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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 #03: STOLEN BY THE FLOOD (Sci-Fi Mystery)
Mentee:
Sean Miller
Mentored by:
Rochelle Hassan
Book Title:
STOLEN BY THE FLOOD
Category:
2020 Entries
Genre:
Sci-Fi Mystery
Word Count:
62,000

Pitch:

SERAFINA x SHIP BREAKER: 

In a future California scorched by climate change, 13-year-old Lula’s floating village endures a deadly flash flood every year. When the shackle that keeps her houseboat tethered is stolen moments before the surge, Lula dives in to replace it—only to be swept away. She survives, barely. But the missing shackle means someone tried to kill her. To find the culprit, she teams up with her rival to unearth devastating secrets about her family and the world outside their canyon—secrets that could destroy her village forever. 

 

Excerpt:

A whispering breeze prickles the back of my neck like fluttering buttermoth wings. I squeeze my eyes shut and listen to the wind. The flood is coming. Soon. Very soon.

I shudder. The flood always begins with the surge—a twenty-foot wall of water pouring down the eastern cliff, racing across the lakebed at a furious six knots, obliterating the parched soil, and tossing raft houses into the air like deck splinters. As it passes, my heart goes still. I’m afraid the flood will take me. Like it took my mom.

“Lula, come help with this shackle.”

My chest is tight when I open my eyes. Over the railing, Dad is wearing his brown-vinyl apron, recently scavenged from the deadlands, and stoking charcoal in the forge.

I ignore the stern plank and climb down the rope ladder. My footprints stamp the cracked soil as I walk beside our raft house, dust billowing in my wake. Because our raft is on the western edge of the flotilla, in dry season, there’s plenty of room to spread out.

Dad holds the shackle with heat-resistant gloves and steel tongs, pumping air onto the coals with a foot pedal. The curved end glows yellow. “Grab my touchmark stamp over there.”

12 responses to “PW2020 MG #03: STOLEN BY THE FLOOD (Sci-Fi Mystery)”

  1. Janine Le says:

    I’d love to see this one! To submit, please send query, synopsis, and full ms to submissions @ sheldonfogelmanagency.com [no spaces] with #PitchWars request in the subject line.

  2. Jessica Kasmer-Jacobs says:

    Hi! I’d love to see more. Please send your query, 50 pages, and a synopsis (if you’ve got one) to jessica@dhliterary.com. Looking forward to reading!

  3. Hi Sean. I’m intrigued by your pitch. Please send me a synopsis and the first 20 pages to Isabelle (at) Nordlysetagency.com. Also include “Pitch Wars” on the subject line of your email. Thanks!
    Isabelle

  4. Paige Wheeler says:

    Thank you for your participation in Pitch Wars. I found your project intriguing and would very much like to see the first three chapters of the manuscript. Please email me at paige@cmalit.com the following attachments in Microsoft Word format (not PDF):
     
    1. the first three chapters,
    2. a synopsis of your project,
    3. a short bio including any previous publications.
     
    To expedite the review process, please use “requested material-pitch wars” as the subject heading of your email.
     
    As a professional courtesy, please let me know if any other agents are considering your work. Also, if you do get an offer, please contact me so that I may be able to review and respond accordingly.

    I look forward to reading your work!
     
    Kind regards,
     
    Paige Wheeler 
    paige@cmalit.com

  5. Carrie Hannigan says:

    Hi Sean, I really enjoyed your pitch and excerpt and would love to read more. Could you send the full manuscript as a Word document to me at: carrie@hgliterary.com with “Pitch Wars Requested Ms” in the subject line? I am on vacation next week but will be checking my emails for any manuscripts that come in!

    Best wishes,
    Carrie

  6. Alec Shane says:

    Would love to see the full. Please send as a Word doc to ashane@writershouse.com

  7. Erin Clyburn says:

    Hi Sean! I was hooked by this premise and excerpt and would love to see more of STOLEN BY THE FLOOD. Please send your query, synopsis, and full manuscript through my QueryManager link: QueryManager.com/ErinClyburn/PitchWars. If you receive requests from multiple JDLA agents, feel free to submit to whichever of us feels like the best fit. I’m looking forward to reading your work!

  8. Erica Bauman says:

    Hi Sean,

    This sounds fantastic, I’d love to take a look! If you could please send your query letter and the full manuscript to ebauman@aevitascreative.com (and put Pitch Wars somewhere in the subject line). I’m looking forward to reading!

    All best,
    Erica

  9. Kurestin Armada says:

    Hi Sean, Congratulations on successfully completing PitchWars! I love all the world building packed into this one short page. I’m dying to continue reading! If you’d like to share it, please send the query in the body of an email, with the full manuscript and synopsis attached as a Word doc. The subject of the email should be “Pitch Wars Request: YOUR TITLE for Root Literary” sent to submissions@rootliterary.com. Although not all of Root Literary is participating in Pitch Wars, please feel free to query whoever feels like the best fit! We’re happy to coordinate internally. All the best, Kurestin

  10. Haley Casey says:

    Dear Sean,

    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

  11. Mollie Glick says:

    Hi Sean, I’d love to read this! Please send your full manuscript, query and synopsis via email to mollie.glickasst@caa.com with “Pitch Wars Requested Submission” in the subject line. Please let me know if you are submitting to more than one agent at CAA.

  12. Tara Gonzalez says:

    Hi Sean! I would love to keep reading STOLEN BY THE FLOOD. If you could send me a query with the full manuscript attached to tara@emliterary.com, with “Pitch Wars” in the subject line, that would be fantastic.

    Tara Gonzalez – Associate Agent at Erin Murphy Literary Agency