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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 YA #42: KISSING BOYS, RAISING THE DEAD, AND OTHER THINGS MY MOM WON’T LET ME DO (Contemporary Fantasy, #OwnVoices)
Mentee:
Miranda Sun
Mentored by:
Sandra Proudman and Shannon A. Thompson
Book Title:
KISSING BOYS, RAISING THE DEAD, AND OTHER THINGS MY MOM WON'T LET ME DO
Category:
2020 Entries
Genre:
Contemporary Fantasy, #OwnVoices
Word Count:
88,000

Pitch:

LABYRINTH LOST x NEVER HAVE I EVER

At her strict mother's command, Cara’s ignored ghosts her whole life. She hates them, anyway.

But arrogant (and recently deceased) golden boy Zach comes with a tempting offer: money she desperately needs for college in return for resurrecting him before he fades in seven days.

However, helping him means straining her fraught relationship with her mother and entering a magical world where she could lose her life—and her heart.

 

Excerpt:

There was a ghost in the cafeteria again.

Cara stopped dead, fingers tightening on her tray. Her water bottle bounced onto the floor, but she paid it no mind. Shoulders stiffening with familiar tension, she tracked the silver glow of the specter from the corner of her eye.

Ghosts always got more troublesome this time of year. Last Halloween, a spirit of a teacher from the 60s, still seething at being fired from Autumn Falls High School, had decided to enact his belated revenge by releasing a horde of rats into the kitchen. Not that Cara had minded the plan itself—when they reopened the cafeteria after a deep clean, the perpetual sour smell of pickles had finally dissipated. It was the fact that when you saw the dead lurking around, it always meant more trouble for the living.

Milling students shuffled to the side, revealing a man’s bleached face, replete with black pipe cleaner brows.

The heavy backpack slung over Cara’s shoulder sank lower in her relief. It was just Mr. Toole, a janitor who’d died a few decades ago from a gas leak in his apartment. She’d looked him up in the yearbook the first time she saw him freshman year. Apparently, carbon monoxide poisoning hadn’t stopped him from showing up to work the next day—and for the rest of eternity.

16 responses to “PW2020 YA #42: KISSING BOYS, RAISING THE DEAD, AND OTHER THINGS MY MOM WON’T LET ME DO (Contemporary Fantasy, #OwnVoices)”

  1. Mary C. Moore says:

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

  2. Tara Gilbert says:

    I’d love to see the full! Please use this link to send in the materials. QueryManager.com/TaraGilbert/PitchEvent

  3. Tamara Kawar says:

    Dear Miranda,

    I’d really love to read this! If you’re interested in sending, could you please email the full manuscript to tamara.kawar@icmpartners.com and make sure to include “PW2020” in your subject line?

    Thank you!

    Best,
    Tamara

  4. Jordy Albert says:

    I would love to take a look. Please follow my submission guidelines here https://QueryManager.com/1426. Thank you!

  5. Lauren Spieller says:

    Congratulations on completing Pitch Wars, Miranda! This sounds great. I’d love to read more. If you think we’d be a good fit, please send your query + full manuscript to Lauren@triadaus.com, and put “PW Request” in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you! ~Lauren

  6. Samantha Wekstein says:

    Hi Miranda! I love your opening. If you’re interested, can you please send your first 50 pages to samantha@thompsonliterary.com? Thanks!

  7. Katelyn Detweiler says:

    Miranda, what a great concept and sample! And the comps! I’d love to read more. Could you please send the query and full manuscript to me at katelyn@jillgrinbergliterary.com with “Pitch Wars” in the subject line? (Please note, if multiple agents from Jill Grinberg Literary Management request your ms, we ask that you only share with one.) Thank you! 

  8. Alexandra Weiss says:

    Hi Miranda! I’m loving the title and really enjoyed your writing sample. I’d love to take a look at the first 50 pages, which you can submit here: https://querymanager.com/query/AlexandraWeiss/PitchWars2021

    Looking forward to reading more!

    Alex Weiss
    Azantian Literary Agency

  9. 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.

  10. Devon Halliday says:

    I’m always down for casual ghosts! I’d love to read. You can send the query and full manuscript to querydevon@transatlanticagency.com with Pitch Wars in the subject. If you get multiple queries from Transatlantic agents, please send to one of us at a time.

  11. Hi Miranda,

    The title alone on this one was enough to pique my interest, but then everything else was stellar too! I’d love to see the first fifty pages or so. Could you please send it via QueryManager.com/JenniferWills/PitchWars2020? I’d also love to see your query letter and synopsis if you have one. Can’t wait to read!

    Thanks so much!
    Jennifer Wills
    The Seymour Agency

  12. Ameerah Holliday says:

    I’d like to see more! Please send your query. bio and first 50 pages to Ameerah@serendipitylit.com

  13. Penelope Burns says:

    Hi Miranda,

    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

  14. Chloe Seager says:

    Dear Miranda,

    This sounds really interesting – I’m a fan of paranormal, and romance! Please email the synopsis and first three chapters to childrens@madeleinemilburn.com, including ‘Pitch Wars submission’ somewhere in the subject line.

    All best,
    Chloe

  15. Jolene Haley says:

    Hi Miranda! Jolene from Marsal Lyon Literary Agency here. This was a delight to find. Ghosts, romance, and magic? Sign me up! I love the premise and I enjoyed your writing sample.

    I would absolutely love to see this submission, if you’d like to send it to me. Please send your query, synopsis, and full manuscript as a Word doc or PDF to jolene @ marsallyonliteraryagency.com. Please make sure the subject is Pitch Wars Request: Manuscript Title.

    If you receive another request from our agency, feel free to review the agents on our agency website and choose one of us to submit to: https://www.marsallyonliteraryagency.com.

  16. Christa Heschke says:

    I’m intrigued and what a killer title! 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