I pitched my book to an agent from a very well-known agency (at least I think it is) last weekend at a writers conference I attended in Phoenix. The bonus was that I am the VP of the organization that sponsored the conference so I had several opportunities to meet the agent before the actual pitch session--at dinner the night before, at the Meet and Greet the night before and then right before when I introduced her before her Saturday presentation on "Mistakes to Avoid in Children's Fiction." My pitch was right after her class.
Anyway, she liked my idea (!) and said she would like to see the novel (!) if I would change one aspect of it. I have a car accident that takes place before the story opens--she said car accidents are overdone in teen fiction, so if I would change it to anything else it would be more marketable and unique.
So now I'm brainstorming catastrophes that could conceivably take place in West Texas in June, just north of Lubbock, and not a tornado, please. Anything? Anybody?
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#52 Stories- Week Four
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I pitched my book to an agent from a very well-known agency (at least I think it is) last weekend at a writers conference I attended in Phoe...
9 comments:
A recent post by Mike in his Knowledge Problem blog might suggest a dust storm could be involved. I'm not sure how the nature of the accident relates to the story, but there's always the exploding grain silo or something to do with a cotton harvester. Ok, I'm maybe a little over the top. Or maybe not.
Maybe if we knew a couple of things we could think of something more applicable to the plotline. Does the accident result in a death? What is the age range involved? Are these teenage kids involved in the accident or someone's parent?
I like the dust storm idea.
Some story particulars:
--the incident takes place in the middle of the night
--young people (juniors in high school) die in the incident
--the incident is partially human-caused and involves bullying
--one person survives (that the public knows about), but lies about what happened to protect herself and someone else
So now you're saying, how can a dust storm fit any of these criteria? I would like to take a human-caused event like something done to scare someone or harrass them and then combine it with a freak thing like a storm, for example.
Mike, or anyone, know of any urban legends for the area? Something that teenagers could twist into a hazing-type thing or right of passage event?
Aunt Valerie, you are so brave! I have dreams of writing children's books someday...though not sure it will happen...but I would go nuts after all that work and now you have to change something pretty big. I think that might be my biggest issue with trying something like that. All the changes you're asked to do, then is it really want you wanted in the first place??? I just think it's so amazing that you've finished and I can't wait to have a copy of a book by my aunt!!!
Something involving a beef processing plant, stockyards, a grain elevator, or cotton machinery would work for the Panhandle/South Plains area.
At this point, Lisa, it doesn't seem too huge a change except for in the planning of it. The accident takes place before the story opens and the main character comes up on it right after the fact. Consequently, she doesn't really know the whole story. So I don't have to rewrite much throughout the story (just make sure references to it fit) except at the end where the truth comes out.
How about a cattle stampede!!!!
Around Amarillo maybe a cattle stampede, but nearer Lubbock I'd go we:
*Severe thunderstorm, maybe a hail storm. Perhaps the kids are out in a field, take cover from the hail under a tree, and the tree is hit by lighting.
Bullying/harrassing could be a reason kids end up in the middle of a field at night. (At a party at someone's house that lives outside of town, harrassment causes a couple of kids to leave the party for a while, then the storm starts.)
*On local urban legends (rural legends?) Andi might be a better source since she teaches high school. I'll ask her when she returns.
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