The Real World Genres - MS Shooting Gallery
"Real World Genres Shooting Gallery" provides writers with opportunities to test market their best novels and hopefully score a contract. Agents and TV/Film reps will check in and review work during 2021. AAC will edit beforehand as needed. For Algonkian alums only.
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Exposition and End Game This select forum thread is dedicated exclusively to Algonkian alums who wish to post sell sheets of their completed commercial or literary novels, or novels-in-progress, for the purpose of showcasing them to agents and TV/Film reps. We will inform these professionals of new high-concept projects and invite them to stop by regularly during 2021. If they wish to request something immediately, or at a future date, they will either contact you directly, make a post, or else contact us. It is also possible they might wish to video conference with you. The scenarios are various, but all is casual. There is no set schedule. This is how we want …
Last reply by AgentModX, -
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Comparables: World Gone By meets Who They Was in this 90,000 plot-driven and character-rich debut novel set in modern day New York. Hook: A gun-runner for an urban gang sets out to uncover the mystery of his best friend’s death and triggers a chain of events that jeopardizes everyone in his orbit, including him. Short Pitch: Marlon Brown is a gun-runner for the Bloods, whose best friend has been gunned down outside of the gang's established territory. Though the whisper stream comes alive with speculation about who did the deed and why, conjecture isn't enough for Marlon. He has to know. But asking questions breaks every rule of the street, and in doing so…
Last reply by Angelo, -
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Comparables: FRENZIED is a YA novel complete at 72,500 words. It is a modern-day HATCHET with girl power and family drama. It will appeal to fans of I AM STILL ALIVE by Kate Alice Marshall and THE OTHER SIDE OF LOST by Jessi Kirby, as well as to fans of the television series THE WILDS on Amazon. Logline: Emily blames her father for her mom’s death, but when he’s mauled by a bear in the remote Canadian wilderness, she must forgive the past and connect with her despised stepsister, Skylar, or they’ll never survive. Pitch: 16-year-old Emily usually looks forward to a week at Loon Lake for her yearly father-daughter fly-in fishing trip – but n…
Last reply by Pat McCaw, -
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NOWHERE MAN, Psychological Suspense—Rosemary DiBattista Comp Titles: Laura Lippman’s I’D KNOW YOU ANYWHERE, Emma Cline’s THE GIRLS Hook Line: A middle-aged woman is forced to reckon with her past when the serial killer from whom she escaped more than fifty years earlier is released from prison—and she holds the evidence to put him back there. Short pitch: Allison Russo knows that older women become invisible, which is exactly how she likes it—the serial killer from whom she escaped more than fifty years earlier is out of prison and determined to track her down. In the hot summer of 1966, twelve-year-old Ally loves the Mets, Spiderman comic…
Last reply by Shelley Schenk, -
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CATWALK QUEENS Shelley Schenk/Cedric Godefroy Upmarket Women’s Fiction 85,000 words Comp: DEVIL WEARS PRADA meets THE SCARLET LETTER Hook: A bullied and anxious American waitress restarts her life in Paris and finds shocking success on the fashion catwalks, but a torrid love affair with her photographer gives her friend, the queen of Parisian catwalk cancel culture, the ammunition to bring her to ruin. Pitch: Six foot tall Erin Donnelly has been bullied her whole life. She’s known in her working class Boston neighborhood as the hideous giraffe and she believes it. She tries to restart her life in Paris and is a smash…
Last reply by Shelley Schenk, -
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Sails of Blood is a 90,000 word novel of historical fiction which begins after pirate Anne Bonny disappears from history. By Carol Busby Infamous Caribbean pirate Anne Bonny thrust her sword into the captain of the British patrol ship. Then she wiped the blade clean on her pants. Shaking her fiery red hair, Anne knows that she hasn’t lost her touch since becoming a wife and mother. But she is tired of smuggling and wants to retire. Before she can, however, evil baronet Jonathan Woolrich recognizes her. He threatens to expose her past and have her returned to Jamaica to be hanged along with her crew of smugglers. Woolrich wants her to take one more trip brin…
Last reply by CarolBusby, -
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Without a Map is a 77,000 word commercial novel. It is complete. Who are you when the person you are no longer fits the life you have? For fans of Steven Rowley’s Guncle and Maria Semple’s Where’d You Go Bernadette comes the story of Richard Harfeld, a Hollywood director who thinks he has it all until his wife dies in a sudden accident. A crazy girlfriend and a failed film combine to make Richard reevaluate everything he believes about himself as he struggles to raise his son. Working through their grief the two lost souls make a trip to dad’s birthplace to connect with family, only to discover that he has nothing in common with his rural roots. Back in L.A. Ric…
Last reply by Theresa, -
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COMP: Outlander meets The Mystery of Mrs. Christie. An outsider who disappeared and is reimagined. HOOK LINE; Anne Bonny escaped a hanging, built a life and left her past behind. Or so she thought. Pirate, smuggler, wife, mother and fugitive . . . Anne Bonny always sailed against the tide. SHORT PITCH: Anne Bonny, sentenced to be hanged as a pirate, escapes when her father carries her off Jamaica and marries her to a con-man named Joseph Burleigh. They build a new life on a plantation in Virginia. There Anne, always a rebel and an abolitionist, tries to adjust to a new culture: the restricted life of women in the 18th century. When hard times hit,…
Last reply by CarolBusby, -
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Author Norah Vawter Title ANNA’S ENDLESSLY COLLAPSING STAR Genre Upmarket Women’s Fiction Comps The Queen’s Gambit meets astronomy. Complete at 80,000 words, ANNA’S ENDLESSLY COLLAPSING STAR is upmarket women’s fiction in the tradition of Little Fires Everywhere and Val Brelinsky’s The Girl Who Slept with God. Hook Line Anna thought this remote observatory in the Chilean desert was her escape, but it's actually her prison: to be free, she’s got to go home, stop pretending away her traumatic childhood, and stop hating her mom for saving her life. Pitch An astronomer in a remote observatory in the Chilean desert…
Last reply by NorahVawter, -
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Author: Jennifer Locke DARK CISTERN is a thriller just like ICE HUNT by James Rollins only it’s inspired by Alice in Wonderland and set in Rio de Janeiro. Hook Line: The 25-year rains are bearing down on the city of Rio de Janeiro, when martial arts trainee, Olivia, witnesses a kidnapping. Haunted by her past failure to save the ones she loves, her rush to save the boy plunges her down the rabbit hole, and into a desperate war, where every turn puts her more squarely in the cross-hairs of a woman who will stop at nothing to help mother nature win, when the rain starts pouring down. Short Pitch: When troubled martial arts student, Olivia, is the on…
Last reply by JenniferLocke, -
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Hannibal Lecter meets Nurse Ratched in my debut novel, PATIENT X, of which bestselling suspense author Jenny Milchman says, “The turns of phrase just glow!” This 67,000-word suspense novel falls in the tradition of Alex Michaelides' The Silent Patient and Mark Griffin’s When Darkness Calls. When Chicago therapist Hannah Weiss is attacked by a patient at the mental hospital where she works, she’s saved by an unlikely hero, the inscrutable patient Zander Grayson. At the director’s urging, Hannah becomes Zander’s therapist in the hope that she can succeed where other therapists have not, unlocking the truth behind his conviction of involuntary manslaughter before he’s t…
Last reply by SavvyThorne, -
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'GETTING RID OF DAVION,' Book 1 of a series, (Inspired by True Events), Suspense/ Psychological Thriller, by Tiffany Washington Comps: Samantha Downing's 'HE STARTED IT' meets TV's, Tyler Perry's 'THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS' in the form of TV's, 'DEXTER' Hook Line: Following the discovery of his murderous, psychopathic, identical twin brother’s elaborate escape from a psychiatric-maximum-security-institution, over-seas, Davion Jones is forced to contend with the inner turmoil of keeping his brother’s identity, top secret, from everybody he loves. And keeping this truth from his loved ones, well let’s just say—bad idea! Pitch: In fictional Manasota, Flo…
Last reply by Tiffany Washington, -
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Author: Sheree R. Richnow Title: The Dear John Letters Genre: Women’s Fiction/Light Rom-Com Comps: Delicious, by Ruth Reichl; True to Me, by Kay Bratt; Pretty Things, by Janelle Brown; When we believed in Mermaids, by Barbara O’Neal HOOK LINE Writing the perfect Dear John Letters for other people is an easy task for a middle-aged established author — that is, until it comes to ending her own destructive relationship. PITCH Out of a personal need to call it quits with her boyfriend; and worsened by the floundering sales of her recently released book, novelist, Zara Haze needs a new distraction. Recognizing her own avo…
Last reply by Sheree Richnow, -
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Name: J. David Liss Title: The Judged Genre: Suspense Comparables: A Time to Scatter Stones, the latest in Lawrence Block’s Matthew Scudder Series (2019), and Boulevard, by Stephen Jay Schwartz (2009) Hook Line: Sex-addicted NYPD detective Jimmy Lombardi is outed in the courtroom where his wife is a judge. Soon after, she is accused of murdering one of his affair partners. Now, he’s got to clear her name and find the real killer at a time when his wife doesn’t trust him and his fellow police won’t work with him. Pitch: Jimmy Lombardi is the smartest detective in Brooklyn…
Last reply by JDavidLiss, -
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Name: Andrew Cowen Novel Title: I, Olympias (alternate title "Raising Alexander") Genre: Historical Women’s Fiction Comp: The Other Boleyn Girl set in Ancient Greece Hook Line: Alexander the Great famously conquered the endless plains of Persia. Compared to the noxious misogynists his mother Olympias battled back in Macedon, Alexander had it easy. Word Count: 97,000 Pitch: This book is the untold story of Alexander the Great’s mother, Olympias, an orphaned princess in 4th century BC Greece who married the ambitious and brilliant Philip of Macedon. In addition to her raising their remarkable and rambunctious son, Alex…
Last reply by Andrew Cowen,
WTF is Wrong With Stephen King?
An Algonkian Success Story
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Angelo Esposito - LIVING IN SAINT'S HOOD - Crime Drama
Comparables: World Gone By meets Who They Was in this 90,000 plot-driven and character-rich debut novel set in modern day New York. Hook: A gun-runner for an urban gang sets out to uncover the mystery of his best friend’s death and triggers a chain of events that jeopardizes everyone in his orbit, including him. Short Pitch: Marlon Brown is a gun-runner for the Bloods, whose best friend has been gunned down outside of the gang's established territory. Though the whisper stream comes alive with speculation about who did the deed and why, conjecture isn't enough for Marlon. He ha -
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How To Stop Time: Don't Lose the Story in the Concept
If your book is all concept, it's all boring! First of all, I will admit to having enjoyed this book when said and done. Even though I'm about to use it as an example of what not to do, it was still a heartwarming read about love and loss and how trust can conquer fear if we let it. But... This novel is a classic case of the concept getting way, way ahead of the plot. So first, the concept: How to Stop Time revolves around a man named Tom Hazard who ages slower than normal people. He's not immortal exactly, but his body takes so long to grow old that he might as well be. B -
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New York Pitch Conference - September 2021
The act of the story statement Shadow Baelfiyer is a thief living on Chicago’s South Side. She is plagued by dreams of a world that has magic and dragons and a family she knows to be dead. Her aunt tells her these are just dreams. However, on a daily thieving hunt Shadow runs into two strangers who make her rethink all she has known. They are from a world called Elspeth where magic roams, people transform into lions; a world where she was born, and was taken away from, where she too has magic. These strangers take Shadow on a journey to find her past, but a great threat is uncovered -
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Books by Sylvia Day, Sophie Jordan, & More
The Queen’s Bargain The Queen’s Bargain by Anne Bishop is $1.99! This book was mentioned in a previous Hide Your Wallet and is part of the Black Jewels series. I didn’t keep up with the series as a whole, so I’m unsure how this fits in. I think it focuses on secondary characters now, but correct me I’m wrong? POWER HAS A PRICE. SO DOES LOVE. Return to the dark, sensual, and powerful world of the Black Jewels in this long-awaited new story in the New York Times bestselling fantasy saga Af -
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Active Protagonists are a Tool of the Patriarchy
I feel like I’m committing a grievous writerly sin by even typing these words, but I must speak my truth: I would like to see more passive protagonists in fiction. While the title of this post is tongue-in-cheek, I do think that passive protagonists are unfairly maligned in part because of the unspoken association between passivity and femininity. I’ll get into why I think so a little later, but let’s discuss what “passive protagonist” means first. The importance of intent Passive protagonists are the antithesis of what we’re told makes a good story. A good story, says common wisdom, is dr -
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Book Beat: Crafting, Middle Grade Graphic Novels, & More
http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/themes/smartbitches/images/posts/hide-your-wallet.jpg Welcome to Book Beat! Book Beat aims to highlight other books that we may hear about through friends, social media, or other sources. We could see a gorgeous ad! Or find a new-to-us author on a list of underrated romances! Think of Book Beat as Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, but for books. And no staples to open to get the fold-out poster. Artie and the Wolf Moon Author: Olivia Stephens Release -
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New York Pitch Conference - September 2021
Story Statement Jeremy Peoples must do whatever it takes to find forgiveness and make peace with the past. The Antagonist Plots the Point Stacy Ramone is a former marine, married, with one son, a flawed family man with a heightened sense of loyalty and a rapidly declining mental state. His ultimate plan was to use the money he and his wife were making by selling narcotics and stolen pharmaceuticals to buy a local bar until he is betrayed by Jeremy. Several years later, Stacy remains unseen, a dormant facet of Jeremy’s complicated and violent past, until a series of even -
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The Review’s Review: These Were the Angels
Illustration: Liby Hays. Courtesy of Hays. Liby Hays’s Geniacs!, a graphic novel out this summer from the art book publisher Landfill Editions, takes place at a hackathon—truly inspired material for slapstick comedy, body horror, and philosophical reflection alike. This tech competition’s goal? Invent a new life-form. “People always think my ideas are dumb … but they’re purposefully so! Their failure is coded within them! It’s like when scientists artificially reanimate the cells of a dead pig’s brain. The brain becomes trapped in an infinite loop reliving the terror of its final moments. But -
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New York Pitch Conference - September 2021
1. Story statement. Reconcile with past and find self. 2. Antagonist. Tess begins the story at a low point; anxious, consumed by memories of the past. She presents as nervous, little confidence in herself. She places too much emphasis on what people think. Dominated by internal thoughts that belittle and degrade herself. Natural people pleaser who doesn’t speak up for wants and needs, would rather keep the peace. As the story commences, we see Tess having to start making decisions albeit it small; from paying by cash or card, to directions. Midway, we start to recognize her poor decisio -
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New York Pitch and Algonkian Pre-event Assignments - 2021
Greetings -- Attached is a first draft of Assignments 1-7 for the upcoming workshop in St. Augustine. All comments most welcome. Looking forward to meeting fellow writers and learning a lot soon. Cheers, Elizabeth EA_Nichols_PreWorkshopAssignment.docx -
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Eight Books Based on Real Female Spies
“Few suspected women of spying, and certainly no one expected a middle-aged knitter to be surreptitiously gathering intelligence.” -Elizabeth Bentley, A Most Clever Girl While researching topics for my next novel, I stumbled across Elizabeth Bentley’s name and was gobsmacked that I’d never heard of this American spy who once ran the largest Soviet spy ring in America. Because Bentley was a female NKVD-spy-turned-FBI-informer—a combination America wasn’t quite sure what to do with—she was overshadowed both in life and after her death by Joseph McCarthy and Whittaker Chambers. In fact, Whitt -
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How a Woman Becomes a Piece of Furniture
Gustave Caillebotte, Woman at a Dressing Table, 1873. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons My grandmother collected perfume bottles, a seeming whimsy for a woman of such plainness and ferocity. I have three of them, given to me when she was still alive. They lived in a drawer and then later, in a decorative moment, on the bookshelf, where I have since placed them higher and higher out of reach, as my daughter has attempted to climb up to play with them, a slow-moving game between us, until now they are so high up as to be out of view. I tend not to be sentimental about objects, but I at least -
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New York Pitch Conference - September 2021
Assignment enclosed. Sanders- NYPC Final.pdf -
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SPFBO 7 – The Sixth Quarter Final
On Wednesday, we announced our sixth trio of eliminations and revealed that this week’s two quarter-finalists from the “different” batch are SHADOWS OF IVORY by T.L. Greylock/Bryce O’Connor and WINDS OF STRIFE by U.G .Gutman. These two battle it out in our final quarterfinal of SPFBO 7 In treading a different path in fantasy fiction, our two quarter-finalists stretched our expectations of fantasy protagonists. One gave us a cruel man who finds and murders witches but considers that a mercy, even as his actions eat away at him. The other gave us a young woman gifted by position and wealth -
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Why do women love true crime podcasts so much?
The question we have been asked more than any other in our career as pro podders is ‘why are women so obsessed with true crime?’. And the numbers do stack up, we at RedHanded have been in the criminal fixation game for nearly five years, and we still boast an audience heavily swayed in the female direction. Eighty-two percent swayed, to be exact. So, the question is worth asking, but the truth is, true crime and the commercial consumption of it is nothing new. As far back as 1888, Victorian media moguls cottoned on sharpish to how much faster they could sell their papers if they recounted the -
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THE LAST DAYS OF HONG KONG by G. D. Penman (BOOK REVIEW)
I’VE JUST WORKED OUT THE TITLE. That’s so damn clever… The title obviously, not me. Damn I hope you gave yourself a proper pat on the back Gray. Anyway We’re off to a good start, aren’t we. You’ll have to excuse me, please, as I’m suffering from serious book hangover. The kind where… you’ve finished the book, so you stare off into space thinking about it, then your hands reach for it in an attempt to return to reading it. But there’s nothing left to read… The Last Days of Hong Kong is the third and final instalment of G. D. Penman’s Witch of Empire series (The Year of the Knife and The Wou
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