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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 YA #25: PALE NIGHT DARK CITY (Fantasy)
Mentee:
Stella Wren
Mentored by:
ST Sterlings
Book Title:
PALE NIGHT DARK CITY
Category:
2020 Entries
Genre:
Fantasy
Word Count:
97,000

Pitch:

TRUE GRIT x WHERE DREAMS DESCEND 

When Ma takes her own life, she amplifies Cassidy’s rot—the lethal power to decay anything, dead or alive, with her touch. Now Cassidy’s strong enough to kill the two immortal witches who have imprisoned half the Great Plains in eternal day and half in eternal night. Cassidy vows to save her sisters from a life of poverty under the Sun Witch’s reign. But before she can use her power, she must seduce the Moon Witch’s prince into revealing his worst secret—or face her own.

 

Excerpt:

If it were up to me, I’d bury Ma in the dead of night. Problem is, we’ve got plenty of dead and not a lick of night. You think I’d be used to it, living in a town that hasn’t seen a sunset in ninety-nine years. But I ain’t. Three in the morning out here, and the sun’s burning a hole in my back. Mind over matter, Cassidy Crowe. We got to get rid of Ma’s body, and we got to do it quick. Can’t give her a proper funeral. Then someone might find out she’s dead. And everyone in Faith will be looking at me. 

Firebird stamps his hoof and throws his head back so hard the reins rip my palms ragged.

“Shhh.” I pull at the bit and give his white mane a couple soft strokes. Ma’s Appaloosa. He’s been spooked ever since we hitched up the apple cart and set out for the orchard. I’ll bet he knows Ma’s lying under the apples. Horses are like that. Fluent in dead-speak.

I swallow hard and focus on the ground—on putting one foot in front of the other. When Ma chose to die, she ran my heart straight through. But she chose it, and nobody can prove that different.

6 responses to “PW2020 YA #25: PALE NIGHT DARK CITY (Fantasy)”

  1. Sarah Landis says:

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

  2. Maggie Kane says:

    Hi Stella,

    I would love to read the full of PALE NIGHT DARK CITY! Please send it as a Word Document to maggie.queries@irenegoodman.com. If another agent at Irene Goodman requests your manuscript, please submit to just one agent at a time. If they pass, you are welcome to resubmit to another! Thank you!

    Best,
    Maggie

  3. Katie Grimm says:

    Dear Stella,

    I absolutely love Cassidy’s voice and am very intrigued by this world of eternal light–I can’t wait to read more! If you think we’d be a good fit, please send the query and full manuscript as a Word document to my attention at dca@doncongdon.com with PITCHWARS in the subject line. Thanks!

    Best,
    Katie Grimm
    Don Congdon Associates, Inc.

  4. Rebecca Eskildsen says:

    Hi! I would love to see this story in my inbox. If you would like to submit your manuscript to me, please send a query letter and the first 50 pages to reskildsen@writershouse.com. Please include “Pitch Wars” and your title in the subject line, and please only submit to one agent at Writers House at a time. Thank you!

  5. Tara Gonzalez says:

    Hi Stella! I would love to keep reading PALE MOON DARK CITY. 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

  6. Jessica Felleman says:

    Hi Stella! I’d love to take a look at your query letter, synopsis and full manuscript. Please send them over to me at jfsubmissions@jenniferlyonsliteraryagency.com and mention that I made the request via Pitch Wars in the subject line. The query and synopsis can either be attached or in the body of the email, but please send the manuscript as a Word Doc attachment. Looking forward to reading! -Jessica Felleman