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Pitch Wars Showcase

Please note: These are the entries for the Pitch Wars season beginning in 2021 and continuing through 2022. Please note that our Agent Showcase ends at 9:00 p.m. ET on Monday, February 14, 2022. Agents will not be able to leave comments requesting material after that time.
PW2020 MG #02: WUNDER CEMETERY (Paranormal Fantasy – #OwnVoices Epistolary)
Mentee:
Allison Carvalho
Mentored by:
Shakirah Bourne
Book Title:
WUNDER CEMETERY
Category:
2020 Entries
Genre:
Paranormal Fantasy (#OwnVoices Epistolary)
Word Count:
62,000

Pitch:

GHOST SQUAD meets THE TAPPER TWINS
Estranged cousins Ophelia (11) and Caroline (9) are duty-bound to protect their family's haunted funeral home & cemetery. And now, the ghosts are in danger! An evil medium wants to consume all the souls, living & dead. To stop her, they must unravel the secrets hidden within their shared journal.

 

Excerpt:

October 6

Hello!

I think I heard a noise in the attic. It’s an old house, so that’s not super weird. The ghosts like to make a bunch of noise too. I keep wondering if it’s Gran. If she’s here watching over me, and I just can’t see her yet.

She gave you to me before she died. I think I’m going to call you Jo. I’ll try to write in you every day. I’m going to remember everything, just like Gran told me. She said writing is a way to honor memories. She can could be weird. She used to make me laugh so much.

[MARGIN NOTES-ARROW TO “…honor memories.”:
OPHELIA: See! Honor memories, not truth!
CAROLINE: She said different things to each of us.]

She died a week ago. I miss her so much. It feels like years since I last saw her. She’d always bang on my door in the morning, and yell “Ophelia Wunder, you’ll sleep when you’re dead, and even then, it ain’t gonna be for long!” She’d make raisin smiley faces in my oatmeal, and stick tamarind candy in my lunch bag.

And sometimes, on a nice day, she’d call forth the spirits and we’d play hide and seek or follow the leader with them. They always cheat. I can’t go invisible like they can. But soon, really soon, I’ll be able to see ghosts on my own.

I’m going to be a medium just like Gran was.

10 responses to “PW2020 MG #02: WUNDER CEMETERY (Paranormal Fantasy – #OwnVoices Epistolary)”

  1. Mary C. Moore says:

    Would love to read more! Please use this link to send: QueryManager.com/Mary_C_Moore_KCA/PitchWars

  2. Joanna Moult says:

    This sounds intriguing! Great pitch and compelling opening. Please send me the full manuscript (or however much you are willing to share) and a synopsis as word doc attachments to submissions@skylark-literary.com, with [PitchWars Joanna] in the subject line. If my colleague, Amber requests your manuscript as well – feel free to send it to us both or just to your favourite!

  3. Jennifer Herrington says:

    Hi Allison,

    You have a great pitch! I am intrigued. I would love to see more.

    I hope you’ll consider submitting to me. You can send query, synopsis, and the first three chapters to QueryManager.com/JenniferHerrington/PitchWars2021

    Thanks! I hope to see your submission!

    Jenn

  4. Josh Getzler says:

    Hi Allison,

    I really enjoyed your pitch, and was intrigued by your comparison to my client Geoff Rodkey’s series, THE TAPPER TWINS. Please send me the full MS of Wunder Cemetery as a Word doc to my email. I’m looking forward to reading!

    All the best,

    Josh Getzler
    Hannigan Getzler Literary
    HGLiterary.com
    josh@hgliterary.com

  5. Megan Manzano says:

    I’m really digging the voice here!

    If you’d like, please send your query, synopsis, and first 50 pages to the following: QueryManager.com/MeganManzano/PitchWars

    If more than one agent from D4EO requests your work, please choose the best fit for you.

  6. Erica Bauman says:

    Hi Allison,

    This sounds wonderful—I’d love to read the full manuscript! If you could please send along with your query letter to ebauman@aevitascreative.com (and put Pitch Wars somewhere in the subject line). Looking forward!

    All best,
    Erica

  7. Sarah Landis says:

    I’d love to see this one! Please email the full ms to slandis@sll.com. Thanks! Sarah Landis, Sterling Lord Literistic

  8. Karyn Fischer says:

    Hi Allison! This sounds so fun! I’m dying (pun intended) for a good epistolary novel! I’d love to see the full manuscript! If you’d like, please feel free to query me at QueryManager.com/KarynFischer/PitchWars. Thanks so much and I look forward to reading!

  9. Em Lysaght says:

    Hi Allison, I would love to see more material for this project! If you would like to submit to me, please send me your query letter, synopsis, and first 3 chapters/50 pages (whichever is longer) at the following link: QueryManager.com/emlysaght/Pitchwars2020

  10. Haley Casey says:

    Dear Allison,

    This description of your work immediately had me hooked. I would love to read more!

    Would you please send your full manuscript, a synopsis of the project, and a short bio about what you do and any of your previous publications to Haley@CMALit.com? Each should be a separate attachment in Microsoft Word or PDF format. To ensure your email doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, please include “Pitch Wars” in your subject line.

    The two other agents at Creative Media Agency, Paige Wheeler and Shannon Snow, are participating in Pitch Wars with me. Should one of them also request your manuscript, we would appreciate it if you would choose the agent you’d most prefer to work with and only send them the requested materials. Should they pass on the project for any reason, and you find yourself still seeking an agent, then you are of course free to resubmit to another member of CMA.

    Thank you for taking the time to send me more of what you’ve written!

    Sincerely,
    Haley Casey