Mar 15, 2009

Query: LAZY CATS (Revision 1)

A second revision of this query has been posted. Click here to read it.
Click here to read the original query.

Dear XXXXX,
LAZY CATS is a 60,000 word, work of Women’s fiction.
Just Maggie’s luck! Seven years in a comfortable marriage, one night of shamefully exciting sex, then poof, her husband’s gone without an explanation.

Did he run off with his secretary, Tracy Morgan?
Perhaps Maggie’s own wanton behavior drove him away.
Could Maggie’s latest story have anything to do with her husband’s disappearance? YES!

Maggie had no idea Chris had been secretly reading about Sarah.

“An undemanding woman, content living in the shadow of her puffed up husband, keeping a clean house, being the ideal wife, Sarah loses herself and gives up her dream of becoming a famous writer. But when her selfish husband goes too far, stepping out on her, Sarah cleverly plots his murder. Mouse poison should take care of a rat.”

Maggie and Sarah have a lot in common. The women even write alike. There is one big difference though, Maggie is real and Sarah is only a figment of Maggie’s imagination. But both women scare the hell out of their cheating husbands.

Thank you for your time. My contact information is listed below for your convenience.
raymond@threeriver.net

Too much is never enough

I've received several comments asking if I plan to regulate or suppress the flow of new queries posted to the site.

For the time being, I don't. I know many people would like to critique all of the queries posted, but for most of us there just isn't time. I've struggled to find fifteen consecutive minutes of free time this weekend, so trust me, I'm playing in the same ballpark as you are.

I understand better than ever why agents send form rejections. I'm not saying I would be issuing rejections for all the queries posted here, what I mean is that reading a query takes time; providing concise feedback triples that time, at least.

If you ever wonder why agents beg us not to reply to a form rejections asking why, then do this:

Log onto this site. Read and critique five queries. Time yourself. Then pretend you have to do 95 more today. And tomorrow, another hundred. And another hundred every day after that...

As a courtesy, if you are submitting a query, please take the time to critique another query (or two, or three...). Any one of us can't critique them all, but as a community of readers and writers, we should be able to get through the slush.

So far I've posted 16 queries, counting two revisions. I've commented on about half, and I want to get tot hem all. There is only one query that has not received any comments, but in all fairness I only posted it 15 minutes ago.

If the volume of queries zaps the value from this project, I'll find a way to deal with it. I'm solutions-oriented.

Until that time, don't feel obligated to read everything. Just read something, and I think it will be fine.

Thanks again for visiting!

Query: KRELIS

A revision of this query has been posted. Click here to read it.

Dear Wonderful Agent Person

Once every hundred years, Comet Orel blazes across the sky, calling to the heavens the souls of decease dragons, and during this time, an opportunity opens to imbue dragon stones with the souls, creating them into powerful talismans. Seven wizards embark on a journey to collect the elusive dragon stones, which are formed from the hearts of dragons, but the power they yield proves to be too enticing, corrupting one of their own.

Krelis’ innate, magical ability earns him an apprenticeship with the great wizard, Antigonus. He lives in the conservatory on a small remote island where he practices the art with his friends. He enjoys his simple life, free from the conflicts that plague rest of Known World. All of this changes when his mentor brings Krelis and his friends together to reveal the real reason for their selection; a dream of everlasting peace between the races of Known World that can become a reality with the magic of the dragon stones.

Krelis and his peers leave their home and undertake the perilous quest filled with danger and ultimately…betrayal.

KRELIS is an 80,000 word young adult fantasy.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your response.