orange
Dirt from crossroads, 1 handful
8 oz pure vanilla oil
1 rose-colored candle
Ritual tools: altar, altar cloth, cauldron, long-handled spoon, matches or lighter
RITUAL:
I. Knot the cords at one end, then braid together.
II. Knot the end of the braid, then make ten additional knots throughout the length of braided cord making twelve knots total.
III. Pour vanilla oil into cauldron and mix with crossroads dirt until well-blended. Position cauldron in the altar’s center.
IV. Add knotted cord to cauldron and fully immerse in vanilla mixture.
V. Light candle, then use to ignite the pieces of hair. Drop into cauldron.
VI. Extinguish candle between the left heart-finger and thumb. Leave cauldron mixture to burn out.
NOTE: Newfound lovers may taste or smell vanilla upon each other and on objects the other has touched. This is not dangerous, but if it occurs, it won’t dissipate. Please take care with allergies and odor sensitivities.
CHAPTER 1
Vanilla
There’s barf on my pirate costume. It’s not the bitty baby throw-up you can just wipe clean, either; it’s full on mega-vom. I have no explanation for it.
“Hurry up, Lindsey,” Krystle yells at me from the back office. “Your section’s getting full!”
My name isn’t Lindsey—it’s Lydia. And Krystle, the assistant manager from hell, knows that. She also knows I closed last night, opened today, and am pulling a double to close again tonight.
15 Comments
Kaitlyn Johnson · November 2, 2017 at 10:17 pm
I’d love to see the full. Please send to https://querymanager.com/query/KaitlynJohnson/Contests with synopsis and PitchWars in the referral page.
Sarah Landis · November 3, 2017 at 10:15 am
I would love to read this one! Please send the full ms as a word doc to slandis@sll.com
Jenny Bent · November 3, 2017 at 10:20 am
Please email query and full ms (as an attachment) to info@thebentagency.com, PITCHWARS in subject line. Thanks!
Carrie Pestritto · November 3, 2017 at 10:46 am
I was super intrigued by your pitch and sample and definitely want to read more of this!! Please send me your query and first 50 pages, with the subject “PITCHWARS REQUEST,” to carrie(at)prospectagency(dot)com. Thank you and excited to see more!
Maria Vicente · November 3, 2017 at 11:13 am
Cori, I would love to take a look at the full manuscript! Please email a query letter to maria@psliterary.com with the subject line “Pitch Wars Request: Something Wicked” and include the manuscript (+ a synopsis) as an attachment.
Brooks Sherman · November 3, 2017 at 11:55 am
I’ve been dying for some dark fantasy involving the occult! (Spooky old houses are a plus.) Please email the full manuscript, along with your query letter and a synopsis (if you have one) to bsherman@janklow.com, with the subject line “Pitch Wars: SOMETHING WICKED.” I’m so excited to dive into this!
Best,
Brooks Sherman
Janklow & Nesbit Associates
Quressa Robinson · November 3, 2017 at 2:50 pm
Witches and spells. Yes, please! I may not be the only agent here at Nelson Literary Agency who wants to read your amazing work! So, please send just one email to query@nelsonagency.com with PITCH WARS UPLOAD in the subject line. We will reply with our upload instructions, and then all the interested NLA agents will read and consider your manuscript. Thank you!”
Blair Wilson · November 3, 2017 at 5:05 pm
Hi Cori,
This sounds great–I’d love to read more! Please send the full manuscript as a Word doc with the query pasted into the first page of the document to queries@parkliterary.com with “BLAIR WILSON – PITCH WARS REQUEST” in the subject. Thanks so much–looking forward to reading!
Natalie M. Lakosil · November 3, 2017 at 5:40 pm
Hi Cori,
I’d love to see this! Please send the full manuscript to me at natalie@bradfordlit.com, along with a synopsis and your query. Please include “Requested material: Pitch Wars” in the email subject.
Thanks!!
Natalie
Natalie Lakosil
Bradford Literary Agency
Roseanne Wells · November 3, 2017 at 9:38 pm
I’d love to read more! Please use the guidelines on jdlit.com to send 100pp (instead of the normal 20), and include #Pitchwars in the subject line. I can’t wait to dive in!
Roseanne Wells
The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Whitley Abell · November 4, 2017 at 1:35 am
This might just be the book of my dreams! 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!
Laura Zats · November 5, 2017 at 6:25 pm
I’m so excited to read this! Please send the whole MS in a Word doc to laura@redsofaliterary.com. Please include a query in the body of the email and mention Pitch Wars in the subject line!
Brianne Johnson · November 6, 2017 at 4:18 pm
Hi Cori,
I would LOVE to read more! Please could you send the first 50 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 can’t wait to dive in!
Warmly,
Bri
Brianne Johnson
Writers House
Melissa Nasson · November 6, 2017 at 4:25 pm
Cori, I’d love to read more of this! Please send the first 50 pages as a Word doc or PDF attachment to melissa@rpcontent.com. Please also include your query letter in the body of the email, and Pitch Wars in the subject line.
I look forward to reading!
Thanks,
Melissa Nasson
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