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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.
PW2019 Adult #25: MAGICAL HAZMAT (Contemporary Fantasy)
Mentee:
Cath Lauria
Mentored by:
Janet Walden-West and Anne Raven
Book Title:
MAGICAL HAZMAT
Category:
2019 Adult Entries
Genre:
Contemporary Fantasy
Word Count:
91,000

Pitch:

Ghostbusters meets CSI. Who needs Slayers when you can combat the supernatural with STEM? Nadege “Dodge” Michaels dreams of revolutionizing the magical hazmat business with science. When her unsanctioned field work lands her in the crosshairs of a ruthless supernatural drug dealer, Dodge must use her forensic-style approach to bring the perp to justice, before she becomes his next victim.

 

Excerpt:

Few things in life are certain, but one of those things is this: no matter how well you explain it, your intern is going to make you repeat yourself over and over as you drive to your first magical crime scene.

Yellow and black tape festooned the door of Manny’s Reptile Emporium, its name spelled out in big green letters shaped like snakes. I grumbled under my breath as I parked the van—this wasn’t the kind of job I liked. No need for forensic analysis or investigation. Nothing to prove my worth to the council. No hope of cutting my year-long probationary period short.

Just a ‘scrape and scrap,’ and this particular scene was a doozy. When Dispatch called me to report the incident, I knew we were in for a hell of a day. Mongolian Death Worms are good at three things: killing their prey, eating their prey, and making me wish I’d been born without a sense of smell.

“Are we really needed for this, Dodge?” Jared asked again.

“Crime scene tape is a good indicator there’s work to be done,” I said. There was a lot, too. The slayer—I mean, operative—assigned to deal with the illegal cryptid had gone hog wild. They weren’t leaving things to chance with bystanders.

Jared eyed the tape, and I hoped he wasn’t about to bolt. Having an intern was essential. Without one, the council could revoke my license to operate.

6 responses to “PW2019 Adult #25: MAGICAL HAZMAT (Contemporary Fantasy)”

  1. John Cusick says:

    Hi, Cath! I’m loving this so far. Could you please send a query and ten pages to john [@] foliolit.com? Looking forward to reading more!

  2. Adriann Ranta Zurhellen says:

    Hi Cath,

    Am loving what I’ve read so far! Please submit the full manuscript to arsubmissions@foundrymedia.com, cc’ing in flmasst@foundrymedia.com, with the subject line “Pitch Wars: MAGICAL HAZMAT.” Thanks so much, and looking forward to diving in more!

    Adriann

  3. Tricia Skinner says:

    I’d like to see the full manuscript. Please use this link to upload your query letter and the Word document. http://QueryMe.online/querytricia/PitchWars2020

  4. Ginger Clark says:

    I would love to take a look at this. Can you email me the first fifty pages as either a PDF or DOCX or RTF? Put the words “Pitchwars 2020 request” in your subject line. Thank you so much!

  5. Laura Bradford says:

    This one is just so fun I can’t resist! Please email me the full ms + synopsis and make a note in the subject line that this is a Pitch Wars entry. laura at bradfordlit dot com.

    Laura Bradford
    Bradford Literary Agency

  6. Colleen Oefelein says:

    Dear Cath,

    I would love to devour this. Right now. Please email me directly at colleen@adventurewrite.com. Paste your query and synopsis directly into the body and attach your full. Thanks and looking forward to reading!

    Colleen
    Colleen Oefelein
    Associate Agent
    The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
    245 Park Avenue
    39th Floor
    New York NY 10167
    212-372-8989
    colleen@adventurewrite.com
    http://www.jdlit.com
    Facebook: Colleen Oefelein
    Twitter: @eerie_o

    Celebrating 19 years of making dreams come true!