Search found 22 matches

by kevinott777
February 17th, 2011, 3:00 pm
Forum: Nominate Your Query or First Page for a Critique on the Blog
Topic: Nominate Your First Page for a Critique on the Blog
Replies: 720
Views: 452013

Re: Nominate Your First Page for a Critique on the Blog

Title: The Last Symphony of Juan Garcia Genre: Literary commercial fiction Word Count: 232 Not many people have seen the Los Angeles Philharmonic perform in the middle of a freshly plowed field in front of migrant farm workers, but Juan Garcia had seen it fifteen times. He took his seat in the front...
by kevinott777
February 2nd, 2011, 6:14 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

Wonderful, exceptional comments! Your insight is helping me see angles and weaknesses I hadn't seen previously. I will be using your comments as a reference for future query revisions. Thanks so much!! It is so valuable!!!
by kevinott777
February 1st, 2011, 5:48 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

Completely agree with everything you said! Dig the lingo, too! Haha! :) And thanks a millions for these additional links, I wasn't aware of a few of those, and will use them to the max! I think I'm getting more excited about working with an agent and having that extra support, assuming I can land on...
by kevinott777
January 31st, 2011, 9:32 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

Definitely agree with you there. And yeah I've been using query tracker and the AAR site, but I welcome any and all referrals to other sites you use as well. Thanks! :)
by kevinott777
January 31st, 2011, 7:55 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

Yep, I'm going to give the agenting route a shot, and exhaust that option (which will take awhile since there are so many agents out there and because it takes a lot of time to hear back from them, etc.) before considering the next step. I've always been partial to the idea of working with an agent,...
by kevinott777
January 31st, 2011, 5:16 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

Haha, what a great turn of events and anecdote (Wife Swap and the courthouse encounter)! So very serendipitous! It made me smile reading that! (and reading your sincere words of encouragement)
by kevinott777
January 30th, 2011, 8:15 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

Haha, like the phrase, "pardon my American." Haha. You came across as very sincere, Mary-Catharine (oh and by the way, your name rocks!), and I REALLY appreciated your encouragement. Critique is certainly helpful for all of us, and yep we all should take things with various grains of salt,...
by kevinott777
January 28th, 2011, 10:19 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query: IRREFUTABLE
Replies: 19
Views: 8284

Re: Query: IRREFUTABLE

You're definitely doing something right. I think it's a strong query. I'm not an expert (or an agent) so I hope I didn't come across as discouraging. Now that I have few more minutes to spare, let me clarify what I was referring to when I said pruning/trimming. Really, I was only referring to a few ...
by kevinott777
January 28th, 2011, 7:23 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query: IRREFUTABLE
Replies: 19
Views: 8284

Re: Query: IRREFUTABLE

Love the title! I just have a few seconds here, so I'll just make one small suggestion for this sentence: "A serial rapist is active in Cypress Village and the victims are among the town's most affluent women." Instead, perhaps: "A serial rapist in Cypress Village is targeting the tow...
by kevinott777
January 28th, 2011, 7:09 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Nightframe Query
Replies: 11
Views: 4190

Re: Nightframe Query

First of all, congrats for completing this novel -- 120,000 words no less. That in itself is an amazing feat. The second from last query was my favorite...this one: "Brody thinks I’m a hero—but, of course, love is blind. He can’t see what I truly am: a werewolf. I know that one day I won’t be a...
by kevinott777
January 28th, 2011, 12:13 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

Here's another version of the query...the result of meditating on all of the feedback I've received so far. Again, I want to say how grateful I am to those who took their time to critique. It gives me hope. Speaking of hope, I added a little poetic flourish in "Hope arrives with the sound of a ...
by kevinott777
January 28th, 2011, 11:35 am
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

You raise some very interesting points, Holly. And your closing advice really hit home for me because I have SUCH a problem with patience...I just have a compulsion to shoot out queries, haha. I also see your point about the over-abundance of negativity and lack of hope...I remember an agent recentl...
by kevinott777
January 28th, 2011, 2:05 am
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

WOW...thank you Quill! I really appreciate your time and effort in helping me improve this query. Haha, I actually think replacing my Lainey character with the revived cryogenic remains of Walt Disney would make one heck of a novel. I've taken your improvements and worked hard on a new version. I ob...
by kevinott777
January 27th, 2011, 8:28 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

Woohoo! I did a happy dance when I read your comment. Thanks Evelyn!!!! I wish you the best.
by kevinott777
January 27th, 2011, 5:14 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA
Replies: 24
Views: 8264

Re: Query for THE LAST SYMPHONY OF JUAN GARCIA

Wow, query tracker does indeed sound fantastic! Can't wait to check it out! And it's comforting to know there is at least a contest to enter, if the worst case scenario happens. It's comforting to have rejection contingencies, haha. Thanks again, Holly.