Manuscript Status: One Week
Mentor Name: Rebecca Denton
Mentee Name: Sarah Vilain
Title: IXORA DRIVE
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary #ownvoices
Word Count: 74,000 words
Pitch:
The loser who said it was better to have loved and lost, never got publicly rejected by Amir Chandra – and definitely not in front of the gossipy community of Maderine Bay, Tobago.
If heart-break and humiliation taught seventeen-year-old Reyna anything, it was to steer clear of the handsome boys next-door. But when Amir returns to Tobago, Reyna will learn there are times to play it safe, and times to risk it all.
Excerpt:
They called it tabanca; a local term that refers to a deep, yearning desire which consumes your mind and spirit, and leaves you a lost, aching shell of your former self. It’s an insatiable longing. A need for a particular person who does not, never will, or no longer feels the same. It is, simply put, unrequited love. Even more simply put, it is The Fucking Worst.
I, unfortunately, knew this from personal experience.
Fortunately, by the age of seventeen, I’d moved past that phase of my life. I’d matured into a smart, sophisticated young woman, who spent her last hours of freedom bent over a freezer, scraping crusted dry-ice off the expiry date on the last container of Real Creole Chocolate ice-cream.
My mind had been so focused on this singularly imperative task, I remained oblivious to the first signs of my carefully constructed life unraveling around me.
8 Comments
Patricia Nelson · November 2, 2017 at 11:45 pm
I’m completely pulled in by the voice here! I’d love to read more. Please send a query (in the body of the email) along with the first 50 pages as a Word doc attachment, subject line “Pitch Wars: [Your Title]” to patricia@marsallyonliteraryagency.com.
Thanks, and looking forward to reading!
Rena Rossner · November 3, 2017 at 3:20 am
I’d absolutely love to read this! Please send the full manuscript to rena@thedeborahharrisagency.com attached as a word document.
I’ll be sitting here waiting for it to appear!
– Rena
Melissa Edwards · November 3, 2017 at 10:05 am
I’d love to see more! Please email the first 50 pp. as a .doc to medwards@stonesong.com. Thank you!
Marie Lamba · November 3, 2017 at 12:28 pm
Hi Sarah!
Awaiting the full. 😉
Best,
Marie
Joanna MacKenzie · November 3, 2017 at 2:56 pm
Your premise is compelling and the voice is lovely – self-aware, confident, wry…all things I’m looking for. I’d love to see the full.I know I’m not the only agent here at Nelson Literary Agency who is excited to read this one! 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!
Quressa Robinson · November 3, 2017 at 4:01 pm
I had way more than my share of unrequited love as a teen so I definitely am invested. I’d love to see more! As Joanna mentioned, she’s not 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!”
Erica Bauman · November 4, 2017 at 11:15 pm
Sarah, I’m dying to see this! Please send the full manuscript to ebauman@aevitascreative.com. Looking forward to this!!
-Erica
Roseanne Wells · November 5, 2017 at 6:16 pm
Great voice. 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
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