Manuscript Status: 2 weeks delivery
Mentor Name: Tracey Enerson Wood
Mentee Name: Em Shotwell
Title: WORN OUT WISHES
Category: Adult
Genre: Women’s Fiction/ Book Club Fiction
Word Count: 95,000 words
Pitch:
It’s been ten years since Milly ditched town, leaving behind her beloved sister, an imprisoned mama, two eccentric, pot-peddling great-aunts, and a bleak future reading tea leaves to make a living.
But when her estranged sister shows up on her doorstep, bruised and beaten by her politically-connected husband, Milly will do anything to protect her—even when the tea leaves suggest murder.
Excerpt:
We had pancakes for breakfast the day Mama killed Daddy. They were my favorite—made from scratch, with blueberries me and Mama and Francis picked from the bush that grew in the back corner of our yard. They were in the shape of lopsided hearts, and so large that the pointy end hung off my plate.
If I’d been older or wiser, I’d have known something important was bound to happen. Mama only made those pancakes for special occasions. Later, when the officer who talked to me and Francis at school asked if I’d noticed any odd behaviors in my parents that morning, I would think of the pancakes but keep my mouth shut.
It was the same morning we’d lived for as far back as my eight-year-old mind could remember. The four of us sat around the table in our eat-in kitchen. Francis sat on her knees, silent as usual, mashing her pancakes into a sticky mess with the back of her fork. Daddy read the Lundinville Record without looking up, while Mama sat across from me, sipping her coffee and smiling her clipped smile. As I chattered between bites, she listened—never saying or doing anything to give away the fact that she’d finally had her fill as Daddy’s punching bag.
20 Comments
Heather Flaherty · November 1, 2017 at 12:11 pm
Hi there, I would love to see more of this!
Please send:
– Query + 10 pages pasted in the body of the email
– Attach FULL ms as well!
– with subject line: PW ADULT + Title
to: flahertyqueries@thebentagency.com
Thank you so much!
Heather Flaherty (The Bent Agency)
Marie Lamba · November 1, 2017 at 1:08 pm
This sounds intriguing. 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
Michelle Richter · November 1, 2017 at 1:15 pm
Great first line. Please send your query and first 50 pages to me at querymichelle@fuseliterary.com. Don’t forget to include PitchWars in the subject line 🙂
Caitie Flum · November 1, 2017 at 1:39 pm
This looks great! 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.
Kimberly Brower · November 1, 2017 at 1:47 pm
Please send me the full manuscript and a summary (spoilers ok!) in Word format to kimberly@browerliterary.com. For the subject line, please write PITCH WARS: Title Name. Can’t wait to read!
Jim McCarthy · November 1, 2017 at 2:23 pm
I’d love to have a look. Please send the manuscript along for my prompt review. I’m at jmccarthy@dystel.com. A Word attachment is most preferable if possible. Thanks! Jim
Hillary Jacobson · November 1, 2017 at 3:40 pm
I love love love the sound of this! Please send the full manuscript as a word document to hjacobson@icmpartners.com. Thank you!
Melissa Edwards · November 1, 2017 at 4:41 pm
I’d love to see more. Please email the first 50 pp. as a .doc to medwards@stonesong.com. Thank you!
Steven Salpeter · November 1, 2017 at 6:24 pm
Hello, Em,
I would love work on a project that features tasseography, and am impressed by your excerpt. Would you please send a sample of about 75 pages via this form?
https://www.literaryagents.io/pitch-wars-submission-form/
All my best,
Steven
Steven Salpeter | Curtis Brown, Ltd. | Ten Astor Place | New York, NY 10003
Suzie Townsend · November 2, 2017 at 12:04 am
This sounds so amazing! I’m so into the voice — I would love to read the full ms! Please send the full manuscript to suzie@newleafliterary.com attached as a Word document with the query in the first page of the document. Put “PITCH WARS” in the subject. Please also include a dreaded synopsis if you have one. Thank you! Can’t wait to read!
Rena Rossner · November 2, 2017 at 1:54 am
I’d love to read the first 50 pages. Please send them attached as a word document to: rena (at) thedeborahharrisagency (dot) com.
Thanks!
– Rena
Erica Bauman · November 2, 2017 at 4:10 am
I’d love to see this! Please send a query and the first 50 pg as a word doc to ebauman@aevitascreative.com, with “Pitch Wars” in the subject line.
Thanks!
-Erica
Jenny Bent · November 2, 2017 at 10:21 am
Can you send query in the body of your email and full ms as an attachment to info@thebentagency.com. Please put Pitch Wars in subject line. Thanks!
Stefanie Lieberman · November 2, 2017 at 11:35 am
I’d love to see more! Can you please send the full manuscript as a Word attachment and include the query in the body of the email to submissions@janklow.com. Please include “Pitch Wars – Stefanie Lieberman” in the subject line. Thanks!
Amelia Appel · November 2, 2017 at 12:22 pm
Hi Em! I absolutely love how this opens – I’m simultaneously hungry and horrified and happy? Could you please send the first 50 pages and a full synopsis to amelia@triadaus.com? And please include “Pitch Wars” in the subject line. Thank you so much!!
Andrea Cascardi · November 3, 2017 at 12:13 pm
Hi, I’m a little late to the PitchWars party but I’d love to see more of this! Can you send the first 50 pages and synopsis to me, andrea@transatlanticagency.com?
Thank you,
Andrea
Katie Shea Boutillier · November 3, 2017 at 12:46 pm
Would love to see the first 50 pages in word doc! Please send to ksboutillier@maassagency.com with subject like “PITCH WARS ADULT”. Looking forward to my read — thanks! Katie <3
Kristy Hunter · November 3, 2017 at 2:34 pm
I’d love to see more of this! Could you please send the full manuscript as a word doc with your query letter in the body of the email to kristy.hunter@knightagency.net with “Pitch Wars Requested: TITLE” in the subject line. Thanks!!
Penelope Burns · November 4, 2017 at 2:02 pm
Hi Em,
I’m in love with the voice here and would absolutely love to see this! Can you send the full to penelope@gelfmaschneider.com with your query in the body of the email and PitchWars and title in the subject line? Thank you!
Penelope
Lucy Cleland · November 9, 2017 at 1:49 pm
Hi Em,
I would love to see this! Pancakes, killin’ and keeping your mouth shut…wow! Can’t wait to see more. Reach me at lucy@kwlit.com, subject line PitchWars Adult + your name / title. Would love to see you query letter and synopsis in the body of the email, and the full MS attached!
All best,
Lucy
Comments are closed.