Dear Agent,
I have been working on my YA fantasy novel, Favored,
since 2007. I’m submitting to “An Agent’s Inbox” because after several intense
rounds with my critique partners and beta readers, we believe it is ready for
fine-tuning. Your guidance would give me the feedback I need to make it shine.
Favored is the story of sixteen-year-old Lucy
Howland, an Empath whose half-baked plans to fight poverty through stealing are
thwarted by the secretive Brittany Kennedy, who’s after her for a power Lucy
doesn’t even have.
Lucy’s plan to balance the inequalities that surround her
takes off when she discovers a remarkable new power she can mold to her will.
She wields it to break into the houses of the ignorant-wealthy people in
small-town Victoria Falls, but it’s not enough. When Lucy meets a mysterious
pair of twenty-somethings--Brittany and Jesse--intuition tells her to stay away
but she refuses to listen. Instead, she obsesses over them, sure they’re hiding
something.
Jesse and Brittany have a scheme of their own. With Jesse’s
help, Brittany whisks Lucy off to a remote cabin, where Brittany will steal
Lucy’s power and Jesse will erase her memory when they’re done. After Lucy
escapes, Jesse reveals he’s working undercover for the supernatural police
agency, Morality. He delivers Lucy to his uncle, Mason, who returns her to
safety. Her relief at being home is short-lived, however, as mysteries unravel
to offer truths involving family, her powers, a mission of her own, and the
possibility of love with her sister’s lifelong crush.
As evidenced by the success of novels like Fire and
Divergent, YA readers enjoy stories about characters overcoming
challenges and finding a stronger version of themselves in the process. They
will cheer and cry along with Lucy, and Lucy’s desire to leave the world a
better place than she found it will resonate with YA readers of all ages.
Favored, set in upstate New York, is a completed
manuscript at 59,000 words. The story is reminiscent of Little Women
with a pinch of X-men.
I’m a board member for the Maryland Writers’ Association
and have used that experience to build my network and enrich my knowledge of
writing, publishing, marketing, and platform building. I have strong ties to
the DC area YA community, including a teen writing program I run in a local
library. With the assistance of the vibrant writing community here, I will
promote my novel at events for teen readers and through the network of
published authors.
As stated in the “An Agent’s Inbox” guidelines, I have
included the 250 words. Thank you for considering Favored.
My best,
C.N.
FAVORED
If Lucy Howland had sensed the change a simple
conversation would unleash on her life, she might have stayed home on that hot
summer day. Then again, she might not have.
Every Tuesday during
the break from school, Lucy and her friend Holden Davis met at the same place.
Today, Lucy swallowed the heavy air more than breathed it. It had been that way
lately, typical for upstate New York in August.
In two weeks their junior year would begin. Many of their
friends fixated--online and in person--on their mixed emotions. But Lucy’s
attention had been busy elsewhere, numbing her to the approaching school year,
even knowing it was her sister Molly’s senior year.
As she sat perspiring on the cracked blue park bench,
staring out over Maple Pond, she tried to wrap herself in Holden’s brightness.
This had become their place since they first cut class
together two years before. They found a walking path through the dense woods
around their high school. Thick pine trees provided cover no matter the season.
No birds called or crickets chirped. The creatures saved
their music for the more bearable, darker hours of dawn and dusk.
The more Lucy tried to clear her mind, the more the
unwanted thoughts hung around.
“Hey,” whispered Holden. “Where did you go?”
He said it as if he were knocking on a door, full of “let
me in.” Instead of answering, Lucy counted how many breaths he took before he
knocked again. Six.
