SVS 3: WYRD, MG Contemporary Fantasy

Title: WYRD

Genre: MG Contemporary Fantasy 

Word Count: 52,000 

My Main Character would prefer to live in: 

…the sun! Hedda has been spending too much time in Jotunheim with the frost giants, so a nice get-away to a small Caribbean Island would be sweet. She could relax and wiggle her toes in the warm sand and gaze out at the glittery sea. Until she remembers the Midgard Serpent is so big it spreads through all the oceans. Wait, what's that on the horizon? 

Query:

Dear Agent,

When twelve-year-old Hedda discovers she’s a descendant of Beowulf, the legendary Scandinavian warrior, she panics. Guess she’s missing the bravery gene.

But Hedda better find it fast, because she and her know-it-all cousin Rohan are captured by real, live trolls while picking blueberries in the woods. Even worse, the trolls need their help. Solveig, the troll king’s daughter, has been poisoned by an ancient sword. And as it’s the Solstice, humans can cross the Rainbow Bridge to ask the gods for help. Rainbows are pretty and all that, but no way is Hedda risking her life for a troll. Yet, when she meets Solveig and discovers that she’s the last in the line of dwindling trolls and that their pasts are connected, Hedda knows she must do something.

Now, Hedda’s going to have to tap into some of that courage that pumped through her great (x 68) granddaddy Beowulf’s veins 1500 years ago. She and her cousin will have to outwit, outrun and out-battle the frost giants, the Midgard Serpent and even the goddess Hel. And then there’s the oh-so-twisted Loki, who still holds a deadly grudge against Beowulf for killing his son, Grendel. So when Beowulf's kin dares enter his realm, Loki is out for blood. Hedda’s blood.

SVS 4: MYSTERY AT GEEK CAMP, Upper MG Mystery

Title:  MYSTERY AT GEEK CAMP

Genre:  Upper Middle Grade Mystery

Word Count:  45,000

My Main Character would prefer to live in:

Sun? Snow? When your life revolves around video games, it doesn’t matter what’s happening outside. I just want to be in my favorite spot on the family room couch, Wii remote in my hand, slaying orcs. Okay, I might care about the weather if snow got me a day off from school. But if you want me to pick where to live, it’d be whichever spot had the junior high with the fewest school days and least homework. 

But let’s get real.  I’m a kid. I don’t get to pick.

Query:

Dear Awesome Agent:

Jared lives for video games, so he’s pumped for a chance to design his own at summer camp. When star-teen programmer, Brent Kagon, shows up for camp too, Jared figures he’ll learn exactly what he needs to top the iTunes Apps chart.

But Brent is too busy finishing his latest killer app to waste time with “noob” programmers. Noob? Jared heads in early from lunch, determined to show his skill by making his app The Best. Game. Ever. But his plans crash when he finds Brent unconscious, slumped on his laptop. Brent’s game code is missing!

Chaos descends as the cops and media arrive, then levels up as accusations start flying.  Everyone’s freaking — Brent because the thief stole his best ideas, the camp director because Brent’s threatening to sue, and Jared because his name’s at the top of Brent’s suspect list.  Jared doesn’t mind that the plug’s been pulled on the big-headed programmer, but he gets ticked when his mystery-loving sister, Maxine, sticks her nose in the investigation. Maxine might bring home straight-A’s, but she’s clueless about games. While helping Brent makes his blood boil, there’s no way Jared can let his little sister beat him at solving this gaming mystery. 

Besides, Jared’s got to get his name off the suspect list before he’s hauled to Juvie.

MYSTERY AT GEEK CAMP is told from Jared and Maxine’s perspectives.  It forces ‘tween Hardy Boys work to work with Nancy Drew on a crime that will appeal to theMinecraft generation.

SVS 5: A MURDER OF MAGIC, YA Fantasy

Title: A MURDER OF MAGIC

Genre: YA Fantasy

Word Count: 75,000

My Main Character would prefer to live in:

Calla would prefer to live in the snow. If it wasn't for that grount of a human, Gher, she'd still be in her icy mountain nest with her sisters, painting the snow red as they snack on flesh and magic. The bite of cold as the crow-girls devour chewy bits of skin is a necessary flavor, and Calla looks forward to uncovering the deliciously rotted carcasses, buried beneath recent avalanches, as soon as she can slay the moon for the ghost magician and return home.

Query:

Dear Michelle Hauck and Amy Trueblood,

In the kingdom of Nakai, in the eastern mountains, the villagers say the crows eat human flesh, that the crows can be human girls if they so choose, that they will speed your death if they can. The crow-girls only say human meat tastes best on human tongues.

On a day like all the others before, one crow-girl gets a little too eager to feast on a magician named Gher she finds dying in the snow. Cursed by the magician to remain in human form with a human name, Calla must stay that way until she "slays the moon." Unfortunately, Calla doesn’t know what that means, especially considering there are two moons in the sky. Gher, who returns as a ghost, cannot remember.

As Calla and Gher search for answers, they discover that the Queen is hunting magic, like crow-girls, to feed her addiction, and a skin-hunter, who trades in the flesh of creatures like Calla, is tracking their journey. Worse, in Calla’s opinion, her crow-sisters have turned their backs on her. Never mind that if Calla fails to break the magician’s curse, she will die a human, even though crow-girls. Don’t. Die.

But there may be more to being human than the stink of death and decay. Soon, Calla must reckon with the fact that she is falling for the magician's ghost, and, even more terrifying, the fact that when she finally does slay the moon, she won't be human anymore. And Calla isn't sure she likes that idea.

Full of gore, romance, and fairy-tale like elements, Calla's story is the tale of the crow-girl becoming who she is meant to be. This novel will appeal to fans of Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman, and Laini Taylor.   

SVS 6: THAT'S JUST FABULOUS, YA Contemporary

Title: THAT'S JUST FABULOUS

Genre: YA Contemporary

Word Count: 70,000

My main character would prefer to live in:

Nell Summers doesn’t have time to lie around in the sun when there are newspaper articles to write and college applications breathing down her neck. But if a snow storm forced her to hole up with Patrick Campbell for a few days, she would be okay with that.

Query

Dear Contest Queens and Awesome Agents:

Seventeen-year-old Nell Summers only needs one thing to get the hell out of Oak Run, Virginia: A story that will land her first place in the High School Journalism Competition and the scholarship that goes with it. A scholarship means a chance to start over in New York, where no one will care if she has two moms. To win the competition, Nell has her sights set on a hot story about Prince Albert, the local punk band, and its lead singer—a boy with incredible talent and a dark past.

But Patrick Campbell has no interest in helping a preppy brat achieve her dreams. He thinks she has no idea what it’s like being different. She thinks he’s just as closed-minded as the rest of the town, Mohawk or no Mohawk. With annoying groupies and an absentee grandmother trying to make amends, Nell’s dreams are farther away than ever. Who knew getting the inside scoop on a simple story could be so hard?

And then there’s Patrick. The more she uncovers, the harder it is to keep hating him. Nell knows they are all wrong for each other, and this story can only end with a broken heart. But sometimes the hardest walls to knock down are the ones we build ourselves.

SVS 7: SWIMMINGLY, YA Contemporary

Title: SWIMMINGLY

Genre: YA contemporary

Word Count: 75,000

My Main Character would prefer to live in:

I don’t do heat. Do you know what penguins do when they get hot? They stick their feet in the sun and that cools them. Don’t ask me how it works because it makes no sense to me. Sticking my feet in the sun does shit. Grandma, though, thinks sweat is for inferior human beings, like she doesn’t have sweat glands. I bet she doesn’t. The woman is not human. And there is no way to get away from her in this madhouse aquarium. Give me a cold, deep, bottomless ocean and some gills and I’m gone.

Query:

Stealing drugs from your grandparents is bad. Stealing fish-drugs from your grandparents’ aquarium while high and then vomiting into the sea lion pool is worse. For sixteen-year-old Laura Sweetling, it was a Tuesday night.

Four months later and out of rehab, Laura sets her sights on the GED, convinced it’s her ticket out of her home life and abusive father. However, Laura’s mom and grandparents have other plans: summer school and a volunteer stint at the aquarium. Laura’s mom, newly single after kicking her dad out, is also employed at the aquarium—as Laura’s supervisor. Drowning in the sea lion pool seems like a better option than a summer with four Sweetlings under one roof, the shadow of her dad’s inevitable return hanging over her, and her mom’s empty promises that things will be different.

Despite the nasty farmer’s tan, Laura is at home among the animals. But when an anti-captivity protest destroys her perception of the family business, Laura must decide which current she’ll follow. The aquarium and its staff feel like a second home, but the grisly truths she uncovers about the removal of walrus tusks, animals dying in enclosures, and harsh breeding programs are impossible to ignore. While Laura struggles to stay sober and pass summer school, challenging the aquarium would ruin her family. However, when Laura realizes her mom’s still in contact with her dad, the choice might already be made for her.

SVS 8: I HAVE NO NAME, YA Post-Apocalyptic

Title: I HAVE NO NAME

Genre: YA Post-Apocalyptic

Word Count: 96,000

My Main Character would prefer to live in:

My main character would choose sun. Snow means shoveling and chopping wood and clearing crusty white stuff off the solar panels. Not to mention all the food Nona has to prepare for winter. It's not like she can get away from it in Michigan, and there's zero chance she's willing to strike out on her own. She'd much rather have lived in Florida when the Black Flu wiped out the world. There's safety in staying with what you know, but damn all that Michigan snow!

Query:

Dear Amazing Agent:

At sixteen, Nona's best friends are a mannequin named Frank and a Ruger 9mm. That's all she has left since a virus swept humanity from the earth. Frank's the strong, silent type, but the Ruger keeps wild animals at bay. After two years alone in a remote Michigan town, survival is all that matters.

When a wandering band of people called the Community claims Nona's deserted town, she and the Ruger tell the trespassers to get lost, but they don't take the hint. Especially Joshua McKinnell, whose friendly banter isn't silenced by the sight of her gun. Joshua's grin and Nona's need for human contact whittle her resistance, and before she knows it, Nona has a friend. The Ruger remains strapped to her leg—old habits die hard—but poor Frank's abandoned to a run-down diner. He was never much of a conversationalist anyway.

Just as Nona accepts the Community, she's captured by the American Brotherhood. They're known for brainwashing child-soldiers and enslaving survivors, so Nona expects the worst until Will Kennedy, a friend from her past, claims her. Nona saved his life back when they first met. Of course he wouldn't have needed saving if she hadn't shot him, but still.

As Nona navigates the dangerous Brotherhood society, looking for a way to escape, she discovers Will has been finding good homes for survivors and requesting kids be assigned to his unit, all to protect the innocent. Friends don't hold friends hostage, but Nona can't help liking Will, though she's terrified of the rush she feels whenever he's near.

Before Nona can decipher her heart, Will and the Brotherhood are ordered to lay siege to the Community's stronghold. This is one situation the Ruger can't help. Nona must convince both sides to back down before full-scale fighting breaks out. If that fails, she'll need all her survival skills to protect Joshua and Will, the friends she never meant to make.

SVS 9: Silent Beauty, YA Contemporary

Title: SILENT BEAUTY

Genre: YA Contemporary

Word Count: 56,000

My main character would prefer to live in:

As much as I hate snow and falling on my butt on ice, I hate winter less than summer. Summer means bathing suits and tank tops, along with short shorts and open backed t-shirts. It’s easier to see the scars on my back. I hate that more than snow. If I had to pick, I guess I’d live in the cold.

Query:

Dear Agent,

Struggling with Meniere’s disease and the death of her parents, Alanna is closed off to almost everyone. At seventeen, she should be worried about school dances or kissing boys, not about losing her hearing. The only thing normal in her life is her struggle to pass math.

Desperate not to flunk, Alanna agrees to get a tutor – Jared – who is the same kid she stood up for when a linebacker bullied him in the hallway. Jared is the first guy not to treat her differently because of her hearing aids. He makes an adorable effort at sign language and simplifies the hardest math questions for her. Even his obsession with Star Trek starts growing on Alanna. She wants to open up to him, but she’s afraid he’ll desert her if he learns about the accident that killed her parents, or her attempted suicide. Complicating matters is their shared bully, who knows the truth about Alanna’s attempted suicide since he was the one to pull her out of the car.

As Alanna finds herself falling for Jared, she wants to tell him everything. She must stop lying and accept herself or she’ll lose Jared and never be able to take control of her own life.

SVS 10: TRACKER220, YA Sci-fi/Thriller

TITLE: TRACKER220

GENRE: YA Sci fi/Thriller

WORD COUNT: 74,000

My main character would prefer to live in:

I'm trapped in an underground hideout so I wouldn't know if it's raining, sunny, snowing, or pitch black outside. But I'd give anything to get away from this nerd techno-babble about my tracker malfunction and feel the sun's warmth on my face even for a second. Then again my bum tracker is what got me into this mess in the first place. 

Query:

Dear Awesome Agents,

When everyone has a tracking chip that interfaces with their brain, one glitch threatens the entire network. Sixteen-year-old Kaya Weiss is that glitch.

With a series of thoughts and blinks, Kaya can contact anyone and search for anything on the tracker network. But the authorities monitor everything—where Kaya goes, who she talks to, and what she searches. It’s never bothered her much, until her tracker malfunctions, and the authorities carve into her skull to reset it.

When Kaya’s tracker goes off the grid a second time, there’s no way in hell she’ll become a lab rat again. Except the authorities aren’t the only ones interested in her glitch. A rogue underground movement called the Ghosts intends to exploit her faulty tracker to destroy the network. Evading the authorities requires some serious tech skills, but Kaya’s not sure she can trust the Ghosts either—even if their top tech wiz, Bailen, has an interest in her that might be deeper than her bum tracker. Accustomed to having infinite knowledge at her disposal, Kaya must now rely on her own intelligence to uncover the source of the glitches before either side lobotomizes her for the defective tracking chip.

TRACKER220 combines technology similar to Google Glass with a fast-paced Minority Report style world.

SVS 11: GETTING WYRD ON ALBION, NA Fantasy

Title: GETTING WYRD ON ALBION

Genre: New adult fantasy 

Word Count: 103,000

My Main Character would prefer to live in: 

Come skiing, Perry had said. It’ll be so much fun. Easy for her to say; she’d practically grown up on the slopes. I, on the other hand, preferred the feel of hot, silky sand beneath my feet, and was counting the days when the hell that is winter is over and I could once again walk the beach in front of my house on Long Island. But first I had to figure out how to get down this damn mountain with one broken pole and a ski that refused to remain attached to its boot.

Query

Dear Future Agent,

Twenty three-year-old Cate Gallagher knows the dagger is trouble the moment she lays eyes on it. Or maybe it’s the man it travels with—alluring yet enigmatic Luke Pendergast. But even Cate, an Earth mage gifted with the innate ability to know the age and origin of any object she touches, is at a loss to explain her vision and the magic-infused blackout that comes when she touches the blade. However, she has little time to dwell on the matter for there’s now a target on her back. The hunter? Her own father.

To keep Cate safe, Luke, himself a mage, offers her protection on his homeland, Albion—an Asgardian-esque world with roots reaching back to the time of King Arthur. Despite Luke’s insistence that a dalliance will only bring them pain, their attraction can’t be denied. But happiness soon fades when an unwelcome revelation about Cate’s mother comes to light. Rejected by Luke and his fellow mages, Cate is forced to return to Earth, equal parts heartbroken, and seriously, seriously pissed off.

Left to fend for herself, help comes from an unexpected source by way of Gale Sheelin, a mage she befriended on Albion. Risking banishment by his own people, Gale offers Cate assistance in unraveling the secret to her unique brand of magic. An absolute necessity since her father—hell bent on destroying Albion and as many mages he can get his hands on—will stop at nothing to capture her and the dagger. Now, unlocking her full potential is essential if Cate is to protect the men she loves and prevent an entire way of life from being eradicated in the blink of a mage’s eye. 

SVS 12: I, PERSEPHONE, Adult Fantasy

Title: I, PERSEPHONE

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Word Count: 94,000

My Main Character would prefer to live in:

Naturally, Persephone appreciates warmth. She’s spent more than a century as an agricultural goddess, sparking germination with the help of Helios, the sun god. Feeding mankind is imperative, after all. When it’s cold outside, she can’t do anything for the crops. She can only go to the underworld to play with her sweet, three-headed hellhound and rule with her new husband, Hades. Her tall, dark, brooding husband with the strong jaw and the flashing eyes and the impressive… Uh, what was the question again?

Query:

Dear Illustrious Agents:

Her given name means “bringer of death,” literally. Indeed, Persephone has killed thousands… of violets, tulips, and roses. While the other gods are off smiting, ravishing, and dominating the world, she’s stuck with bucolic delights and mandated virginity. So when Hades interrupts yet another scintillating bout of floricide and carries her off to the not-so-sweet hereafter, she’s livid, yes--but also a little thrilled. The high point of her life thus far was inventing the corn dog.

Once down under, she finally has clout. Her influence over its smitten ruler soon allows her to improve the quality of (after)life for the shades. She even finds that pet she always wanted: a sweet but misunderstood three-headed hellhound. If she became Hades’ wife, she might achieve even more. And she’s tempted by far more than the power he offers her.

Unfortunately, the upper world has gone to Hades in a Grecian urn. Her worried mother, the goddess of agriculture, stops work, then is assaulted and disappears. By staying in her exciting new life, Persephone would leave mankind starving and her mother alone and unavenged. But returning to her drab old life is no bowl of ambrosia, either. To accomplish that, she’d have to break out of the heretofore escape-proof underworld. Whatever she chooses, she’ll need the courage and ruthlessness of a true bringer of death after all.

My embellishments to the classic myth of Persephone so as to make her a gutsy heroine, not a pitiable victim, should appeal to those who enjoy the humor of Molly Harper and H.P. Mallory or who appreciate retellings within original parameters--but with twists--such as Mercedes Lackey’s Five Hundred Kingdoms series.

SVS 13: THE STEPPING STONES, Adult Epic Fantasy

Title: THE STEPPING STONES

Genre: Adult Epic Fantasy

Word Count: 152,000

My Main Character would prefer to live in:

When the weather’s warm, there’s nothing Brenya loves more than a walk along the wide causeway ridge of the Tide Wall.  She especially likes to go barefoot when the rising water just barely tops the barrier, bathing the soles of her feet as the wavelets lap over its sun-warmed surface.  But ever since she touched the Stepping Stone, heat and cold alike feel oddly muted, easily endured.  And she doubts the strange invaders from beyond the Tide Wall share her inexplicable resilience.  If the winter cold helps break the siege, that would be worth a thousand days of sunshine.

Query:

Dear Empresses of Illumination and Precipitation,

Brenya often longs for the autonomy afforded the Peregrines, warriors who can cross hundreds of miles in an instant. But no woman has ever manifested the ability to travel between the monoliths called Stepping Stones. Even among men it’s a rare gift. So when Brenya dares to touch one of the Stones, she doesn’t expect to transport herself to the heart of the distant capital.

With that single step, Brenya breaks a precedent that became sacred dogma long ago. And the Lapizarium, the order that upholds that dogma, is prepared to kill her and even topple whole kingdoms to bury her transgression — or worse, forcibly strip her of the power and autonomy she’s always wanted.

With few willing to aid her, Brenya finds an unexpected advocate in Caen, commander of the Peregrines. She can’t fully fathom Caen’s motives for helping her, but suspects he has some deeper agenda. Playing pawn to his mysterious machinations could incite civil war, and would mean compromising her newfound freedom. If she stays true to herself, she risks losing that freedom entirely in her battle with the Lapizarium… a battle she has little hope of winning alone.

Brenya may be the first woman with the power of a Peregrine, but she’s determined not to be the last. Whatever the answer, and whatever her choice, she will have to fight for her right to exist and determine her own fate — and change the very nature of the Stepping Stones in the process.

SVS 14: HANNA BUYS THE FARM, Adult Sci-fi thriller

Title: HANNA BUYS THE FARM

Genre: Sci-fi thriller

Word count: 61,000

My main character would prefer to live in:

Hanna grew up in a town where the winter temperature hovered around -30c. When it’s that cold, unexposed skin freezes and dies in about five minutes. She did her best to leave that behind, disappearing into the city the moment she graduated high school. Downtown, the abundance of concrete keeps everything a balmy -20c, in which case you have ten minutes before frostbite. Which sounds like an improvement, until you realize you’re living somewhere where you can count the minutes until your skin dies. At least with sunburn you get to enjoy the sun before your skin falls off.

Query:

Dear Sun and, to a lesser degree, Snow,

When Hanna’s (debatably) successful career in corporate data theft is cut short, she’s left with nothing but a few hundred thousand dollars and a condition that leaves her fatally allergic to technology (blight, if you want to be crass).

The money can solve the allergy problem—for a while. It might even be enough to keep up appearances and save Hanna’s reputation. But when an overzealous client abducts both her best friend and her estranged sister, it’s clear that her problems are far from over. Really, she shouldn’t have trusted him in the first place, considering he initially got her attention with chloroform and a suckerpunch—but hey, we’re not judging.

Circumventing the allergy takes a lot of money, and when the money runs out, so will Hanna. Unfortunately, she’s also the only person who can get everyone out of this mess alive. The stakes are high, but the objectives are deceptively simple: save her sister and her friend (in that order), avoid dying from some stupid allergy, bring the hand of God down on those responsible.

The consequence of Hanna’s actions will make her the most infamous person alive. She’ll be on every screen, headlining every news site. Because when the sky goes dead-channel grey—that’ll be Hanna’s fault. Well, half her fault. Maybe three-fifths.

SVS 15: BOLDLY GO, Women's Fiction

Title: BOLDLY GO

Genre: Women's Fiction

Word Count: 78,000

My main character would prefer to live in:

Growing up in Wyoming means Lis is on close personal terms with snow. She goes to school in Colorado, which has plenty of sun. But right now, Lis doesn’t care about the weather in the place she lives. She only cares about getting into vet school. Sunny, snowy, windy, foggy—she couldn’t care less. She’d go to the Bermuda Triangle if it meant she got a DVM in four years.  

Query:

Dear Agents:

Lis Fairchild is excited to meet her sister Adele’s boyfriend, until she recognizes him as the random stranger she hooked up with six weeks ago. When Lis tells her sister what happened, Adele locks herself in her room and refuses to speak to Lis. 

To assuage her guilt, Lis joins The Hallowell Agency, a group of women devoted to exposing cheating husbands and boyfriends. She might have broken her sister’s heart, but at least she can help ensure no other girl has to suffer. Chatting up awkward Psychology majors in the library is easy enough, and the money’s good. Even if she does have to make out with the occasional drunk frat boy.  

Lis’s biggest challenge comes when she investigates Will Stratford, who looks exactly like a young Captain Kirk—on whom Lis has had a crush since her dad introduced her to Star Trek at thirteen. Lis falls hard for Will, but if he responds to her advances, then he’s the kind of guy she can’t be with.

When things blow up with Will, Lis is ready to leave the Agency and its deceptions behind. That is, until they take on a new client: Lis’s mom. Lis can’t believe her geeky dad would get his Kling-on with another woman. With Adele not speaking to her, and their mom in the dark about Lis’s new job, it’s up to Lis to find the truth and keep her family together.

BOLDLY GO is a work of Women’s Fiction where Sophie Kinsella meets Charlie’s Angels. Thank you for your consideration.