Pitch this Novel!

A blog I follow called The Gilded Page wrote this week about crafting a one sentence pitch. Like her (and her co-writer partner), I am nowhere near ready to query for publication, but I've found it helpful to practice writing a short pitch for my work-in-progress.

This older post from über-blogger Nathan Bransford (a former lit agent and author of a middle grade adventure book - if you aren't following his blog already you should!) shows how to craft a one sentence pitch.

I love the framework he suggests:

When OPENING CONFLICT happens to CHARACTER(s), they have OVERCOME CONFLICT to COMPLETE QUEST.

It doesn't have to be exactly like this, but the basic elements of the conflict and the quest to overcome it should be there. I played around with my pitch for a bit and found that instead of focusing on the theme of the story, which ends up sounding really generic when it's pared down to one sentence, getting into the core conflict shows what drives the story.

So, here's a go at a pitch for my WIP, a YA supernatural mystery:

When a girl's unexpected resurrection prevents her soul from crossing over to the afterlife, a long-dead teenage investigator must travel to the living world to bring her back.

This sort of works, not sure yet. There's obviously more that happens, and a reason why she has to get "back" to the afterlife, but more explanation weighs down a pitch. It's really hard to edit down because you have to say enough without overloading with detail.

Have any of you had success with a short pitch? Did it help as you continued to write or edit your unfinished work? If you are brave enough to share your own, please do!

Book Review: Abandon by Meg Cabot

Title: Abandon
Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: YA Paranormal, Humor
Published: 2011

Meg Cabot knows how to write a sarcastic, DIY girl. It's kind of her M-O. In Abandon she crafts another character mucking up all kinds of trouble with a send-up of Persephone, the greek myth about the daughter of Zeus who is taken to the underworld by her uncle Hades. So imagine this with a twist: it's a girl named Pierce in a high school set on a Key West-like island, and instead of her uncle taking her to the underworld, it's a hot guy (of course).

It mostly works, although Abandon has a rather unusal format of storytelling by moving back and forth through stages of the story. This may not be an issue if you read the book in a few sittings, but could prove challenging if you're the type to read more than one book at a time. I found myself constantly turning back several pages to refresh my mind with what happened last. Even present scenes have a way of doubling back on themselves with chatty narrative that at times seem all over the place.

As for the story, we see Pierce reflecting back to age 7 at her grandfather's funeral, where she first meets with a mysterious man named John who revives a dead bird at her request. The story flashes forward to current day, where Pierce has been kicked out of her school for an incident with a teacher, her parents are recently divorced, and she moves with her mom to Florida to start again among her mother's family. Another flashback leads to 2 years prior, when Pierce drowns, dies briefly (she is later revived) and finds herself in the underworld. She recognizes the man who healed the bird, only now she sees he is in charge of this place. She escapes, taking a charmed-type of necklace with her. Pierce is unraveling the mystery of who the man in the underworld is, why chaos seems to break out around her, and if the necklace is meant for protection or something more.

If you like Meg Cabot's writing style, you'll probably enjoy this. It's not my favorite of hers, but I did appreciate a lot of the one-liners and character backstory (she's always inventive with those aspects). If you're looking for something a little different in terms of a linear story, and enjoy a twist on an old myth, I would recommend it.