Dimestore Romance

Before and After: Query Letter

By Belynda, April 12th, 2009 in Writing | No Comments
Tags: funny desserts, mania, query, Script Frenzy, top secret project, Writing

Hey Everyone!

I know. It’s been a little while. Between running the Boston chapter of Script Frenzy with my buddy Marion and working on the query, there hasn’t been a lot of action on the blog lately.

(Rest assured, Ed and I have been working on a top-secret plan (not so top-secret if you’re a Frenzy) and you’ll be seeing new videos very soon!)

In the meantime, I’d like to share the fruits of my query-writing labor. After some intense editing, re-editing, crumpling of paper and drinking of caramel lattes, the polished version of my pitch for CROSSING THE CLOUDS is now available for your perusal. The original can be seen in my previous post,“Red Pen Rampage”. It’s pretty different.

My Twitter folks have been hearing me pipe about it a little today, and yes in fact I did celebrate it by enjoying a very unorthodox dinner . It was pretty awesome.

So, without further ado, my finished pitch:

Cora Caffrey’s wedding was over before it began.

When her fiancé Christopher stands her up at the altar, she is left with no apartment, no explanation, and no idea what she should do next. Best friend Kate’s suggestion of an “Un-eymoon” makes as much sense as anything, and Cora finds herself booking a flight to the tiny village of Sevenoaks, England.

The last thing she ever expected was to find someone new. When Cora meets Alex- Kate’s bookishly handsome best mate- her three-week escape becomes something much more, and the unlikely couple soon becomes inseparable. It’s like a Hollywood romance- until reality pays a visit from across the pond. Cora learns she is pregnant, a parting gift from the man who broke her heart. When Alex initially pulls away, it seems their expatriate romance might come to an end.

Instead, determined to stay by her side, Alex takes a leap of faith and suggests the only plan that can keep the pair together.

“Marry me and stay.”

If only it could be so easy as saying “I do”. To be a British subject, the baby must have a British parent. In order to have what they most desire, Cora and Alex must invent a new history for themselves, and protect the most important secret of their lives.

Keeping their secret from the Registry Office is one thing; Keeping it from Christopher will be quite another.

What do you think? Sound off!

“Red Pen Rampage!” a.k.a “How’s My Query?”

By Belynda, March 26th, 2009 in Writing | 4 Comments
Tags: agent, excited, Fiction, nervous, Novel, query, Writing

Hey Everyone,

My Twitter followers have been listening to me giggle about finishing the final edits on my first novel, “Crossing Clouds” this week. Hooray!

Now, it’s time to write the query letter, and I’d love your input!

I’ve been thinking about my pitch for quite some time, but crossing the finish line on this past round of edits has definitely brought it to the forefront. Now I’d love to hear what YOU, my beloved readers, have to say about my pitch!

Love it? Bored? Have suggestions to make it stronger? I want to get your gut reactions, so get out the red pen!

Thanks a million!

Alone in the back of a limo on her wedding day, Cora Caffrey’s first love suddenly becomes a man from her past; her groom-to-be, Christopher, has left a letter at the church, and walked away.

Desperate to escape the well-meaning advice and sympathetic looks in the aftermath of that day, Cora astonishes everyone—herself included— and boards a plane for the village of Sevenoaks, England. The weeks pass, and soon it is clear that the brief reprieve from life in Connecticut has become something very different.

Cora is enchanted by life in the small village, and the longer she stays, the harder it becomes to part with it. Then, a misplaced wallet leads her to the doorstep of Alex Bishop, and her reluctance to return home blossoms into a desire to make a new one. But when Cora’s past visits her in the form of two little pink lines, everything about the burgeoning romance changes.

“Crossing Clouds” is a story about family. It is about discovering our desires, and the virtues we will abandon in their pursuit. The manuscript is complete at 79,000 words and is available for your review upon request.