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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.
Adult #17: OLIVE MCKNIGHT: PROFESSIONAL EXORCIST (Contemporary Fantasy)
Mentee:
Ann Fraistat
Mentored by:
Ian Barnes and Laura Lashley
Book Title:
OLIVE MCKNIGHT: PROFESSIONAL EXORCIST
Category:
2018 Adult Entries
Genre:
Contemporary Fantasy
Word Count:
100,000

Pitch:

BROAD CITY x THE EXORCIST

Rookie exorcist Olive McKnight can’t exorcise a cat without tanking her employer’s Yelp rating. Unless she gets handy with a cross and keeps her hands off her sexy-as-sin trainer, she’ll face worse than demons—unemployment. Unfortunately, Olive’s #millennialstrugs get real when she’s incriminated in a rash of ritualized murders. Now, she must unmask the possessed killer and banish the demons closing in to save her job, soul, and social life.

 

Excerpt:

Swell, it was raining glass again. The Ferrises’ fancy-ass chandelier burst in zzts and pops as I blundered around their bedroom, dodging shards through pure guesswork. Even a noob exorcist like me knew—when demons go for the lights, keep your head down.

“Ahh!” I plucked a crystal needle from my scalp. “Sweet pointy Jesus.”

Ten minutes in, already bleeding. New record.

“Would you make it stop?!” Mr. Ferris, my new favorite client, shared some constructive feedback. “That chandelier wasn’t cheap!”

To be fair to Mr. Ferris, his light fixtures clearly cost more than my net worth as a human being. Then again, why be fair to Mr. Ferris? He didn’t look like a tipper.

He cowered in the corner of his bedroom-turned-war-zone as I shoved my sleeves up, my chest out, and my nose plugs in. Screeching ricocheted wall to wall, putrid sulfur choked the air, and lounging in the middle of the tattered master bed, at the epicenter of the chaos was…

A cat.

This dipshit demon bypassed the Ferrises and possessed the family cat.

My first solo exorcism. My big chance to prove myself, to escape Paratech’s Demonic Exorcism Department and finally land my dream job with Ghost Ops—and it all came down to this fluffy marshmallow of a hell-beast.

Name? Mr. Whiskers.

Hell works in mysterious ways.

7 responses to “Adult #17: OLIVE MCKNIGHT: PROFESSIONAL EXORCIST (Contemporary Fantasy)”

  1. Colleen Oefelein says:

    Dear Ann,
    Glorious! I LOVE THIS OPENING! I’d love to see the full! Please see my bio at JDLit.com, and if you’re inclined, please send your query + synopsis pasted into the body of an email with your full MS attached to colleen@adventurewrite.com with #PitchWars – OLIVE MCKNIGHT: PROFESSIONAL EXORCIST as the subject.

    Thanks and looking forward to reading!
    ~Colleen

    ETA:
    ps I was so excited about this entry, I forgot to add my last name to my request for full: Colleen Oefelein

    pps I also forgot to add instructions in case more than one agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency requests: Please send your submission to the best fit. If that agent passes, please feel free to query another.

  2. Tricia Skinner says:

    I’d love to read more. Please send the first 20 pages and your query to http://QueryMe.Online/querytricia. In the “Referral” section, put Pitch Wars 2019. Thanks a bunch!

  3. Kiana Nguyen says:

    Hi Ann! I’m so intrigued by the pitch and sample. I’d love to see a full in a Word doc at query.knguyen@maassagency.com. Please use the subject – Pitch Wars 19: TITLE. Thank you!

  4. Kaitlyn Johnson says:

    Hi Ann,

    This sounds amazing! I’d love to see the full manuscript. Please submit your query, synopsis, and novel to http://QueryMe.Online/KaitlynJohnson/Contests. Looking forward to the read!

    Best,
    Kaitlyn Johnson
    Corvisiero Literary Agency

  5. Laura Bradford says:

    The voice here is really fun! And I love the Broad City comp. 🙂 Please email me the first 100 pages + synopsis at laura@bradfordlit.com and put Pitch Wars in the subject line. Can’t wait to read more!

  6. Colleen Oefelein says:

    ps I was so excited about this entry, I forgot to add my last name to my request for full: Colleen Oefelein

    pps I also forgot to add instructions in case more than one agent at The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency requests: Please send your submission to the best fit. If that agent passes, please feel free to query another.

  7. Weronika Janczuk says:

    Please send to weronika@d4eo.com:
    + query letter in email body
    + first 10-15 pages in email body
    + subject line, PARTIAL REQUEST – PITCH WARS – TITLE