This past week I’ve mostly been working on preparing materials for my Pitch Wars submission (application opens this Sunday). That’s the query letter, synopsis, and first chapter. I’m almost there on all of them. My friend Lin helped me do a recut of my first chapter in the last couple of days which I think I’m really happy with. I’m sure I’ll read everything a hundred more times before submitting, but I am actually, surprisingly, pretty ready. I never would have thought I’d get to this point at the beginning of the summer.
For the writing update tonight, I thought I’d share the query I have drafted for the submission. Subject to change of course, but here’s where it stands:
Dear Mentor,
I am excited to submit my young adult novel for your consideration. With the earnest ambition of a sports anime (but make it canonically queer girls), GET OUT OF MY WAY is a contemporary romance set during a high school cross country season. It is complete at 81,000 words. As a note of caution, this story includes depictions of grief, alcohol abuse, anxiety attacks, and homophobia.
Reese Monroe has one goal as she approaches her senior year: win the State Cross Country Meet and earn a scholarship out of her stifling small town. After last year’s season, where the fallout of her dad’s affair left her reeling and ruined her State debut, this is Reese’s last shot.
At the start of summer training, Clarke Kazehaya—an old rival and the fastest runner Reese knows—moves back to town after her brother’s tragic death. Clarke’s natural talent threatens to upend everything Reese has worked for, but as they start running together Reese begins to see Clarke as more than only her competition and uncover the complicated grief beneath Clarke’s stoic surface.
As the State Meet approaches, Reese isn’t sure if her deepening relationship with Clarke is a rivalry, a distraction, or something else that she’s not prepared to think about. With her mom’s increasingly unpredictable behavior and her dad trying to worm his way back into her life, Reese wants nothing more than to ground the broken pieces of her family into dust beneath her feet. Ultimately, Reese must decide what—and who—she’s willing to sacrifice in order to win.
I am a queer writer, a recreational runner, and a graduate of Emerson College’s Writing, Literature, and Publishing program.
Thank you for your consideration,
Natalie Troup Morgan