Manuscript Status: Finished
Mentor Name: Kate Brauning
Mentee Name: Ashley D. MacKenzie
Title: THE STAGGERING FORCE OF WANT
Category: YA
Genre: Contemporary
Word Count: 82,000
Pitch:
The senior trip to Europe isn’t helping Hayley find her passion or fix her friendship with Lexi, so Hayley risks expulsion and ditches the tour for a magnetic boy from Amsterdam who wants her to pick a way of life instead of a career.
Excerpt:
It’s not that I have anything against smoking pot. I just don’t think you have to go to Amsterdam to do it.
But here I am, standing in an under-ventilated coffee shop that smells like my ex-boyfriend’s truck, watching Lexi consult a menu of weed like there might be an actual wrong decision when it comes to ordering a pre-rolled joint in an Amsterdam pot shop.
Lexi snaps the menu onto the counter. “What kind should I get, Hayley? You know more about this stuff than I do.”
Right. Sure I do.
“The only way I know anything at all about weed is because of Tyler,” I say. “And, really, my crap taste in guys doesn’t make me some kind of expert in buying drugs.”
Lexi sighs and slips her thumbnail between her teeth, leaning over the menu. I plunk my purse onto the counter and slide my phone from its pocket. “We have three hours until she needs to seem completely sober,” I tell the dreadlocked girl behind the counter, and the clerk nods like I’ve just said something exceptionally wise.
Dreadlocks opens a display case of pre-rolled joints and Lexi slips a card from her wallet. I’m so over seeing that card. London, Paris, Amsterdam, all perfectly preserved on Mr. Kim’s Visa bill. She taps the card on the counter while she waits.
“Aren’t you worried that your dad’s going to see a charge from this place?” I ask. Tap. Tap. Tap. That card hammers tiny nails into the back of my neck.
10 Comments
Brent Taylor · November 2, 2015 at 10:21 pm
Such a fun, rebellious spirit in those first two lines. I’d love to read this. Please send the full manuscript as a Microsoft word doc, along with your query letter (pasted in the body of the message), to brent (at) triadaus.com. Put “Pitch Wars request” in the subject line.
Rachel Marks · November 3, 2015 at 1:14 am
Just from your excerpt, I love Hayley already. Please send over the first 100 pages as an attached doc to rachel@rfliterary.com. Please put in your subject line Pitch Wars Request. I can’t wait to check it out!
Mandy Hubbard · November 3, 2015 at 12:55 pm
Ashley!! How fun to find your entry here–I’d love to see what you’ve done with it since our Lit Reactor class.
Instructions:
Please send the full as an attached word document, with the pitch you used here pasted into the first page. Send it to QueryMandy@EmeraldCityLiterary.com
Thanks!
Mandy Hubbard
Emerald City Literary Agency
(Formerly D4EO Literary)
Uwe Stender · November 3, 2015 at 6:13 pm
Please, send the full as an MS Word attachment to uwe@triadaus.com
Rachel Brooks · November 3, 2015 at 11:02 pm
I’d like to read more of this. Please send the query, synopsis + the full manuscript to rachel(at)lperkinsagency(dot)com with “Pitch Wars: Title” in the subject line. Thanks!
Leon Husock · November 4, 2015 at 10:05 am
I’d like to see more! Please send a query + the full MS to leon@lperkinsagency (with Pitch Wars in the subject line), along with a one-sentence description of your book.Comment
Stefanie Lieberman · November 4, 2015 at 12:24 pm
I’d like to read more! Please send the first 100 pages in Word format and a query letter to submissions@janklow.com, and include “Stefanie Lieberman” in the subject line of the email. Thanks!
Jackie · November 4, 2015 at 9:01 pm
I’m so into this! Please send the full ms as an attachment to query(at)newleafliterary.com and include “Pitch Wars Request for Jackie” in the subject line. Thank you!
Christa Heschke · November 5, 2015 at 1:18 pm
Definitely up my alley! I’ve been looking for an international road trip novel:) Please send the first 25 pages, query and synopsis to chquery[at]mcintoshandotis[dot]com and put “Pitch Wars request” in the subject line.
Thanks,
Christa Heschke
McIntosh & Otis, Inc.
Pitch Wars Agent Round - Brenda Drake | Brenda Drake · November 9, 2015 at 1:07 pm
[…] PW #214: YA Contemporary: THE STAGGERING FORCE OF WANT […]
Comments are closed.