Climbing the Mountain

I reached the peak! I've actually sent out a few queries :) Hitting SEND was a mountain sized hurdle, but I did it! YAY!

Teetering on this precipice, I'm now terrified of what's to come--climbing all those other mountains. Looming in the distance are Mount Form Rejection, Mt. "No response means no", Close But Not Quite Mountain, and the worst one of all--Mt. Waiting, or more often called Patience Mountain. Aaaah, the agonizing climb that could take days, weeks, even months.

So, while I wait, and wait, and wait, I thought this would be a good opportunity to throw up my query for critiquing as I stand at the base of Patience Mountain.

Here's the 28th version of my query letter for MY PROTECTOR: THE CALLING:

Dear Agent,

Fourteen-year-old Eri sprints into the night seeking a beast that wants nothing more than to feast on her flesh. She knows this is suicide, but she can't deny the pull. The Calling is too strong. As the beast’s claws reach for her throat, a Protector slices off its head, saving Eri from a bloody death.

The Protectors are River Island’s only defense against the monsters roaming the darkness. The clandestine guardians use the Calling—the internal link to the man-eating beasts—to watch over the village. Being a Protector is an honorable, secretive position, and one only fit for men.

As the link grows within Eri, she finds herself repeatedly drawn beyond the borders, hoping to satiate the rage flooding her veins. But without proper training, the beasts will destroy her. And as a girl, Eri’s not allowed the education to become one of the Protectors.

Beast encounters increase. Villager deaths rise. Eri must secretly learn the skills to fight before there's nothing left to fight for.

MY PROTECTOR: THE CALLING is a young adult post apocalyptic novel complete at 68,000 words. Readers of Kimberly Derting's THE BODY FINDER and Maggie Stiefvater's THE SCORPIO RACES will connect with Eri’s journey—a girl shunned from the only profession that can give her the tools to control her inexplicable connection to seek out evil.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thoughts? Tweaks? Suggestions? Questions?

I tweeted about sending out my first query last week, and Ellen Brook from Keytop, Inc. tweeted back about a great offer her business is currently promoting. "Keytop, Inc. is a multipurpose writing company that provides high quality professional creative content, including business writing, copywriting, editing, and proofreading." Right now, Keytop, Inc is offering a free critique of your query letter OR the first five pages of your manuscript. They're providing these free critiques until they have several solid examples for their portfolio on a first come first serve basis. Check out their blog HERE or find them on Twitter HERE for more information and a chance at a free professional critique.