Yes, I still blog. And yes, I'm still open to critiquing queries. I know, it's been a while, and yeah, writing and blogging has been tough for me so far this year, but that doesn't mean I'm done or anything.
Thank you very much.
Anyway, Kurt is a referral. I don't know him, but he was pretty cool in his emails, so I'm hooking him up. You can find him online, on his blog, here.
Here's his query:
Dear ______,
Sophomore Max Lewis is living in a world of suck: he’s considered a nobody for quitting the lacrosse team, he’s just pissed off a tyrant - err - vice principal, and now he’s been humiliated in the latest epic prank by the mysterious Chaos Club.
And that’s just his first day of school.
Angry, embarrassed, and tired of being victimized, Max recruits four other misfits to form The Water Tower 5. Their goal? Destroy the Chaos Club. But how do you wipe out an organization with an anonymous membership capable of trapping cows on the school roof and assembling stolen desks into a giant phallus on the football field? Easy, by relying on what Max does best – scheming, scamming, and swindling.
Well, maybe not that easy.
The Water Tower 5 lures the Chaos Club into the open by framing them for a series of pranks involving precision vomiting and indecent pictures of the school mascot. Unfortunately, they also succeed in attracting the attention of the school’s administration and security team. And it’s not like the Chaos Club is going to let a bunch of underclassmen take them down without a fight. Soon, Max finds himself arrested, suspended, and even worse, dealing with an angry girlfriend. With summer only days away, can Max devise a caper ingenious enough to clear his name and expose the Chaos Club? (Hint: It’s possible, but he’s going to need a hell of a lot of weather balloons to pull it off.)
THE WATER TOWER 5 is a contemporary YA novel (94,000 words) fusing the offbeat relationships of The Breakfast Club with the capers and cons of Ocean’s 11. I'm a nineteen-year veteran of teaching high school English who has had various short stories published online and in print. My short story "Nub Hut" appeared in 2010's Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
That's it.
Please save your feedback for tomorrow, but feel free to thank Kurt for his courage in the comments.
5 comments:
ooh, I like this; it sounds fun!
Great to see you back in action, Matt! I'll be back tomorrow with some suggestions!
Welcome back, Matt!! And welcome, Kurt!!
I sent him your way Matt with my fingers crossed that you were still up for critiquing queries. I've read this MS. Kurt is a fabulous writer and this is a strong MS. I look forward to hearing your feedback Matt. Hope you've been well.
High school was never this interesting!
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