Introducing Gummy Bear

She's feistier than she looks

I'd like you to meet Gummy Bear, the latest addition to our biological series, which just officially got bumped from a trilogy to a saga. She was born on Wednesday, April 18, at 1-2-3-4 p.m., weighing seven pounds, five ounces and measuring twenty inches long. The delivery went really well, and so far, my recovery has gone really well, too.

Having a newborn again has been a little surreal. Even though we knew what to expect, we weren't mentally or emotionally prepared deal with a screaming tyrant who patently refused to sleep. Thank goodness for caring friends and family who've brought us meals, held Gummy Bear while we napped, ferried our other kids to school, and even straightened up our kitchen. The Christlike service they've performed will not be soon forgotten.

One thing I'm trying to do is savor this time with Gummy Bear. Though I can't say for sure that we're well and truly done, I CAN say for sure that this one feels like the last, so it's very possible that these are the last times I'll change diapers, get puked on, and bounce a baby up and down--and up and down and up and down--in the middle of the night. Hopefully, this perspective has made me more compassionate, more patient, more at peace. It's so easy to get lost in the throes of parenthood when you're down there in the trenches, but caring for a tiny person who can't yet take care of herself is one of this life's greatest and most rewarding honors.

There, that's more like it

My First Foreign Rights Deal EVER

Super excited to announce that EARTH TO DAD is going to be published in mainland China!

As the title of the post implies, this is my first foreign rights deal EVER, so I'm still geeking out about it. I honestly can't wait to hold the Chinese version in my hands.

A huge shout-out to Brent--who, you may not know, is also his agency's subsidiary and foreign rights director--whose hard work and dedication totally brought this about. And a huge shout-out to Uwe, whose top-notch mentoring put Brent on this path. I feel so fortunate to have landed at Triada.

EARTH TO DAD's Cover Revealed

Over on the Kidliterati blog, so definitely go and check it out!

Ms. Podos Picks Her Winners

Without any ado, here are Ms. Podos's winners (with her thoughts in orange):

#9 UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY: "The query did a good job of capturing a fantastical plot with multiple surreal elements, which can be so hard to summarize, and the opening page drew me in with its voice, detail, and delicate sorrow."

#10 THE LIBRARY OF UNSPOKEN THINGS: "The query was polished and told me what I needed to know about the character, her arc, and the stakes. Charlotte’s voice shone in the opening scene--she’s a character I want to follow. And I do love an f/f element. :)"

Both UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY and THE LIBRARY OF UNSPOKEN THINGS win requests for the first 3 chapters!

Congratulations, winners! Please e-mail me at kvandolzer(at)gmail(dot)com for details on how to submit your materials.

Lastly but never leastly, thank you to Ms. Podos for taking the time to read and critique these entries, and thank you to YOU for taking the time to do the same. Best of luck with your other queries, and if you have a few spare minutes, do come back tomorrow for the cover reveal of EARTH TO DAD!

The Agent = Rebecca Podos of Rees Literary Agency

This month's--well, last month's--agent was Rebecca Podos of Rees Literary Agency! From her agency's website: "Rebecca Podos is a graduate of the MFA Writing, Literature and Publishing program at Emerson College. Her YA novels The Mystery of Hollow Places and Like Water are published by Balzer+Bray/HarperCollins, with her third novel, The Psychic Sisters of Saltville, coming in 2019. Rebecca is interested exclusively in Young Adult and Middle Grade fiction; particularly books about complex female relationships, beautifully written contemporary, romance with more at stake than "will they/won't they," genre fiction with a strong focus on character, and books featuring marginalized voices and cultures across genres. (If you have a sci-fi about a genderqueer ship's captain in space, send it her way!)

"She is thrilled to represent authors like Rin Chupeco (The Girl From the Well series; The Bone Witch series), Mackenzi Lee (This Monstrous Thing; The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue series; Semper Augustus, forthcoming from Flatiron/Macmillan; Bygone Badass Broads), Ashley Herring Blake (Suffer Love; How to Make a Wish; Girl Made of Stars, forthcoming from HMH; Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World, forthcoming from Little, Brown ), London Shah (The Light at the Bottom of the World, forthcoming from Disney Hyperion), Rebecca Kim Wells (Children of Ash, forthcoming from Simon Teen), Kenneth Logan (True Letters from a Fictional Life), Sarah Nicolas (Dragons are People, Too; Keeping Her Secret), Emily Ross (Half in Love With Death), Lila Michaels (Now You See Her, forthcoming from HarperCollins), and Rebecca Christiansen (Maybe in Paris) among others."

If you'd like more information on Ms. Podos's tastes and interests, definitely follow her on Twitter @RebeccaPodos and/or check out her website. I'll announce her winners soon!

Let the Commenting Begin!

Check out the entries below, then leave some feedback in the comments if you feel so inclined. (ENTRANTS, PLEASE REMEMBER TO CRITIQUE AT LEAST THREE OTHER ENTRIES!) And I'm sure this goes without saying, but please keep your comments constructive (i.e., not rude or mean-spirited). If you want to think like The Agent, you might consider the question, "If you were an agent, would you request more of this entry?"

I'll reveal The Agent's identity and announce his or her winners and prizes next week, but until then, have at it!

(For your information, I take out profanity when I'm formatting the entries, so if you notice any asterisks, they're my asterisks, not the entrants'. Also, entrants, if you find a Krista-generated error in your post, feel free to shoot me an e-mail, and I'll correct it straightaway.)

An Agent's Inbox #13

Dear Mystery Agent,

In The Guardian Mermaid, sisterhood is more than skin and scales. It is forged from a heartstring, tethered to a sword. This 100,000-word young adult fantasy re-imagining of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid" stars Niele, a mermaid princess who becomes human to learn the arts of sword fighting and heroism by tying her life and future to a human princess who is skilled and strong enough to slay a kraken.

When Niele ascends to the surface of the ocean for the first time in her life on her fifteenth birthday, she witnesses two humans sparring with swords on a beach. Over the next few weeks, she trades between her duties as a mermaid princess and her curiosity about these humans--a taboo topic that she can only openly discuss with the Sea Witch Maleah, a salamander sorceress who has assumed the form of a mermaid. When a kraken attacks the humans' ship, Niele witnesses the human princess Neva dive into the water and slay the beast single-handedly. The crippled ship breaks apart and sinks in a storm, and though it goes against all mermaid tradition, Niele saves Princess Neva's life.

Because she wants to learn to be as heroic as Princess Neva, Niele makes a deal with the Sea Witch to become human, trading away her siren magic and long mermaid life for a spell that binds her life to Neva's and turns her into a human. Neva does not recognize Niele or even realize a mermaid saved her life, but she agrees to train this peculiar foreigner. Their friendship grows over the course of their adventures slaying monsters and rescuing helpless villagers, until word comes that Neva's betrothed went missing and Niele begins to feel a strange splintering in the spell that binds her life and heart to Neva's.

The Guardian Mermaid explores the impact of friendship and mentorship on the life of a young asexual woman and honors platonic relationships as equally valuable alongside familial and romantic relationships. I wrote this novel as one of two capstone projects for my MFA from Simmons College. It has been through a rigorous revision process, supported in part by a literary agent. The complete manuscript is available at your request.

Sincerely,
S.G.

THE GUARDIAN MERMAID

Weightless.

I didn't know the meaning of the word.

I did know the gentle push and pull of the sea. I knew how to read the currents, the shifting temperatures, the pressure of the water around me, the fluttering vibration that signaled movement around me. Even in the darkest depths, I would always know when I was alone, where danger lurked, how to find my prey.

My fingers gripped the shaft of my spear tightly. I remained perfectly still in the water, my only movement the slightest pulse of my gills as I breathed, slow and calm. Distance, awareness, and most of all stealth were my greatest allies out here, in the vast openness of the hunting waters. Between me and the ocean's surface, a whole school of fish--tuna, maybe--swam about in blissful ignorance of the predator that lurked beneath them. If I had the mind for it, and maybe a few other merfolk to help, I could have untied the net from around my midriff and used it to bring in a nice haul.

But quantity wasn't the name of the hunt today. Today was all about finding the perfect fish.

The longer I waited, the more I could feel the tingle of motion that moved through the water and across my skin and scales. I used the subtle vibrations to measure the distance between me and the fish, to aim my strike. When I was sure of my prey, I coiled my muscles tightly, then sprang.

An Agent's Inbox #12

Dear Mystery Agent:

I submit to you my YA historical fiction, SECRETS IN THE STONE, which is complete at 72,000 words. It is piloted by an impetuous anti-heroine and contains elements of gothic mystery similar to Kerri Maniscalco's HUNTING PRICE DRACULA.

In Edwardian England, 18-year-old Estella Ripley prepares for Paris where she will meet her mother's family for the first time. But just before she departs, Estella is dumbfounded to learn that she has inherited her late grandfather's eerie island manor where she resides. Estella's plight worsens when she discovers that her fiancé, Edward Maxwell, is scheming to control the vast manor after throwing Estella in an asylum. Unable to face the betrayal of the only person she trusted, and intent on following the clues her grandfather left behind, she flees the island.

Escaping to a remote forest, Estella discovers an unknown glen where a group of Irish fugitives have hidden for nearly a century. She sees the glen-folk as the family she always wanted but never had, and through keen perception of the glen-folks' stories, Estella discerns that the glen is part of her inheritance. But when Edward Maxwell discovers the secret glen, he threatens to expose them and sell the glen if Estella does not return to marry him. Estella must determine how to protect the glen from Edward's vain thirst for power before her inheritance and her future are stolen.

I have a master's degree in English education (grades 7 through 12) with a concentration in writing and musical theatre. Currently I intern at literary agency in NYC reviewing YA manuscripts and preparing Reader Reports. I currently maintain a blog that hosts a small collection of humorous parenting woes.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
S.R.

SECRETS IN THE STONE

I jumped from the third floor balcony and imagined my blood splattering the sky-blue hydrangeas below, like the first drops of spring rain. It would have been a triumphant display of divisionism, albeit a bit macabre, but I did not wish to die, not even in the name of art. So when I landed safely on the second floor roof, I huffed in relief.

I lifted the hem of my dress to make sure the tips of my toes were even with the roof ledge. Slowly, I released a finger from the window frame and balanced against the sea breeze. A teasing gust of air tugged my hair from its tortoise shell pins and I swear that wind was playing with me.

"Mind your own business," I mumbled as I lowered myself to a seated position on the terracotta-tiled roof. With the grace of Pablo Fanque on the tightrope, I teetered on the roof as I carefully removed the parchment from my bodice and smoothed its creases, then flicked my wrist until the sterling silver chatelaine's pencil was tight in my fingers.

My pencil flitted across the parchment and the drawing began to take on a personality I had not anticipated. I had already drawn Polly's hands that encompassed the flower (Polly was one of my young maids who had the most perfect skin tone), but the drawing hadn't been really unique until now, when this hydrangea seemed to become cerulean even from pencil-grey scratches.