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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.
PW2021 YA #30: ALL THINGS DEAD AND DYING (Horror)
Mentee:
Chandra Fisher
Mentored by:
Jessica Lewis
Book Title:
ALL THINGS DEAD AND DYING
Category:
Young Adult
Genre:
Horror
Word Count:
80,000

Pitch:

When Charlie’s girlfriend, Marisol, dies in the same forest her dad did, there’s one major difference: Marisol comes back. Charlie is desperate for answers, if she can keep Marisol’s killers—and Marisol’s new, insatiable hunger—at bay long enough to find them.

 

Excerpt:

I didn’t expect to spend the last day of school parked outside a dead guy’s house. Mom’s car broke down. Again. Someday, she’ll fix the battery, but cars were Dad’s thing, not hers, so today I have to pick her up from her client’s place. Unfortunately, she’s a death doula and the dead are never rushed, so there’s no way to know how long she’ll be.

The cracked leather of the steering wheel is hot against my forehead. I’d planned to spend the afternoon in the woods, in search of evidence of what happened to Dad. Since no one else is out there looking anymore, and my internet searches are a dead end, the woods are all that’s left.

Any other year I’d be spending the golden hours snapping pictures of Lou, because he’s so pretty when the light hits him through the trees. He knows it, too, but that narcissism only serves to make him more beautiful.

I text Mom How long can burial prep possibly take? and then out of the habit I’ve developed in the past month, I dial my voicemail.

You have one saved message. My thumb automatically brushes the button to listen to it. “Hi Charlie, it’s dad.” Tears instantly fill my eyes and I blink hard, twice, trying not to let them fall. As if a grown man’s gruff, raspy voice in my phone could be anyone else. “I uh, I’ll pick you up after school, because your mom’s car is down again, okay?”

7 responses to “PW2021 YA #30: ALL THINGS DEAD AND DYING (Horror)”

  1. Erica Bauman says:

    Hi Chandra,

    Congratulations on completing Pitch Wars! This project sounds fantastic (is it weird to say I love an undead LI?) and I’d love to read more! If you could please send your query and the full manuscript using my Query Manager link: QueryManager.com/EricaBauman/PitchWars

    And if more than one ACM agent requests, feel free to send to both—just let me know who else is reading, so I can coordinate on my end.

    Looking forward to reading more!

    All my best,
    Erica

  2. I’d love to read more! You can send your query letter, a synopsis, and the first 3 chapters of your manuscript to me directly at maria@psliterary.com. One document (attached to the email) that contains all three items is preferred. Please include “Pitch Wars” and your manuscript’s title in the subject line of your email. (If another agent at P.S. Literary requests your manuscript, please submit to only one of us.)

  3. Hannah Andrade says:

    Hi Chandra! I absolutely LOVE the sound of this! Can you please send the first 100 pages of this to me on my QueryManager (https://QueryManager.com/hannahandrade)? And don’t forget to put PitchWars in the subject line along with your project. I can’t wait to read it!

  4. Peter Knapp says:

    This sounds great! I would love to read more. Can you please send the full manuscript attached as a Word document to queries@parkfine.com with “Pete Knapp – Pitch Wars – YA” in the subject of your email? Please include the query letter at the start of your Word document, and if available please also send a short synopsis (but no worries if not readily available). Thanks! I look forward to reading.

    Pete Knapp / Park & Fine Literary and Media

  5. Carlisle Webber says:

    I’d like to see this manuscript! Please submit it along with a query letter here: QueryManager.com/Carlisle/PitchWars2022.

    If more than one agent from Fuse Literary requests your work, please choose one of us to submit to.

    Good luck, and I look forward to reading your work.

  6. Natascha Morris says:

    Okay spooky woods. And I need to know more.

    If you want to query me, I would love to read the full: QueryManager.com/natascha/PitchWars. And if another agent at The Tobias Literary Agency requests, feel free to pick whoever you want to query. Though I hope it will be me, because I want to know the secrets this pitch promises.

    Best,
    Natascha

  7. Christa Heschke says:

    Hi Chandra!

    This sounds incredible–my assistant Daniele and I would love to read it! I’m a huge horror fan, and your writing is so immersive. 🙂

    Please send your query, synopsis, and full manuscript via Query Manager at this link: QueryManager.com/christa_heschke/PitchWars2122

    Thank you!
    -Christa Heschke, McIntosh & Otis