Carol Mackela
Noon Skate by Carol Mackela
Monica Jones stared with horror at the smoldering ruins of the apartment building that had been her home. She and her teen daughter had lost everything in the blaze and must now rebuild their lives.
Monica’s parents had disowned her after she became pregnant in high school, and she had struggled to provide for her daughter for years. Now a 37-year-old paralegal in Michigan, Monica races to the ice rink every day during her lunch hour for exercise, lessons and camaraderie. She dreams of a gold medal in ice dance (akin to a black belt in martial arts), an accomplishment that would represent years of hard work and considerable investment in coaching, ice time, and expensive skates. When Monica’s friendship with skating partner Brad Peltonen takes a romantic turn, Monica wonders if she and Brad have enough in common off the ice to make their relationship work. Will the apartment fire and its aftermath draw them closer or hasten the end of their romance?
When Brad suffers a medical emergency, Monica prays that he will survive to be her partner on and off the ice. She continues to work on the last dance she needs to complete her gold medal. Will she pass the test and become a gold medalist?
Monica was introduced in my first novel, On Your Feet! (Indie Excellence Award winner, 2009) (about ballroom dancing). As a gold medalist in ice dance, I have drawn on my 20 years of skating experience in writing Noon Skate.
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Janelle Greene
The State Beverages Club by Janelle Greene
The last time Claire Watkins saw Famous Jam Study play, she ended up sobbing on the sidewalk outside Verdigris Town Hall as an ambulance drove away. Now the band is getting back together, and somehow an invitation to their reunion show ended up in Claire’s mailbox.
Despite all advice to the contrary, Claire kind of wants to go. Not just because her ex-boyfriend is the guitarist, and not just because their best song is about her dead dad, and not just because she spent three years selling their shitty t-shirts and cassette tapes. But because when she lost the band, she lost the only leadership position she ever loved—president and founding member of a club designed for bored-stiff band girlfriends (even the ones she hated).
THE STATE BEVERAGES CLUB follows Claire as she relives and tries to reclaim her merch girl years and abandoned friendships. From the pioneer plains of South Dakota to a tomato survivalist festival in Ohio to the alcohol-soaked campgrounds outside the Indianapolis 500, Claire struggles with her own still-bubbling bitterness—and searches for the courage to face the pain she left in her wake.
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Crystal Chilcott
Meteor Showers by Crystal Chilcott
Moving every year or two is hard on teenagers under normal circumstances, but doubly so when each move means adjusting to a new culture and country. For a figure skating Olympic hopeful, getting the proper training is nearly impossible. When Santiago moves to train full-time at an Olympic Training Center site, he knows his life will change drastically. No longer will he live as a global nomad with his mom and an ever-growing number of half-siblings. For the first time, he will seek companionship beyond his family. What he isn’t prepared for is a tragedy that challenges everything he thinks he knows about his family, faith, sport, and his place in the world.
His grief sends him on a quest to find the father he never met, a search for existential meaning in his life, and a relentless pursuit of a spot on the Olympic team. As he uncovers his mother’s secrets, he is aided by Athena, the world champion who lives next door and Shae-Lynn, his young secondary coach with a toddler and a big secret of her own.
A comparable title is I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. The novel would appeal to teenagers with goals of their own, an interest in travel, or who are struggling to find their place in the world.
Thank you for your consideration.
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Jennifer Mannering
The Sky Shatters by Jennifer Mannering
I am seeking representation for THE SKY SHATTERS, an LGBT Young Adult romance novel, complete at 77,000 words. Award-winning author, Tim O’Brien called my novel “suspenseful and vividly written” and internationally bestselling author, Amy Stuart “loved the diversity of characters and the quick witted words and dialogue”. My novel will appeal to fans of Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not and Tommy Wallach’s We All Looked Up.
When the rain starts, it’s simply an annoyance. But then it doesn’t stop.
Seventeen-year-old sci-fi geek Simon Myers doesn’t know if the rumours of a global flood are true, but he does know that he’s not gay. He just happens to spend a lot of time studying the muscles of his childhood friend, star quarterback Jay Griffon. Unfortunately, things have been weird with his friend ever since Simon stumbled upon Jay’s heartbreaking secret. Now Simon is forced to grapple with his new feelings for Jay and watch from the sidelines as Jay starts dating the sharp-tongued beauty, Trish O’Brian.
The daughter of a heroin addict, Trish has never had an easy life. With her mother practically comatose and her father never home, Trish is the sole caregiver for her baby sister and often must resort to stealing to keep them fed. But Trish has a plan. She’s shimmied her way into Jay’s life in her tightest jeans and skimpiest top, and come hell or high water she’s going to use him and his rich-kid privilege to escape her chaotic home life and circling social worker.
As tensions between Trish, Simon and Jay escalate, so does the persistent ferocity of the rain. The complaints and jokes about the weather begin to morph into whispers of fear and acts of violence. Schools are closed. Shops are broken into. The electricity goes out. The water gets higher.
And a kiss changes everything.
I am an Event Coordinator at the Lavin Agency in Toronto, where I spend my days surrounded by books and interesting people. On rainy days you can find me reading under a blanket, drinking copious amounts of Earl Grey tea. My blanket fort is also located in Toronto.
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Michael Lunsford
Ledger Demain and the Awesome Umbrella by Michael Lunsford
Ledger is worried. If his tinkering dad doesn’t stop wasting money on eccentric brainstorms and flakey inventions, they could lose the family bookstore, life savings and house. To make matters worse, Dad’s workshop just exploded—and this was no accident. Somebody blew it up on purpose.
Granddad arrives to take Ledger and his kid sister, Savvy, to Camp Eureka—The Quintessential Inventor’s Camp for Nerdy kids—until Dad can figure out who dynamited his workshop. But on the way, Granddad goes missing and now Ledger and Savvy are on their own to reach Camp Eureka and figure out who’s messing with their family before they strike again.
When they arrive (dripping wet but alive), the perplexing camp director won’t let them join the search for Granddad—that is, unless they prove themselves by winning the Weird Wacky Water War and Pretty Nerdy Baby Buggy Derby. Ledger can’t understand what’s up with the camp director, but one thing he knows for sure: An inventive mind could really come in handy right now.
LEDGER DEMAIN AND THE AWESOME UMBRELLA is a 57,000-word, upper MG adventure with Sci-Fi elements and series potential.
By the way, I know a little something about inventions, living and inventing in Silicon Valley with 27 patents to my name. I’m also a member of SCBWI and South Bay Writers Club, graduate of U. of MD with a BA in English Lit and author of 14 tech books published by Bantam, Simon & Schuster and other top publishers.
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Wadza Mhute
by Wadza Mhute
From 1976 to 2008 in an ever-changing country, from civil war to civil unrest – a story of three generations of women in the same family. They experience displacement within and without against the backdrop of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from civil war to independence and economic inflation.
MaiRati is a widow, who loses her farm to her husband’s brothers after his death. The inheritance laws in 1970s Rhodesia do not include women. Still she survives.
Rati briefly fights in the civil war where she endures physical and psychological trauma. To escape forced conscription in the rural areas she travels to the city and marries Lovemore, a businessman who becomes wealthy after Zimbabwe’s independence. Along with his wealth come mistresses or “small houses.” Rati shares her husband with other women.
Her estranged daughter Muni immigrates to United States to escape the dysfunctional home. She attends university on a scholarship and struggles as an international student. A crisis at home forces Muni to return and confront her past.
The three women run from their circumstances but struggle in their new homes.
This is a story of family, immigration and its struggles, as well as a story of discovering oneself in the midst of hardship. It is a story of undiagnosed trauma and returning to ones roots to begin again.
Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).
Josette Abruzzini
Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).
Aimee Brown
by Aimee Brown
Emi Harrison has avoided her ex-fiancé Jack Cabot for nearly two years. Her twin brother Evan’s wedding is about to end that streak. Evan is marrying Jack’s little sister forcing them all together for an entire week. No one had the nerve to tell Emi that Jack is newly engaged to Emi’s arch enemy.
From bad bridesmaid’s dresses, hyperactive sister-in-law’s, a mean girl with even meaner secrets, and too much to drink, nothing seems to go right for Emi, except when she’s wearing her little gray dress.
When she speed-walks into Liam Jaxson’s bar to escape, things get more complicated. He’s gorgeous, southern and has no past with Emi. He may be exactly what she needs to prove for the last time that she doesn’t need or want Jack.
Will Emi’s heart lead her towards the man she’s never quite gotten over or will she move on after finally seeing him for what he really is? Will that little gray dress make another appearance when Emi least expects it?
Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).
K.J. Milton
Faces by K.J. Milton
In the aftermath of a car crash that claims the lives of his wife and child, world-renowned actor and musician Jonah Wilder spirals into the hell of heroin addiction. To avoid publicity during rehab, Jonah slips into his most ambitious role to date, becoming John Walker — a bearded, long-haired, reclusive auto mechanic. Under the guise of Walker, Jonah enters an inpatient Methadone program in a rural Minnesota sobriety house.
Andi Sawyer has left her abusive husband behind, and her first priority now is to provide a stable home environment for Charli, her musically gifted, special-needs daughter. But stability seems elusive in Pine Valley, Minnesota, as Shumway Steel, the town’s largest industry, faces closure. Then an unexpected friendship blossoms with John, the new arrival at the men’s sobriety house next door. As his walls crumble and love opens the door to dreams of a new life, John Walker envisions a future for the three of them as a family … as long as his tragic past as Jonah Wilder stays hidden.
When the feeling that she’s met John before drives Andi to put her artistic skills to work, she realizes that John may not be the man she thought she knew. Worse, Andi’s dangerously obsessed ex-husband has returned, and Peter Sawyer will stop at nothing to unmask the imposter in Andi’s life. Jonah must reconcile his past and accept the better man he’s become, or he will lose everything he’s come to cherish—Andi, Charli—and his second chance at life.
Vote for your favorite pitch. The pitch that receives the most votes will be awarded the “Fan Favorite,” and the author will receive a free one-hour consult with us (worth $250).
Seventh Annual NaNoWriMo Pitchapalooza
NaNoWriMo + The Book Doctors + Youtube = Pitchapalooza 2017
10 Tips for Pitching
- A great pitch is like a poem. Every word counts.
- Make us fall in love with your hero. Whether you’re writing a novel or memoir, you have to make us root for your flawed but lovable hero.
- Make us hate your villain. Show us someone unique and dastardly whom we can’t wait to hiss at.
- Just because your kids love to hear your story at bedtime doesn’t mean you’re automatically qualified to get a publishing deal. So make sure not to include this information in your pitch.
- If you have any particular expertise that relates to your novel, tell us. Establishing your credentials will help us trust you.
- Your pitch is your audition to show us what a brilliant writer you are, it has to be the very best of your writing.
- Don’t make your pitch a book report. Make it sing and soar and amaze.
- A pitch is like a movie trailer. You start with an incredibly exciting/funny/sexy/romantic/e
tc. close-up with intense specificity, then you pull back to show the big picture and tell us the themes and broad strokes that build to a climax. - Leave us with a cliffhanger. The ideal reaction to a pitch is, “Oh my God, what happens next?”
- Show us what’s unique, exciting, valuable, awesome, unexpected, about your project, and why it’s comfortable, familiar and proven.
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