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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 #15: OSCAR AND THE GHOSTS OF PARIS (Paranormal fantasy)
Mentee:
Michelle Hubbard
Mentored by:
Erin Entrada Kelly
Book Title:
OSCAR AND THE GHOSTS OF PARIS
Category:
2020 Entries
Genre:
Paranormal fantasy
Word Count:
65,000

Pitch:

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK + Midnight in Paris. For fans of EVERLOST.

Twelve-year-old Oscar longs for a loving family. Instead, the young necromancer has a distant father, an overburdened aunt, and an endless sea of ghosts. When his insufferable Uncle George dies, Oscar and his BFF, a young ghost named Juan, travel to Paris—the hottest spot in after-death tourism—to find out where George has hidden his fortune. Without it, the already-delicate ties holding Oscar and his family together may finally break. Humor, scares, and emotion.

 

Excerpt:

Uncle George was dead, and he wouldn’t shut up about it.

His ghost glitched and frizzed in the corner, floating like he was underwater, and the blue-painted walls in the kitchen seemed to wave with him. He raged. He cried. He bawled out commands that no one could hear.

Except Oscar.

Oscar heard plenty, but pretended he couldn’t, just like he always did.

When he was little, he didn’t know any better. But Oscar wasn’t going to let that happen again—people thinking something was wrong with him. Now that he was an ordinary, almost-thirteen-year-old boy with acceptable ordinary middle-school problems, he wasn’t going back to being tormented for saying he could see ghosts.

And Uncle George was the meanest of them all. Uncle George, who still liked making jokes and rude comments about it, and was doing just that a few moments ago, right before he died:

“Hey, Casper, how’s that sixth sense holding up? … You know, you’re lucky you weren’t put away. Lying about seeing ghosts, causing all sorts of trouble. If you’d been my son…”

Yeah, if I’d been your son, I would’ve strangled myself in the crib bars, Oscar thought.

Shut up, for once, Oscar thought.

Oh, why don’t you drop dead? Oscar thought.

And then, Uncle George did.

19 responses to “PW2020 MG #15: OSCAR AND THE GHOSTS OF PARIS (Paranormal fantasy)”

  1. I can’t think of a more perfect combination than humor, scares, and emotion. Your writing is beautiful and I’d love to read more. Please kindly send the full manuscript and a synopsis as word doc attachments to hilaryquery at ktliterary.com with ‘Pitchwars Requested Material’ in the subject field. I can’t wait to dive in!

    Cheers,
    Hilary Harwell, Literary Agent
    KT Literary LLC
    @HilaryHarwell

  2. Renae Moore says:

    Please send your query, synopsis, and first two chapters of your book using the following link: QueryManager.com/renae/PitchWars
    Please feel free to apply to more than one agent at Tobias simultaneously. We will handle multiple submissions on our end.

  3. Mary C. Moore says:

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

  4. Joanna Moult says:

    This sounds fab! Funny and spooky with a great pitch and great opening line! 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!

  5. Jennifer Herrington says:

    Hi Michelle,

    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

  6. Jessica Kasmer-Jacobs says:

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

  7. Allison Hellegers says:

    I’m DYING to read more of this one! Please send full to https://www.stimolaliterarystudio.com/Submissions and put PITCH WARS above the query. Thanks!
    -Allison Hellegers

  8. john rudolph says:

    Hi Michelle, I would love to read your work. Please feel free to email me the complete MS as an attachment. And if anyone else at DG&B requested the MS, no worries–please choose who you want to submit to first, let that agent know who else at the agency requested, and we will work it out amongst ourselves. Thanks!

    All best,
    John

  9. Laurel Symonds says:

    I’m really into what I’ve seen so far and would love to read more! Please send the first 25 pages to symondsqueries@thebentagency.com and include “Pitch Wars” in the subject line. If more than one agent from The Bent Agency requests, you’re invited to send to all of us. Just let us know—thanks!

  10. Shannon Hassan says:

    Hi Michelle, I’d love to read more! Could you please send a query letter + 50 pages to shannon@marsallyonliteraryagency.com. Thanks for the chance. Best, Shannon

  11. Laura Bradford says:

    You had me with that first line! So fun! I can’t wait to see how the Paris setting plays out in this one–I’d love to see more! Please email me the full manuscript + synopsis at laura@bradfordlit.com. Please put Pitch Wars in the subject line and paste the pitch into your email. Thank you!

    Laura Bradford

    *If more than one agent from the Bradford Literary Agency has requested this, go ahead and send it to those agents and just let us know

  12. Penelope Burns says:

    Hi Michelle,

    I’d love to see this! If you’re interested, can you send your query and full manuscript to penelope@gelfmanschneider.com, with PitchWars in the subject line? Thank you!

    All best,
    Penelope

  13. Mollie Glick says:

    Hi Michelle, I would 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.

  14. Hi Michelle,

    I am digging the voice here! And I couldn’t possibly be a bigger fan of The Graveyard Book! I’d love to see the full. Could you please submit it via QueryManager.com/JenniferWills/PitchWars2020? I’d also love to see a synopsis if you have one.

    Thanks so much!
    Jennifer Wills
    The Seymour Agency

  15. Peter Knapp says:

    I’d love to read more! Please send a query in the body of the email to queries@parkfine.com with = “Pete Knapp – Pitch Wars: OSCAR AND THE GHOSTS OF PARIS (MG)” in the subject line. Please attach the manuscript as a Word document, and include a short synopsis (either in the beginning of the same document as the manuscript or as a separate attachment). Thank you, and I’m looking forward to considering. Warmly, Pete

  16. Roseanne Wells says:

    Hi Michelle,

    Great opening line! I love the mix of humor and voice, and I’d love to take a look. Please send the full manuscript and a synopsis as doc or docx attachments to queryroseanne@gmail.com with Query: #Pitchwars and the title in the subject line. I’m really excited to read!

    Best,

    Roseanne

  17. Christine Lee says:

    Hi Michelle! You’re welcome to send your full manuscript and author bio to christine@leshneagency.com. Please include “Pitch Wars” and your book title in the subject line. Thanks, Christine

  18. Christa Heschke says:

    What a great opening line! I love a good ghost story and enjoyed that you describe the manuscript as having humor, scares and emotion! Please send the full manuscript, synopsis and query to chquery@mcintoshandotis.com with Pitch Wars request and the title of the manuscript in the subject line. –Christa Heschke, McIntosh & Otis

  19. Kari Sutherland says:

    Hi Michelle,
    Ha! I love the humor in this excerpt and I’d love to read further. Please send the full via this form: QueryManager.com/Kari_Sutherland_Query_Form/PitchWars. If more than one Bradford Literary agent requests it, you can send to multiple of us, just let us know so we can coordinate. Many thanks! Kari