Pitch:
Audra Ryder is ready to start her own life now that her ballet prodigy little sister Leah has aged out of her custody.
However, after Leah suffers a career-ending injury, Audra must put her own plans on hold—again—to help her recover.
While struggling to care for her injured sister, Audra learns the real reason Leah dances ballet: it has been the only thing suppressing a curse that transforms Ryder women into tornadoes.
If Audra can’t figure out a way to sever the link between the Ryders and the stormy skies of Tornado Alley, Leah—and perhaps Audra herself—will be literally lost in the clouds forever.
Excerpt:
I saw my first tornado when I was five, before Leah was born.
It was the last beach trip we ever took as a family, thousands of miles away from Aberdeen, Oklahoma. I still remember the sting of saltwater in my eyes, the scent of sunscreen and sea spray, and the scorching whiteness of the sugar sand.
Dad spotted the waterspout first, of course. He had been hypnotized all afternoon by the spectacular billowing thunderheads that drifted across the Gulf. Each one was a towering cumulonimbus, which Dad called the Queen of the Clouds.
Droplets of beer from his open can splattered the sand when he gestured frantically at a distant storm cloud gliding along the horizon. “See that rotation!” he yelled.
My father, a lifelong ham radio enthusiast and volunteer storm spotter, was obsessed with the sky. “It’s ground truth,” he explained to me. “Best information they can get, no matter how many gadgets they’ve got in those offices of theirs. You’ve gotta see the sky to really know what’s going on with it. If nobody sees a tornado, if it doesn’t destroy anything, it might as well not even exist.”
Dear Anne,
I would love to read more of this! Please send along the full manuscript as a Word doc. attachment to amelia@triadaus.com with your pitch, full synopsis, and author bio pasted into the body of the email, and “PITCH WARS REQUEST – GROUND TRUTH” in the subject line.
Thank you so much and I look forward to reading!
All best,
Amelia
I’d love to read more! Could you please send a query letter + 50 pages to shannon@marsallyonliteraryagency.com? Thanks for the chance. –Shannon
Hi there! I’d love to take a closer look at the first 50 pages! Please send them attached as a word document to: rena (at) dhliterary (dot) com
Thanks!
– Rena Rossner
The Deborah Harris Agency
Hi Anne, I’d like to read more! Could you please send your query with 50 sample pages attached? spelletier@dystel.com (And if other DG&B agents have requested, just choose who you think is the best fit and let them know when you query who else was interested.)
Thanks!
Sharon Pelletier
Dystel, Goderich & Bourret