Thursday, January 26, 2012

Barbara Watson's Current Query

Today we have Barbar's query letter. Does everyone know Barbara? If not, please go follow her blog.

Back? Great. Let's get right to the query:

Dear Mr./Ms. Agent,

Twelve-year-old Mitch Brooks is a rule-follower but he’s disgusted with his parents about moving. So maybe that’s why he peeks inside a strangely labeled box on moving day.

Deep inside the box, Mitch unearths his mom's journal from 1967, the year before he was born. He knows he shouldn’t read it (especially the way his mom feels about “privacy invasion”), but come on now, who wouldn’t? And as Mitch reads, he discovers secrets. His mom got kicked out of her house when she became a hippie war protester. Mitch’s parents have these two best friends he’s never even heard of but were drafted into the Vietnam War. And his grandparents might not be dead after all.

For Mitch, even though moving really, really stinks, at least it’s interesting. Motivated by a story he hears from his new neighbors, Mitch enlists his best friend Brian and a librarian he just met in his new town to assist him with a secret history project designed to find answers and people.

MOVING SECRETS, my middle grade historical fiction novel, shifts back and forth in time between 1967 San Francisco and 1980 Cambria, California. It is complete at 52,000 words.

Although my background lies in teaching literature, I am new to writing it. MOVING SECRETS is my first novel, and I am querying you because [personalize with reasons I chose this agent].

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Barbara Watson

That's it.

Please remember to save your feedback for tomorrow, when I'll be sharing mine.

25 comments:

Natalie Aguirre said...

So excited to read Barbara's query because I know her and follow her awesome blog. Thanks so much Barbara for sharing your query and excited that you are at the querying stage.

Can't wait for your critique tomorrow Matt.

Natalie Aguirre said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Natalie Aguirre said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Natalie Aguirre said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Natalie Aguirre said...

Sorry for the multiple comments but something is wrong with my blogger. Delete the multiple comments if you can.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Karen Baldwin said...

Cute story...can wait for the comments.

Liza said...

This sounds like an intriguing story. I'll be back for query comments.

Sarah Ahiers said...

got some things i'm already planning on saying! I'll be back tomorry

Michael G-G said...

Oh yeah! Barbara's great--one of my favorite bloggers. And I know she LOVES historical fiction.

I'll see you tomorrow!

Bryan Russell said...

Love the subject.

Unknown said...

Excited to see Barbara's query up here. It is cool to learn a little more about this story.

DL Hammons said...

As someone who moved around a lot as a kid I can relate to the premise of the story. I'll be back tomorrow!

Unknown said...

Interesting premise for an MG novel. Looking forward to reading the comments about this query.

Janet Johnson said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Janet Johnson said...

D'oh! You'd better delete my last comment. Should have read that "save your feedback" line a little closer.

Sorry. Great premise, Barbara!

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

It sounds intriguing. I can't wait to read your feedback.

Barbara Watson said...

Looking forward to tomorrow (and kinda shaking in my shoes at the same time). Thanks again for this opportunity, Matthew.

Anonymous said...

My heart is pounding, even though this isn't my query. I'm so exited for Barbara's story. I can't wait for the critique tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Interesting. And curious. I'll save anything further for tomorrow.

Copyboy said...

Sounds intriguing. If you're interested I'd love to feature it on my site – bloggerdise.com

Let me know.

Jesse@bloggerdise.com

Nancy Thompson said...

Sounds interesting. I love these query critiques. I'll be back tomorrow.

Emily White said...

Sounds like an interesting book! My parents were anti-war hippies from the '60s, so it's always fascinating to read something about it.

Tonja said...

Will be back tomorrow.

Angela Ackerman said...

Moving is a topic that so many kids can identify with. Either they have faced a move or fear that it could happen to them.

I know you're in good hands with Matt!