Post by melissamenten on May 10, 2017 20:18:35 GMT -5
Hi, Thanks in advance for reading!
Title: The Bach Double
Genre: YA Contemporary
Word count: 69,000
Query (rough draft):
Inspired by a disappointing audition the previous year, fifteen-year-old violinist, Elise Reid, starts her sophomore year determined to make her parents proud and win first chair in her school’s orchestra. Though long ago she stopped needing her dad to come to her lessons and take notes, his sudden decision to resume doing so has her puzzled and embarrassed. Not only that, his tiger dad goals for her—to prepare for and win a big solo competition—are different.
Trying to gently discourage him doesn’t work. After a bitter loss to her rival, Chin-Sun, at school and an overreaction by Elise’s dad, her frustrations provoke an outburst that finally gets him to quit. But his interference and her resulting loss of confidence cause her to block her emotions in an effort to keep her playing error-free.
Then, the real reason for her dad’s behavior—a health crisis—becomes clear. Consumed with guilt over pushing him away, Elise punishes herself by turning away from her boyfriend and abandoning her musical goals. But when her dad requests she play his favorite duet with Chin-Sun, Elise must choose between exposing her blocked emotions or letting guilt destroy her musical passion for good.
Bio:
I am a violin teacher, mom, and LPN who's written both fantasy and contemporary in MG and YA. Currently I'm doing a pretty hefty re-write on this project, including a tense change, based on feedback from some professional critiques. I would love to find another great CP with a good handle of character development to assess my MC's likability and character arc as well attention to detail to catch errors with my change in tense. Because I believe (hope) I've worked out the big picture problems, I also would love a beta who could just give me a general impression and feedback on things like pacing. Bonus if you are either Mexican-American or Korean-American and willing to assess my treatment of some minor characters.
I think I'm pretty good at plot and big picture and am detail-oriented. I'm so new to this site, I don't know if there is messaging, but please reply or contact me on twitter (melissamenten ) Thanks!
Title: The Bach Double
Genre: YA Contemporary
Word count: 69,000
Query (rough draft):
Inspired by a disappointing audition the previous year, fifteen-year-old violinist, Elise Reid, starts her sophomore year determined to make her parents proud and win first chair in her school’s orchestra. Though long ago she stopped needing her dad to come to her lessons and take notes, his sudden decision to resume doing so has her puzzled and embarrassed. Not only that, his tiger dad goals for her—to prepare for and win a big solo competition—are different.
Trying to gently discourage him doesn’t work. After a bitter loss to her rival, Chin-Sun, at school and an overreaction by Elise’s dad, her frustrations provoke an outburst that finally gets him to quit. But his interference and her resulting loss of confidence cause her to block her emotions in an effort to keep her playing error-free.
Then, the real reason for her dad’s behavior—a health crisis—becomes clear. Consumed with guilt over pushing him away, Elise punishes herself by turning away from her boyfriend and abandoning her musical goals. But when her dad requests she play his favorite duet with Chin-Sun, Elise must choose between exposing her blocked emotions or letting guilt destroy her musical passion for good.
Bio:
I am a violin teacher, mom, and LPN who's written both fantasy and contemporary in MG and YA. Currently I'm doing a pretty hefty re-write on this project, including a tense change, based on feedback from some professional critiques. I would love to find another great CP with a good handle of character development to assess my MC's likability and character arc as well attention to detail to catch errors with my change in tense. Because I believe (hope) I've worked out the big picture problems, I also would love a beta who could just give me a general impression and feedback on things like pacing. Bonus if you are either Mexican-American or Korean-American and willing to assess my treatment of some minor characters.
I think I'm pretty good at plot and big picture and am detail-oriented. I'm so new to this site, I don't know if there is messaging, but please reply or contact me on twitter (melissamenten ) Thanks!
