Manuscript Status: Finished
Mentor: Chelsea Bobulski
Mentee: Laura Robson
Title: SALTWATER BLOOD
Category/Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy
Word Count: 82,000
Pitch:
Sixteen-year-old Astrid Stroud is cursed with magic she can’t control. When she gets hurt, her body heals itself—by taking someone else’s life. Astrid’s brother Liam fears her grisly abilities, but when he finds himself tangled in a plot to kill her, both Strouds begin to wonder what exactly makes someone a monster. THE SCORPIO RACES meets THIS SAVAGE SONG.
Excerpt:
For the first nine years of his life, Liam Stroud was afraid of the steely winter days when the sun never rose, afraid his parents would realize they got married too young, and afraid his classmates would see the woebegone, tattered Stroud home and laugh.
Once he got older, Liam was afraid his little sister was going to kill him.
If Liam was made of fear, his sister, Astrid, was made of something else entirely. Spit. Salt. The spray of a storm-angered sea. But before he’d seen the very darkest parts of her, he’d only ever seen his reckless, aggravating, beloved little sister.
When the family took walks on the beach, Liam kept his eyes on his feet. He watched every loose rock underneath him. He held his breath.
Astrid darted away from their parents, leapt over surf-smoothed stones, teased the frigid arctic waves that almost, almost caught her.
She played this game on every walk, and because she always won, their parents always laughed. They never told her to stop. They never understood why it made Liam’s heart squeeze in his chest, press against his lungs, pulse with his nauseated stomach.
They never quite got why Liam was afraid that one day, Astrid would play her game with the waves, and she would lose.
Until she did.
16 Comments
Lauren Spieller · November 4, 2016 at 10:50 pm
This sounds incredible. Please send the full manuscript (as well as a synopsis if you have one) to lauren@triadaus.com with “Pitch Wars: [YOUR TITLE]” as the subject line. Please also include your query in the body of the email. I look forward to reading!
-Lauren Spieller, TriadaUS
Jim McCarthy · November 4, 2016 at 11:26 pm
I’d love to have a look. Please send the manuscript along to me at jmccarthy@dystel.com. Thanks!
lindsaymealing · November 5, 2016 at 1:18 am
I’d love to read more of this! Please send your first 50 pages as a Word document to querylindsay@emeraldcityliterary.com. Include Pitch Wars in the subject line along with your query in the body of your email.
Thanks!
Rena Rossner · November 5, 2016 at 4:13 pm
I’d love to take a look at the first 50 pages! Please send your query pasted in the email and the pages attached in a word document to: rena (at) thedeborahharrisagency (dot) com
Thanks!
– Rena Rossner
The Deborah Harris Agency
Patricia Nelson · November 6, 2016 at 6:44 pm
I would love to see more of this! Please send a query (in the body of the email) plus the first 50 pages as a Word doc attachment to patricia@marsallyonliteraryagency.com, and make sure to put “Pitch Wars Request” and the title in the subject line.
Looking forward to reading!
Heather Flaherty · November 6, 2016 at 9:48 pm
Would love to see the full! Can you please send the full ms, along with the query + 10 pages pasted in the body of the email to flahertyqueries@thebentagency.com, with subject line: PITCH WARS + Title.
Thank you! 🙂
Hillary Jacobson · November 7, 2016 at 12:21 pm
I’d love to read more! Please send the full manuscript to hjacobson@icmpartners.com Thank you!!
Stefanie Lieberman · November 7, 2016 at 4:27 pm
I’d like to see more. Please send 50 pages to submissions@janklow.com with query, and please include “Pitch Wars – Stefanie Lieberman” in the subject line.
Taylor Haggerty · November 7, 2016 at 6:32 pm
I’d love to read! Please feel free to send the query + full ms (as a word doc) to taylorsubmit@waxmanleavell.com w/PitchWars in the subject line. Thanks!
Lana Popovic · November 7, 2016 at 6:34 pm
Sounds beautiful! Could I see the full, please, as a PDF, sent to lana@chalbergussman along with the query and “Pitch Wars” in the subject line? Thanks so much!
Melissa Nasson · November 8, 2016 at 1:35 pm
I’m very intrigued and would love to see the full manuscript! Please send it to melissa@rpcontent.com as a Word doc or PDF with your query in the body of the email, and be sure to put “Pitch Wars” in the subject line.
Thanks!
Melissa Nasson
Rubin Pfeffer Content
Tamar Rydzinski · November 8, 2016 at 4:01 pm
So glad to see this here, Laura! Please send to me! trydzinski@ldlainc.com. Thanks 🙂
Andrea Somberg · November 8, 2016 at 5:44 pm
I’d love take a look at the full manuscript! Please feel free to send it along as a word document to andrea [at] harveyklinger.com with “PitchWars Requested Manuscript” in the subject line. Thanks! I’m looking forward to reading.
best,
Andrea Somberg
Harvey Klinger Inc.
Rebecca Podos · November 9, 2016 at 12:22 pm
This sounds wonderful–I’d love to read on. Please send the query and full to Rebecca@reesagency.com, with PITCH WARS REQUEST in the subject line.
Christa Heschke (@ChristaHeschke) · November 9, 2016 at 6:03 pm
What a great opening! Please send a query, synopsis and first 25 pages to chquery@mcintoshandotis.com. Please mark “Pitch Wars request” in the subject line. –Christa Heschke
Andrew Buckley (@abuckley23) · November 10, 2016 at 4:23 pm
Love this concept, what a great angle! Please send a query with the first 3 chapters to acquisitions@curiosityquills.com with ‘Pitch Wars’ in the subject line.
Comments are closed.