1: ACT OF STORY STATEMENT
A British widow, devastated by her husband’s untimely death, moves to the Berkshires and struggles against falling in love with the Chief of Police as they solve the mysterious death of a famous violinist.
2: ANTAGONIST
While a teenager, Bonnie Schott is traumatized by the premature death of her beloved brother, Marc, a brilliant violin student, who died unexpectedly in college of anaphylactic shock after winning a coveted music competition. Upon his death, Marc’s school rival, Justin Burton, becomes the competition winner and goes on to have a brilliant career. Marc’s family suspects Burton killed him to win the competition. Growing up, Bonnie had no friends due to her Asperger’s, and her brother was her only companion. After Marc’s death, Bonnie is distraught, and her mother makes her life miserable for many years as Marc was the favorite child. The mother bullies and harasses Bonnie and pushes her to become a scientist so she can find a way to kill Burton for revenge. Bonnie spends years studying and eventually becomes a forensic pathologist, but she is a miserable, unhappy person. She eventually she learns of an undetectable poison. After killing Burton, she is elated and believes she can finally earn her mother’s love and live in peace. However, the widow finds the poisonous plant near Bonnie’s home after learning of Bonnie’s profession and realizes Bonnie made the poison and killed Burton. Bonnie must now kill the widow so she can escape being caught by the police.
3: TITLES
- Death at Wildbough, a Berkshires Mystery, Book 1
- Death in the Berkshires, Book 1
4: COMPS Mystery
- ML Longworth, Bonnet & Verlach series
- Jean-Luc Bannalec, Kommisar Dupin series
5: CORE WOUND & THE PRIMARY CONFLICT
After becoming a widow, a woman must confront her loss and the trauma of her past and
learn to love again while helping a police officer solve a murder.
6: OTHER MATTERS OF CONFLICT: TWO MORE LEVELS
Primary conflict:
Rose is broken and devastated by her husband’s untimely death. She moves to the US to be with her daughter but doesn’t like living in Boston. After visiting the Berkshires, she loves the area, buys a house and moves there. She meets the Chief of Police, Richard, and is attracted to him but still too devastated to begin a relationship. She keeps busy fixing up her house, gardening, reading novels, and volunteering, but she’s still unhappy and lonely. When a famous violinist mysteriously dies where she is volunteering, she becomes involved with helping Richard solve the case. Rose was a cryptographer during
WWII and is skilled at solving complex puzzles. She and Richard become closer as he updates her on the case, and she helps him solves clues. As they work together, she begins to overcome her grief and reticence at being in a relationship. Rose’s research leads her to eventually figure out who the murderer is and she is almost killed. After Richard saves her, she realizes she has fallen in love in with him and is ready to accept him into her life.
Secondary conflicts:
- Richard must solve the mysterious/unexplained death of a famous violinist quickly as the
mayor, the town, fans, and the press hound him for answers.
- Richard’s second in charge, Sergeant Adams, falls in love with their primary suspect and
becomes distracted and ineffectual at helping with the case.
Inner conflicts:
- Rose is torn between honoring the memory of her dead husband and letting herself learn
to love again. She also has difficulties with intimacy having been raped as a young woman and given birth to a stillborn. Rose also suffers from unresolved PTSD from her years working as a cryptographer during WWII and continually losing her spies/agents to the Germans.
- Richard is torn between wanting to have a relationship with Rose and her obvious reluctance to be with him. He’s had a failed marriage and one short-term disastrous affair and believes he is incapable of having a normal, healthy, long-term relationship.
7: THE INCREDIBLE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING
- The year is 1979. The location is the fictional town of Stonington in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts, loosely based on Stockbridge. The town is historic, beautiful, and quaint. It’s initially a peaceful, bucolic setting until the murder occurs.
- A famous musical venue, Wildbough, loosely based on Tanglewood. Rose is volunteering as an usher at a concert and Richard is working crowd control when the death occurs.
- Rose’s newly purchased house in Stonington. After falling in love with the town and the surrounding area, Rose finds an old, neglected house for sale. She spends time fixing it up.
- The Stonington Police Precinct. A decrepit, ramshackle old building in constant need of repair. The majority of the book’s scenes take place here where we meet the staff and other officers involved in the case.
- The local hospital. The murder victim is initially brought to the hospital, and we meet Richard’s old flame, Dr. Marlow. At the end of the book, Bonnie is taken here after she’s shot and has surgery. This is where we learn more about Rose’s traumatic early life when she is recuperating from her kidnapping. The secret ending to the book is revealed here.
- The secluded church where Bonnie takes Rose and plans to murder her. Richard discovers Bonnie here and shoots her before she can kill Rose. The poison is safely recovered.
New York Pitch Assignments - March 2022
in New York Write to Pitch 2023 and 2024
Posted
1: ACT OF STORY STATEMENT
A British widow, devastated by her husband’s untimely death, moves to the Berkshires and struggles against falling in love with the Chief of Police as they solve the mysterious death of a famous violinist.
2: ANTAGONIST
While a teenager, Bonnie Schott is traumatized by the premature death of her beloved brother, Marc, a brilliant violin student, who died unexpectedly in college of anaphylactic shock after winning a coveted music competition. Upon his death, Marc’s school rival, Justin Burton, becomes the competition winner and goes on to have a brilliant career. Marc’s family suspects Burton killed him to win the competition. Growing up, Bonnie had no friends due to her Asperger’s, and her brother was her only companion. After Marc’s death, Bonnie is distraught, and her mother makes her life miserable for many years as Marc was the favorite child. The mother bullies and harasses Bonnie and pushes her to become a scientist so she can find a way to kill Burton for revenge. Bonnie spends years studying and eventually becomes a forensic pathologist, but she is a miserable, unhappy person. She eventually she learns of an undetectable poison. After killing Burton, she is elated and believes she can finally earn her mother’s love and live in peace. However, the widow finds the poisonous plant near Bonnie’s home after learning of Bonnie’s profession and realizes Bonnie made the poison and killed Burton. Bonnie must now kill the widow so she can escape being caught by the police.
3: TITLES
- Death at Wildbough, a Berkshires Mystery, Book 1
- Death in the Berkshires, Book 1
4: COMPS Mystery
- ML Longworth, Bonnet & Verlach series
- Jean-Luc Bannalec, Kommisar Dupin series
5: CORE WOUND & THE PRIMARY CONFLICT
After becoming a widow, a woman must confront her loss and the trauma of her past and
learn to love again while helping a police officer solve a murder.
6: OTHER MATTERS OF CONFLICT: TWO MORE LEVELS
Primary conflict:
Rose is broken and devastated by her husband’s untimely death. She moves to the US to be with her daughter but doesn’t like living in Boston. After visiting the Berkshires, she loves the area, buys a house and moves there. She meets the Chief of Police, Richard, and is attracted to him but still too devastated to begin a relationship. She keeps busy fixing up her house, gardening, reading novels, and volunteering, but she’s still unhappy and lonely. When a famous violinist mysteriously dies where she is volunteering, she becomes involved with helping Richard solve the case. Rose was a cryptographer during
WWII and is skilled at solving complex puzzles. She and Richard become closer as he updates her on the case, and she helps him solves clues. As they work together, she begins to overcome her grief and reticence at being in a relationship. Rose’s research leads her to eventually figure out who the murderer is and she is almost killed. After Richard saves her, she realizes she has fallen in love in with him and is ready to accept him into her life.
Secondary conflicts:
- Richard must solve the mysterious/unexplained death of a famous violinist quickly as the
mayor, the town, fans, and the press hound him for answers.
- Richard’s second in charge, Sergeant Adams, falls in love with their primary suspect and
becomes distracted and ineffectual at helping with the case.
Inner conflicts:
- Rose is torn between honoring the memory of her dead husband and letting herself learn
to love again. She also has difficulties with intimacy having been raped as a young woman and given birth to a stillborn. Rose also suffers from unresolved PTSD from her years working as a cryptographer during WWII and continually losing her spies/agents to the Germans.
- Richard is torn between wanting to have a relationship with Rose and her obvious reluctance to be with him. He’s had a failed marriage and one short-term disastrous affair and believes he is incapable of having a normal, healthy, long-term relationship.
7: THE INCREDIBLE IMPORTANCE OF SETTING
- The year is 1979. The location is the fictional town of Stonington in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts, loosely based on Stockbridge. The town is historic, beautiful, and quaint. It’s initially a peaceful, bucolic setting until the murder occurs.
- A famous musical venue, Wildbough, loosely based on Tanglewood. Rose is volunteering as an usher at a concert and Richard is working crowd control when the death occurs.
- Rose’s newly purchased house in Stonington. After falling in love with the town and the surrounding area, Rose finds an old, neglected house for sale. She spends time fixing it up.
- The Stonington Police Precinct. A decrepit, ramshackle old building in constant need of repair. The majority of the book’s scenes take place here where we meet the staff and other officers involved in the case.
- The local hospital. The murder victim is initially brought to the hospital, and we meet Richard’s old flame, Dr. Marlow. At the end of the book, Bonnie is taken here after she’s shot and has surgery. This is where we learn more about Rose’s traumatic early life when she is recuperating from her kidnapping. The secret ending to the book is revealed here.
- The secluded church where Bonnie takes Rose and plans to murder her. Richard discovers Bonnie here and shoots her before she can kill Rose. The poison is safely recovered.