Search found 8 matches

by ivanpope
February 26th, 2010, 7:51 am
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query: The Robertson Institute (YA Fantasy)
Replies: 6
Views: 3038

Re: Query: The Robertson Institute (YA Fantasy)

Here's a new draft of the letter. Thanks again for any advice. One question I have - why is Charles so keen to switch over to another area of study? If he was raised to be part of the "status quo," why did he decide to take the road less traveled? Was he forced to when he was orphaned? Di...
by ivanpope
February 25th, 2010, 9:45 am
Forum: Queries
Topic: Kill My Query Mk-IV
Replies: 19
Views: 7541

Re: Kill my Query Mk-2

Hi, I think the main problem with this query is that, no matter how you tweak it, it's a hackneyd story that's been done a million times. Do you think that, or do you think the pictures on the phone bit is the USP? Or what is the USP? It's a string of clichés: brutal murder of parents mind controlli...
by ivanpope
February 23rd, 2010, 1:36 pm
Forum: Finding An Agent
Topic: How Lisa Genova uses social media to get published
Replies: 2
Views: 1547

How Lisa Genova uses social media to get published

Thought this would provide food for thought here. Woman suffering from early onset Alzheimers writes a book. Can't get an agent or publisher interested. Self-publishes. Success. Agent comes along, sells it to Simon & Schuster. Etc Etc Blah Blah. True story, apparently. I'm interested in what eff...
by ivanpope
February 21st, 2010, 10:51 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Share your opening sentence!
Replies: 236
Views: 86177

Re: Share your opening sentence!

It is my job to remember.
by ivanpope
February 21st, 2010, 10:42 am
Forum: Writing
Topic: Ten Rules for Writing
Replies: 5
Views: 2756

Ten Rules for Writing

The Guardian took Elmore Leonard's Ten Rules for Writing and then asked a whole bunch of writers for their ten rules. Wonderful reading, especially where the rules are in complete opposition to each other - 'never read other writers/ always read other writers'. Lots of well known writers, some gems ...
by ivanpope
February 9th, 2010, 1:54 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears
Replies: 13
Views: 6625

Re: Query critique -- Necklace of Tears

Samudradevi (aka Devi) is a 15-year-old merchant’s daughter who finds herself stranded in the middle of the Indian Ocean with only a pile of coconuts—and a mysterious sapphire necklace. She is soon rescued by the gruff, gruesome Captain Rodolfo and a ship full of foreigners. The only kindly soul on...
by ivanpope
February 6th, 2010, 2:43 pm
Forum: Queries
Topic: Query: The Valley and the Shadow - new version page 3
Replies: 26
Views: 9559

Re: Query: The Valley and the Shadow

My take on it: show, don't tell! Lucinda d’Auvergne, vampire, slept for twenty years. After waking in a strange yet familiar New York, she recalls her tormented past. After her siblings fall victim to an ancient religious schism, she struggles to survive the tumultuous time of the French Revolutiona...
by ivanpope
February 6th, 2010, 2:28 pm
Forum: Writing
Topic: Have you ever been inspired by a song?
Replies: 16
Views: 7593

Re: Have you ever been inspired by a song?

My current WIP had a working title of 'You forgot to answer', which is the title of a Nico song. For a book about memory, it's a good song. It didn't inspire the book, that came a long time before the song out of a variety of sources. But the song helped me to understand what I was doing. I thought ...