An Agent's Inbox #31

Dear Agent,

They say not even Death can get in the way of love…but this is exactly what happens when seventeen-year-old grim reaper, Xia, falls for a human boy.

Since Xia’s job is to collect dead souls, she has to follow the three Rules of Reaping to protect the world of the living:

1. Do not interfere with someone’s death.
2. Do not become emotionally involved.
3. Do not show yourself to the living.

The last Rule doesn’t seem to apply when it comes to Shilah, a mysterious Native American boy who can see reapers. Xia is irresistibly drawn to him, curious to know the background behind his unnatural ability, despite the trouble she can get into. She has never been a stickler for rules anyway, as she’s always being punished for something. Still, she is caught off guard when she starts breaking Rule Two, since she isn’t familiar with human emotion. Xia’s feelings for Shilah frighten her, yet she keeps seeing him, even though she has to leave his side often to respond to someone’s death. His suspicions lead her to admit she’s a reaper, but he accepts what she does. He even refuses to let her push him away when she is forbidden from seeing him. However, when her father, the Angel of Death, claims Shilah’s soul, it puts their relationship to the ultimate test. With Shilah’s life now on the line, Xia is willing to break the most important rule and answer the age-old question: can Death be stopped?

Grim Crush is a YA paranormal romance novel that shows how love can transcend the boundary between life and death. This novel also has series potential. I have been a finalist in many writing contests, such as ones for best pitch and best novel beginning, and I have a short story published in the Without Title anthology.

The manuscript is complete at 60,000 words and available upon request. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
L.B.


GRIM CRUSH

He was taking too long to die.

Sometimes it seemed like these things took longer than usual. I guess I shouldn’t be too eager to collect a person’s soul, but the waiting and anticipation drove me nuts.

I stepped up to the precipice of the cliff until the tips of my boots hung off the edge. Leaning forward, I stared down the fifty or so yards to the ground below. When I shifted my feet, tiny rocks tumbled down the red-orange crags of the cliff face.

Yep, a fall from here will do it all right.

Sighing, I stood up straight and crossed my arms, staring off to my left. I hated that I had to be here early. Death had some pretty stupid rules. I could be doing something else rather than waiting for this guy to kick the bucket.

He was probably in his mid-twenties. A guy of average build, with black hair like mine. He had on a backpack and held a camera in his hands; an expensive one with a large lens like what photographers used. He was taking pictures of the birds in the trees, while standing way too close to the precipice.

A nature buff. Great. I’d picked up another one of these last week. They needed to learn to be more careful.

The nature guy took another step back, his foot inches from the cliff edge. He continued taking pictures without paying attention to the sheer drop behind him.