Ian Cahill

Pencil by Ian Cahill

Pencil is the story of Finn, corporate rising star by day, hopeless romantic by night. All he wanted for his 25th birthday was a date with the girl next door. Instead he got a strange silver envelope in the mail detailing his enrollment into a century old government program.

The law is simple. You have three pencils. You must write one sentence a day in one of the many government approved writing rooms. When your pencils are gone, so are you. The trouble is no one really knows where you go.

Suddenly, Finn’s life is torn between his new duty as a citizen and the nagging feeling of rebellion. Seeking the truth behind the program, Finn crosses paths with Mia, a fellow writer and member of a secret group of misfits looking for the same answers Finn seeks.

Slipping through the fingers of the law and digging for clues in familiar and not so familiar places, Mia leads Finn on a journey across the city and into the depths of a mammoth corporation. To keep Mia and find the truth, Finn is forced to make the ultimate decision–write or run?

 

The Book Doctors: I really like how much creepiness you manage to get into these 250 words. And this strange world is so strange. Three pencils. Write until the pencils are gone. Then disappear. I’ve read 10,000 pitches and never seen this before. But there aren’t enough specific details in this story. Is he excited about the strange silver envelope? Is he scared? Confused? And what kind of a world is it? I gather it’s in the future, but how is it different from our world? “Secret group of misfits” is too vague & general. “Slipping through the fingers of the law and digging for clues in familiar and not so familiar places…” isn’t exciting. I see no word pictures in my head. And what will happen if everything goes wrong? Also, there doesn’t seem to be a romance between Finn and Mia. Is there? I feel shortchanged on their relationship. I believe a couple of comparable titles would also be very helpful because I’m not quite sure exactly where this book sits on the bookshelf.