Story Statement: Social worker Erin is on a mission to win a prestigious grant that will allow her to expand her program serving pregnant women struggling with substance abuse. Standing in her way is her client, Shayla, who is in an abusive relationship. Erin wants to “save” Shayla” and win the grant.
Antagonist: The main antagonist is Erin’s client, Shayla. Shayla is needy and vulnerable; the novel opens with Erin walking in on Shayla right after her boyfriend Kevin has hit her. Shayla’s mother died when she was younger; she was temporarily homeless, but moved in with Kevin after she became pregnant. Her trauma history, lack of resources and support, and current substance use drive many of her actions. Erin is triumphant when Shayla gets into a women’s shelter; this success story will really help her with her grant application. But Shayla doesn’t stay long at the shelter and is soon in trouble again. She doesn’t genuinely like Erin, but needs some of the concrete resources she provides, and she does call her when she is in crisis.
Another antagonist is Erin’s boyfriend, who is cheating on her with one of her friends.
Ultimately, however, Erin is her own worst enemy. She has a tendency to look down on her clients. Even though she is struggling with a number of issues herself her clients are always worse off, and she uses this to comfort herself and stay in denial about her own real problems.
Titles:
Mission: Baby
Saving Shayla
The Defiant Client
Comparable Titles:
Not her Daughter by Rea Frey
Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson
Hook Line:
When social worker Erin’s attempt to “save” her client from an abusive relationship devolves into a kidnapping Erin must face her own demons as she learns that she can’t help others until she has healed herself.
Internal Conflict: Erin experiences internal conflict because she is using her clients as a way to distract her from her own issues – her undiagnosed eating disorder, her cheating boyfriend….being a social worker makes her look good to others, but it is also a way that she can distract herself from her very real problems. She will feel in turmoil because she doesn’t really think she has the skills to make transformative changes in her client’s lives. She will be anxious when her client needs her help and she doesn’t know what to do. Shayla in particular is needy and definitely high risk. Erin realizes she may not be able to change Shayla, but she wants to make sure she has a healthy baby.
After Shayla leaves the shelter and goes back to live with her child’s father, Kevin, Erin is distraught. Erin finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her and that she has lost the main grant that funds her program all on the same morning. Shayla calls her in crisis, begging Erin to come help her. Erin can hear Kevin cursing at Shalya, and she loses it. She goes to the apartment and forces Shalya to come with her.
Secondary conflict: Erin’s boyfriend, Ben. He is a new attorney and works long hours; however, he is not always working. Erin finds out that he is cheating on her with one of her best friends; this makes her much more fragile and less capable to deal with Shayla’s emergency.
Settings: My novel is set primarily in Philadelphia. The sub-settings in my novel include a small public housing community where the antagonist resides, the prenatal clinic where the protagonist works, the protagonist’s car after she kidnaps her client, a social work conference at a hotel in Cleveland, the side of a highway (where the baby is delivered), a jail cell, and a courtroom.
New York Pitch and Algonkian Pre-event Assignments - 2022
in New York Write to Pitch 2023 and 2024
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Story Statement: Social worker Erin is on a mission to win a prestigious grant that will allow her to expand her program serving pregnant women struggling with substance abuse. Standing in her way is her client, Shayla, who is in an abusive relationship. Erin wants to “save” Shayla” and win the grant.
Antagonist: The main antagonist is Erin’s client, Shayla. Shayla is needy and vulnerable; the novel opens with Erin walking in on Shayla right after her boyfriend Kevin has hit her. Shayla’s mother died when she was younger; she was temporarily homeless, but moved in with Kevin after she became pregnant. Her trauma history, lack of resources and support, and current substance use drive many of her actions. Erin is triumphant when Shayla gets into a women’s shelter; this success story will really help her with her grant application. But Shayla doesn’t stay long at the shelter and is soon in trouble again. She doesn’t genuinely like Erin, but needs some of the concrete resources she provides, and she does call her when she is in crisis.
Another antagonist is Erin’s boyfriend, who is cheating on her with one of her friends.
Ultimately, however, Erin is her own worst enemy. She has a tendency to look down on her clients. Even though she is struggling with a number of issues herself her clients are always worse off, and she uses this to comfort herself and stay in denial about her own real problems.
Titles:
Mission: Baby
Saving Shayla
The Defiant Client
Comparable Titles:
Not her Daughter by Rea Frey
Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson
Hook Line:
When social worker Erin’s attempt to “save” her client from an abusive relationship devolves into a kidnapping Erin must face her own demons as she learns that she can’t help others until she has healed herself.
Internal Conflict: Erin experiences internal conflict because she is using her clients as a way to distract her from her own issues – her undiagnosed eating disorder, her cheating boyfriend….being a social worker makes her look good to others, but it is also a way that she can distract herself from her very real problems. She will feel in turmoil because she doesn’t really think she has the skills to make transformative changes in her client’s lives. She will be anxious when her client needs her help and she doesn’t know what to do. Shayla in particular is needy and definitely high risk. Erin realizes she may not be able to change Shayla, but she wants to make sure she has a healthy baby.
After Shayla leaves the shelter and goes back to live with her child’s father, Kevin, Erin is distraught. Erin finds out her boyfriend is cheating on her and that she has lost the main grant that funds her program all on the same morning. Shayla calls her in crisis, begging Erin to come help her. Erin can hear Kevin cursing at Shalya, and she loses it. She goes to the apartment and forces Shalya to come with her.
Secondary conflict: Erin’s boyfriend, Ben. He is a new attorney and works long hours; however, he is not always working. Erin finds out that he is cheating on her with one of her best friends; this makes her much more fragile and less capable to deal with Shayla’s emergency.
Settings: My novel is set primarily in Philadelphia. The sub-settings in my novel include a small public housing community where the antagonist resides, the prenatal clinic where the protagonist works, the protagonist’s car after she kidnaps her client, a social work conference at a hotel in Cleveland, the side of a highway (where the baby is delivered), a jail cell, and a courtroom.