Carolyn Abiad's Current Query

Today and tomorrow I'll be doing a sort of minor query workshop for my friend Carolyn Abiad. Old followers will be familiar with the format but I've picked up a lot of new followers recently thanks to my girl Shannon (hi guys), so I should probably explain.

Before I go on let's all make sure to go find Carolyn. Check her profile, but more importantly just be sure you visit her blog and become a follower.

So anyway. Today Carolyn is going to introduce herself and share her query with us. She knows it may need a little work, that's why she's here, but today isn't for critiquing her query, so please save your thoughts for tomorrow. Tomorrow I will post the feedback I have for Carolyn, and then ask you all to chime in as well.

For now I'll let Carolyn take it away:

The Broker/Realtor description of myself is: Multi-lingual Ex-Expat, Transplant, and Trailing Spouse. My husband is a Third Culture Kid (TCK). Any one of these labels comes with corresponding issues, but together...well, my writing is cathartic. :)

I've been fascinated by KizKalesi for a long time. Many years and three different starts later, I found Sybil's voice while researching the girl who might have inspired the fairy tale. And then things took on a life of their own and the castle became a metaphor.

The name of my blog "Serendipity" comes from the Persian Tale of The Three Princes of Serendip. The story is representative of the way ideas seem to link together for me and ultimately relate to my writing. Or, as Wikipedia puts it, my "propensity for making fortunate discoveries while looking for something unrelated."

And here is her query:

Dear,

I’m seeking representation for Burnt Amber, a YA fantasy complete at 75,000 words, inspired by the tragic fairy tale of Byzantine landmark, KizKalesi. The older voice and bittersweet ending will appeal to Kristin Cashore fans, and my experience living in Turkey helped me enrich the story with authentic details. (Insert reason specific agent will appreciate BA.)

Sybil isn’t a fan of “Once Upon a Time” and she’s certainly not interested in a Prince Charming, a Sultan, or an entitled Istanbulite who thinks his sappy guitar ballad will melt her American heart. She’s perfectly capable on her own, when the sun is up, but at night a Crusader haunts her dreams and leaves her seeking answers her adoptive parents can’t provide.

With two weeks left in her semester abroad, Sybil meets a fortuneteller with a unique tattoo similar to one she’s had for as long as she can remember. The connection might explain her premonitions and links her to enigmatic gypsies who channel the djinn. Her psychic awareness skyrockets when she bumps into Haydon, a familiar stranger who would look really irresistible in chainmail. She discovers that he shares her clairvoyance, but he also triggers a fiery energy she has trouble controlling -- the same djinn energy the gypsy warned her to keep secret at all cost. Aggressive amber orbs and visions plague her when she tries to forget him, so she’s tempted to try a short fling regardless of the consequences…until she connects a fanatical priest with the Maltese cross from her nightmare and everything suddenly makes sense.

Sybil learns that her biological mother risked everything to help her escape the chauvinistic clutches of the djinn world, knights and all. So she isn’t happy to be thrown back into it and discover that she’s not only been married to Haydon since she was five years old, but she’s the lost Queen of Cilicia. She just wants to get back to her old, predictable life. Instead she’s sucked into a power struggle with her djinn father’s rival and faced with a choice: bigamy with a chance at regaining her humanity…or a future cut off from both worlds forever.

More djinn lore along with Turkish customs and places described in the book can be found on my blog at www.carolynsnowabiad.com. Recently, the blog site of Turkish national newspaper Milliyet featured a post recognizing my positive portrayal of the advancement of women’s rights in my piece about former Turkish Prime Minister, Tansu Çiller.

Thank you for your consideration of my work,

Carolyn Snow Abiad

So that's it for today. Please say hello to Carolyn in the comments, and tomorrow we'll see if we can't polish Carolyn's query until it's as awesome as her story.