Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Jericha Senyak's Current Query

Morning, QQQEers. Man, I'm tired. Rolling out of bed at 5 AM seems to do that to me. Anyway, today I have Jericha Senyak's query on the blog. You may not know her. I only met her a few weeks ago, but she has a really creative blog at The Museum of Joy. Go on, go follow her blog. I'll wait.

Back? Great.

Here's her query:

Dear [Agent Name],

Somewhere in the heart of in a nameless city falling slowly into the sea, George Kepler, a shy bookbinder, is sitting in his attic with his books. He lives alone. He reads the books he binds. He doesn't have adventures. He dreams of geometry and harmonies and devils in the chimney. He drinks coffee. He sighs a lot. He wonders if there is anyone left who remembers to praise the works of God but him. He wonders if maybe love's a better option (at least it's companionable). He chronicles the marvelous workings of the cosmos meticulously each evening, and wonders why divinity seems so very far away.

But just when he finds himself distracted by the black eyes of his local barista, Lilya, a peach of a girl with sharp elbows and an obligatory dose of snide, two strangers come a-knocking who know a lot more about him than they should. Before he knows it, they've whirled George out of his sleepy life of prayer and sent him on a series of harebrained and beautiful adventures. As he pursues an unseen Klezmer orchestra through a driving snowstorm, falls off cliffs, uncovers the unlikely friendship of a Danish alchemist and a famous mystic rabbi , stumbles across a secret synagogue, and discovers a forgotten manuscript that might just be about the Golem, he's left with hardly any time to ask himself - are his new friends fun-loving fools, or are they after something? Are they angels sent from God or a pair of tricksy demons? Is he having the time of his life or beginning to lose his mind? Does Lilya think he's nuts or a just lovable schlemiel? And did he leave the front door hanging open?

A Fool For God is an old-fashioned mystical romp, a brooding Eastern European meditation on belief thrust into a San Franciscan carnival of merry drunken adjectives. It's one part G.K. Chesterton and one part Bernard Malamud, the lovechild of a fantastical Christian allegory and an old Jewish folktale birthed on a festive night in the back alleys of a city that just might be your own. Complete at 70,000 words, it's a work of literary fiction for the wonderers and wanderers in us all.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Jericha Senyak

That's it.

Please save your feedback for tomorrow, and thank Jericha for sharing her query in the comments.

20 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Hey Jericha! Will be back tomorrow.

farawayeyes said...

Hi Jericha, nice to meet you. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Ciara said...

Hi, Jericha. I'll stop by your blog and I'll be back tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Well...I'm hooked. See you tomorrow.

(Also, Matthew, my apologies for the long absence. Life intruded on virtual reality for a while there.)

Daisy Carter said...

I will definitely be back tomorrow. I'm off to check out your blog now.

Oh, and Matt, I linked to you in my post today. You can check it out here. Thanks for being so awesome!

Kristen Wixted said...

Wow! That's chock full of all new ideas. Nice.
I'm curious to see how the query critique goes.

jerichas said...

Thanks, guys! This is exciting and nervewracking - please, feel free to hammer on it hard (I mean, constructively, but still) - I want it to be the best it can be, and Matt & his commenters have impressed me over and over with their critiques. I'm thrilled to see what you come up with tomorrow. Thanks for taking the time to look!

Colene Murphy said...

Huh...that sounds like a fun book! Can't wait to see what Matthew has to say! Way to go, Jericha!

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Wow! Sounds so interesting. Can't wait to hear what Matt has to say. ;D

Nancy Thompson said...

Hi Jericha! Matt will do your query right. See you both tomorrow.

erica and christy said...

Wow, what an interesting idea! Good luck Jericha!
erica

Avery Marsh said...

Your query made me smile already, Jericha. Thanks for sharing it. :) Can't wait to see what Matthew has to say.

ali cross said...

Sounds intriguing!

Natalie Aguirre said...

Hi Jericha, this sounds interesting. Thanks for sharing it.

And I'm tired today too Matt. Going to make more coffee so I don't fall asleep here at work.

DL Hammons said...

Hi Jericha! I'll be back tomorrow, but for now I'll just say that I was surprised to see the word count at only 70K as involved as the query makes the book seem. Interesting!

Christina Lee said...

Hi Jericha! Unique is the word!!

Claire Hennessy said...

Hello Jericha. That's a lot in one book - be back tomorrow.

Jess said...

Hi Jericha~ this is a unique one, and I'm looking forward to reading Matt's feedback!

ShaunaKelleyWrites said...

I am intrigued! Can't wait to hear Matt's feedback.

hellskitchen said...

Hi Matt,
I've been peeking here for ages and I'd love to read this book.

I have a question for the author about the city falling into the sea. To me, this bodes of the end of the world (fits with the mystical theme and places a good "clock" to keep the action on track--hello, High Noon). But I don't see anything else in the letter that implies this is an element.

The opening reminds me of the winner of this year's Oscar for animated short--The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore--which was inspired by the floods of Katrina. (My hometown falling into the sea.)

And, because I can't help myself, I'd cut "Somewhere."

Anne