Title: Remembering Diana
Word Count: 72,000
Genre: Adult Dark Contemporary
Query:
Clara’s life revolves around love: love for her husband, Glen, who runs a powerful organization, and love for her “daughters,” girls who Glen brings to her to be trained. The girls will be sold to the highest bidder, and Clara believes her daughters will go on to live lives with their "clients" that are as happy as her own.
Clara’s loving world is shattered when her home is raided by uniformed agents, who arrest her and separate her from Glen and her daughters. Torn away from everything familiar, Clara is questioned daily by agents who keep calling herDiana. At first, Clara passionately defends Glen, and refuses to speak against him. However, the longer she is apart from Glen, the more Clara begins to look back and see the cracks in the carefully crafted memories of her life with him. Aided by the agents, her therapist, and a group of women from similar circumstances, Clara begins to piece together the reality of her life. Now she must decide if she will continue to keep Glen’s secrets, or if she will take her chance to figure out who she is, who she was…and who she will choose to be.
First 250 words:
I am brushing Daisy’s hair at the kitchen table when the front door crashes open. The sound of gunfire and men shouting and children screaming comes in a tidal wave through the open door. Dropping the brush, I grab Daisy’s hand and pull her into the nearest closet, fumbling for the lever that will open the false back. We huddle in the small space together, and Daisy trembles in my arms. Daisy isn’t her real name. I don’t know what her real name is. When Glen brought her to me, he handed me a bouquet of fresh cut daisies. Daisies and a Daisy. It seemed fitting.
Daisy cries as the door to the closet opens. I put a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. Our hiding spot is clever, but not clever enough. Someone begins tapping on the wall. “This is hollow!” he shouts, and his hands make shuffling sounds as they grope for a way in. It only takes a few minutes before the latch is discovered and we are revealed. Daisy screams and buries her face in my chest. I shield my eyes from the sudden brightness, swinging out with my other arm and coming into contact with hard flesh.
“Whoa, there,” a gentle voice says. I peek at the source, and see a man with kind eyes. I know it is a trick though. How could he be kind when he has broken into our home? I lash out again, and he catches my arm.
First 250 words:
I am brushing Daisy’s hair at the kitchen table when the front door crashes open. The sound of gunfire and men shouting and children screaming comes in a tidal wave through the open door. Dropping the brush, I grab Daisy’s hand and pull her into the nearest closet, fumbling for the lever that will open the false back. We huddle in the small space together, and Daisy trembles in my arms. Daisy isn’t her real name. I don’t know what her real name is. When Glen brought her to me, he handed me a bouquet of fresh cut daisies. Daisies and a Daisy. It seemed fitting.
Daisy cries as the door to the closet opens. I put a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound. Our hiding spot is clever, but not clever enough. Someone begins tapping on the wall. “This is hollow!” he shouts, and his hands make shuffling sounds as they grope for a way in. It only takes a few minutes before the latch is discovered and we are revealed. Daisy screams and buries her face in my chest. I shield my eyes from the sudden brightness, swinging out with my other arm and coming into contact with hard flesh.
“Whoa, there,” a gentle voice says. I peek at the source, and see a man with kind eyes. I know it is a trick though. How could he be kind when he has broken into our home? I lash out again, and he catches my arm.
Hmm...I've tried to post this three times. Here's hoping this one works! I'd like to see the first five chapters. Please email it to crubinobradway@lkgagency.com.
ReplyDeletePlease send the first 50 (or up to the closest logical breaking point) to me at laura@redsofaliterary.com.
ReplyDeleteOoh, sounds intriguing! I'd love to see more. Please send me a query, synopsis, and the first 100 pages to submissions@abliterary.com.
ReplyDelete