So, if you haven’t picked up on it yet, Angelique isn’t my only darling. There is another character, with whom I am on much more intimate terms, having written her into a novel and a half already, with a third in outline phase. Grit of Berth and Stone, my darling of darlings, still awaits an agent, a publisher, a deal.
We’ll get there.
In the meantime, because I promised a few posts back to tell you more, here is a portion of my query letter:
The first lesson we teach our babes is, “Never approach a stranger without a ready weapon.”
When Grit of Berth and Stone, a young woman on the brink of warriorhood, stepped off the well-worn path to aid a struggling woman, she broke the first rule of Threshan society. Cast out of her village, Grit vows never again to show weakness. Everything changes when she meets K, who dares her to accompany him to the Southern Realm.
“When you get around to deciding whether to accept or decline my offer,” he says, “it all comes down to one question: Have you the courage to believe that I will help you and not harm you?”
In the courts of K’s castle, Grit encounters a courage deeper than she had ever imagined existed, a courage she must claim for herself when K sends her back to the village she swore to forget. There, Grit must correct the errors of her past and prepare to face an ancient evil set on plunging every corner of Chasmaria into utter chaos.
XXXX meets YYYYY in Grit of Berth and Stone (70K words), the first book in a Young Adult Fantasy trilogy that explores themes of courage, faith, and love.
So, there she is. As always, I welcome constructive criticism. Being in the querying stage, I appreciate any feedback that might bring me closer to the dream of seeing my manuscript transformed into a bona fide book. So, please, be as honest as possible. I’m a big girl.
Thanks!
Lisa Dunn 