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Monday, February 27, 2012

And the Winners Are . . . .






We would like to thank everyone who entered our January agent-judge contest with the wonderful Natalie Lakosil of the Bradford Literary Agency. And we would especially like to thank Natalie for taking the time to judge the entries and for the generous prizes. There were so many amazing entries, but alas, she couldn’t pick them all.






And the winners are:

Third place: 15 pg. request & critique

THE STAIRS AND THE FLY by Stacy Stokes
Genre: Young Adult
Word count: 57,000


Pitch: When high school student Taylor Anderson is struck by a car, instead of an afterlife filled with puffy clouds and hard-playing angels, she is forced to climb an endless staircase; a journey that uncovers surprising truths about her life and what happens when we die.
Anyone who saw me get hit by the car will call it an accident, and by definition I suppose it was.  She didn't see me.  I didn't see her.  Splat.  But in the deepest pit of my stomach, the part that flutters awake when I get caught doing something wrong or I see Justin Cobb walking down my high school's corridors, I know that I wished for it. 

 "Look who woke up on the right side of the bed for a change," my mother chirps when she sees me bound into the kitchen with a Cheshire grin plastered on my face. 

Second Place: 30 page request & critique

THE GREAT CORSET REBELLION by Kerri Nelson
Genre: Historical Romance
Word count: 92,000

Pitch: Bored with the binding feminine dress code of polite society, Lady Ainsely Archibold designs her own daring new clothing line but when the object of her infatuation mistakes her for much less than a lady, Ainsely must choose between the laws of love and linen.


It was love at first gasp.

Lady Ainsely Archibold breathlessly watched the magnificent creature as he stood on the west balcony overlooking the garden below.  She was absolutely woozy at the mere sight of him.

Of course, the unsteadiness of her breathing could also be contributed to the unbelievably cramped binding of her lungs courtesy of her world-class, tightlacing proficient maidservant. 

Consequently, if it weren't for this blamed corset, she'd be able to achieve this moment of simple adoration without concern.  As it were, she was trussed up like the feathered fowl for the fall feast on which they'd just dined.


First place: 50 page request & critique

A PLACE TO CALL HOME by Linda Jackson
Genre: Middle Grade
Word count: 40,000


Pitch: Twelve-year-old Stacey Graham is not happy when she finds out that the only person willing to take her and her younger siblings in after the deaths of their mother and beloved "Granny" is their uncle Percy, who lives in the back of his funeral home.


It really bugged me when it rained on the day Granny was buried. Rain just came pouring down first thing that morning and kept on falling all through the funeral. The cemetery had been all muddy and messy. And it just wasn't right for a lady who kept things as neat as Granny to have to be put in the ground on such a nasty day. Her trailer might have been old and beat-up on the outside, but the inside was always good and clean. Granny's was the only trailer in town where the vinyl floor was so shiny that folks always thought it was wet.

Congratulations to all the winners! You will receive instructions via email today as to how to submit the requested material.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Query Tracker and Natalie Lakosil, for this amazing opportunity!

Diana Murray said...

Congratulations everyone! LOVE the winning entries.

kerribookwriter said...

This was a big surprise and totally rocked my Monday mood.

Thanks to QT and Natalie. I look forward to your invaluable feedback.

Congrats to all.

--Kerri

SStokes said...

What a fantastic way to start the week! Thank you QT and Natalie for this opportunity - I'm looking forward to your feedback. And congrats to the other winners!

M. Dunham said...

Congratulations to the winners!

Henri said...

Perhaps this contest should have fallen under the category of Chicklit.

Sally said...

Congratulations to all the winners.

Kimberly said...

Thanks for the awesome contest and congrats to the winners!