A Query Letter

I know that writing a How I Got My Agent post is a rite of passage of sorts but honestly… I haven’t particularly wanted to. I feel like I’ve talked about my experiences so much, and my How I Didn’t Get My Agent post pretty much says what I want to say about my querying journey. While I could talk about my stats on this book, they don’t feel like they really mean anything except that I got lucky. And before I got lucky I was straight up not having a good time.

But I did want to share my query letter. Not because I think it’s particularly instructional. Mostly just because I really like it.

Query Letter:

HOLD ME LIKE A GRUDGE is a 70,000 word genre-bending YA fantasy romcom that reads as if Wednesday Addams was the protagonist of an academic-rivals-to-lovers romance like Marisa Kanter’s As If On Cue or Austin Siegemund-Broka and Emily Wibberley’s What’s Not to Love. It is a standalone with spin-off potential.

Lydia Blackwater’s father may be notorious as a corrupt politician intent on overthrowing the government, but all Lydia wants is to quietly study ancient magical artifacts. That, and avoid her long-time nemesis Nico Edevane, the son of the man who put Lydia’s father in prison. Unfortunately, Nico’s own interest in mystic archaeology leaves them vying for the same prestigious summer internship. When Lydia and Nico scuffle near an artifact, the artifact’s magic malfunctions and creates a tether binding Lydia and Nico to the artifact, and consequently to each other.

Unable to move more than twenty paces from the artifact or each other, Lydia and Nico suddenly find their lives entangled. Neither wants to admit their mistake and jeopardize their internship chances, so they agree to keep the tether a secret. As they scheme to make it through a school week without their connection being discovered and as they attempt to unlock the ancient magic binding them together, the two rivals are forced to work together for the first time. Lydia starts to realize that Nico might not be any of the things—vapid, arrogant, selfish, cruel— that she thought he was. Maybe they’re both victims of their fathers’ messy history.

As tensions among the remaining acolytes of Lydia’s father rise and Nico’s father engages in his own political maneuvers, the two find themselves pulled back into the dangerous world of their parents’ politics. With mounting pressure to dissolve the tether, Nico and Lydia put aside the rest of their differences. But the closer they grow, the more Lydia realizes she’s not just at risk of losing her dream internship; she’s at risk of losing her heart.

I am an academic turned data analyst, freelance editor, and a member of the Revise and Resub (#RevPit) Board. This is my debut novel.