"When a college freshman falls in love with a classmate who was sexually abused, their secrets threaten to destroy everything that means anything to them.”
Stories are powerful. They bypass arguments and go straight for the heart. That’s why my first book, Radically Normal, was filled with stories. But I wanted to tell a much bigger story. A story about failure and forgiveness, about redemption. A story filled with flawed people we root for. A story that gives us hope for our own failures.
Almost five years and ten drafts later, I have a story I love and that has been enthusiastically embraced by my beta readers. Now I’m looking for an agent and have received some really encouraging praise, but still no offers for representation. Perhaps a non-Christian novel (too much sex and swearing for the Christian market) that takes place at a Bible college is just a little too weird.
In any case, writing Double Vodka has taught me so much about descriptive writing and writing from multiple points of view (both invaluable skills in ghostwriting). Below, you can check out my query letter (a one page letter to agents, specifically formatted to industry standards) and a sample from chapter two, where you meet Leah and her sister, Ruthie , who has Down syndrome (I love Ruthie, perhaps because of my childhood friend Alison, may she rest in peace).
Stories are powerful. They bypass arguments and go straight for the heart. That’s why my first book, Radically Normal, was filled with stories. But I wanted to tell a much bigger story. A story about failure and forgiveness, about redemption. A story filled with flawed people we root for. A story that gives us hope for our own failures.
Almost five years and ten drafts later, I have a story I love and that has been enthusiastically embraced by my beta readers. Now I’m looking for an agent and have received some really encouraging praise, but still no offers for representation. Perhaps a non-Christian novel (too much sex and swearing for the Christian market) that takes place at a Bible college is just a little too weird.
In any case, writing Double Vodka has taught me so much about descriptive writing and writing from multiple points of view (both invaluable skills in ghostwriting). Below, you can check out my query letter (a one page letter to agents, specifically formatted to industry standards) and a sample from chapter two, where you meet Leah and her sister, Ruthie , who has Down syndrome (I love Ruthie, perhaps because of my childhood friend Alison, may she rest in peace).
| "Double Vodka" query letter.pdf |
| "Double Vodka" Sample Pages.pdf |