Story Statement:
Investigative journalist Alice Parker is the No. 1 true-crime podcast host in the nation, but when she attempts to crack her hometown’s most notorious cold case, it soon becomes apparent the killer is listening – and determined to shut Alice up… for good.
Antagonist Bio:
One sticky summer night in 1999, a lifelong resident of Lunken Falls, Ohio – boiling with feelings of deep betrayal – wrapped their hands around the throat of of sixteen-year-old Darcy Davidson and didn’t let up until the life faded from her eyes. In the two decades since, the killer was lulled into a false sense of security, confident the calculated steps they’d taken to cover their tracks that fateful night had paid off. That is, until true-crime podcaster Alice Parker returned to shine a light on her hometown’s most notorious cold case. Now, Darcy’s murderer must execute a delicate high-wire act: spook a bulldog investigative journalist off the scent, whatever – or whomever – it takes, without letting their carefully cultivated mask slip.
Breakout Titles:
Listening
Press PLAY for Murder
Lunken Falls
Comps:
PRESS PLAY FOR MURDER is a mystery that plays with format, flashbacks, and points of view, weaving the perspectives of a small Ohio village into a thrilling whodunit that culminates in a final, twisting crescendo. It will appeal to fans of Alice Feeney’s HIS & HERS (soon to be a Netflix series) and international bestseller THE APPEAL by Janice Hallett.
**Bonus: While I don’t consider my novel YA, a case could be made for its appeal to readers of Edgar Award winner SADIE by Courtney Summers, which also centers around a true-crime podcast host and tinkers with format.
Core Wound - Part 1:
Logline: With her own teenage daughter testing boundaries, a grieving true-crime podcast host seeks to solve the cold-case murder of her hometown’s homecoming princess, but it soon becomes apparent the killer is listening… and determined to stop her at all costs.
Core Wound - Part 2:
Inner conflict: Returning to her childhood home for the first time since her grandma’s funeral, Alice Parker is gut-punched at the sight of dead flowers in Mamaw Sue’s normally lush window boxes. She instructs herself to think about baseball, like men reportedly do when trying not to finish early during sex.
Secondary conflict: Alice Parker's sixteen-year-old daughter, already surly about spending summer break cleaning out a dead relative’s house, is caught snogging the boyfriend of a neighbor girl. Tensions between Alice and the girl’s parents -- both suspects in the cold-case murder she’s investigating -- come to a head when all three teenagers go missing.
Setting:
The fictional village of Lunken Falls, Ohio, is primarily based on two real places of sentimental importance in my life: my own hometown of Hamilton, Ohio, colloquially referred to as “Hamiltucky” by locals, due to the number of Kentucky transplants in the early 20th century who’d relocated to work in the steel and paper mills; and the tree-lined village in which I currently reside, Mariemont – a planned, single-square-mile suburb of Cincinnati, where everyone knows everyone else, for better or for worse. I also drew inspiration from Yellow Springs, Ohio (famously home to Dave Chapelle), in so much as being a charming oasis of tolerance that attracts its fair share of day-trippers.
In my novel, Lunken Falls – Population: 3,479 (the real population of Mariemont) – is a picturesque, three-square-mile hamlet set against a backdrop of cornfields, wild honeysuckle, and rolling hills of mature trees.
On a map (which I literally sketched and painted during bouts of writer’s block on my first draft), the village is bisected by the snaking Shannon River – a tributary of the mighty Ohio – separating the “right” and “wrong side of the tracks.” The town is a stone’s throw from both the Kentucky and West Virginia borders, while simultaneously serving as a bedroom community for a midsized university just fifteen miles away. (“You’re gonna wanna drive past the red-font billboards warning interstate HEATHENS of their road-trip to HELL, lest they REPENT IMMEDIATELY, but if you get to the Coughs & Coffee Café/Vape Shop, you’ve gone too far.”)
Meanwhile, a quaint-yet-bustling Main Street attracts its fair share of foodies, college kids, and antique hunters, featuring a two-screen movie theater, ice-cream parlor (based on a real one in Hamilton), restaurants, arcade, and other small businesses. A dollar store, pub, used-car lot, churches, and single-family Cape Cods dot the blue-collar west side of Lunken, while a library, courthouse, and city park are among the facilities on the tonier east side, where the neighbors have more room to spread out.
The juxtaposition of Lunken’s conservative geography and infusion of liberal politics creates an eclectic cultural cocktail rarely seen in other rural villages in that part of the country. While the county may lean red on Election Day, Lunken Falls itself is equal parts Bleeding-Heart Academia and Blue-Collar Bluegrass, mixed with two cups Artsy Appalachia and a heaping tablespoon of Midwest Manners; shaken, not stirred.
The diversity is evident in its people – and, thus, the characters in my novel – as well. The town’s biggest employer, the paper mill, has been owned and run by a well-respected Black family since Reconstruction. A Wharton grad and the mill’s current CEO, Bea Harrow, is one of my protagonist’s two best friends. The other is Carmen King, a lesbian café owner and the Latina daughter of a working-class single mother.
Of course, familiarity breeds contempt, as the saying goes, and a small town like Lunken is ripe for harboring lifelong grudges and rivalries, as many of my characters do throughout the book. One of the more passive-aggressive players, for instance, is rich girl-turned-PTA President Dolores Scott, who looks down her nose at anyone who’ll sit still long enough (and who has motive of her own to be a viable suspect in the novel’s cold case).
Story Statement: Investigative journalist Alice Parker is the No. 1 true-crime podcast host in the nation, but when she attempts to crack her hometown’s most notorious cold case, it soon becomes apparent the killer is listening – and determined to shut Alice up… for good. Antagonist Bio: One sticky summer night in 1999, a lifelong resident of Lunken Falls, Ohio – boiling with feelings of deep betrayal – wrapped their hands around the throat of of sixteen-year-old Darcy Davidson and didn’t let up until the life faded from her eyes. In the two decades since, the killer was lulled into a false sense of security, confident the calculated steps they’d taken to cover their tracks that fateful night had paid off. That is, until true-crime podcaster Alice Parker returned to shine a light on her hometown’s most notorious cold case. Now, Darcy’s murderer must execute a delicate high-wire act: spook a bulldog investigative journalist off the scent, whatever – or whomever – it takes, without letting their carefully cultivated mask slip. Breakout Titles: Listening Press PLAY for Murder Lunken Falls Comps: PRESS PLAY FOR MURDER is a mystery that plays with format, flashbacks, and points of view, weaving the perspectives of a small Ohio village into a thrilling whodunit that culminates in a final, twisting crescendo. It will appeal to fans of Alice Feeney’s HIS & HERS (soon to be a Netflix series) and international bestseller THE APPEAL by Janice Hallett. **Bonus: While I don’t consider my novel YA, a case could be made for its appeal to readers of Edgar Award winner SADIE by Courtney Summers, which also centers around a true-crime podcast host and tinkers with format. Core Wound - Part 1: Logline: With her own teenage daughter testing boundaries, a grieving true-crime podcast host seeks to solve the cold-case murder of her hometown’s homecoming princess, but it soon becomes apparent the killer is listening… and determined to stop her at all costs. Core Wound - Part 2: Inner conflict: Returning to her childhood home for the first time since her grandma’s funeral, Alice Parker is gut-punched at the sight of dead flowers in Mamaw Sue’s normally lush window boxes. She instructs herself to think about baseball, like men reportedly do when trying not to finish early during sex. Secondary conflict: Alice Parker's sixteen-year-old daughter, already surly about spending summer break cleaning out a dead relative’s house, is caught snogging the boyfriend of a neighbor girl. Tensions between Alice and the girl’s parents -- both suspects in the cold-case murder she’s investigating -- come to a head when all three teenagers go missing. Setting: The fictional village of Lunken Falls, Ohio, is primarily based on two real places of sentimental importance in my life: my own hometown of Hamilton, Ohio, colloquially referred to as “Hamiltucky” by locals, due to the number of Kentucky transplants in the early 20th century who’d relocated to work in the steel and paper mills; and the tree-lined village in which I currently reside, Mariemont – a planned, single-square-mile suburb of Cincinnati, where everyone knows everyone else, for better or for worse. I also drew inspiration from Yellow Springs, Ohio (famously home to Dave Chapelle), in so much as being a charming oasis of tolerance that attracts its fair share of day-trippers. In my novel, Lunken Falls – Population: 3,479 (the real population of Mariemont) – is a picturesque, three-square-mile hamlet set against a backdrop of cornfields, wild honeysuckle, and rolling hills of mature trees. On a map (which I literally sketched and painted during bouts of writer’s block on my first draft), the village is bisected by the snaking Shannon River – a tributary of the mighty Ohio – separating the “right” and “wrong side of the tracks.” The town is a stone’s throw from both the Kentucky and West Virginia borders, while simultaneously serving as a bedroom community for a midsized university just fifteen miles away. (“You’re gonna wanna drive past the red-font billboards warning interstate HEATHENS of their road-trip to HELL, lest they REPENT IMMEDIATELY, but if you get to the Coughs & Coffee Café/Vape Shop, you’ve gone too far.”) Meanwhile, a quaint-yet-bustling Main Street attracts its fair share of foodies, college kids, and antique hunters, featuring a two-screen movie theater, ice-cream parlor (based on a real one in Hamilton), restaurants, arcade, and other small businesses. A dollar store, pub, used-car lot, churches, and single-family Cape Cods dot the blue-collar west side of Lunken, while a library, courthouse, and city park are among the facilities on the tonier east side, where the neighbors have more room to spread out. The juxtaposition of Lunken’s conservative geography and infusion of liberal politics creates an eclectic cultural cocktail rarely seen in other rural villages in that part of the country. While the county may lean red on Election Day, Lunken Falls itself is equal parts Bleeding-Heart Academia and Blue-Collar Bluegrass, mixed with two cups Artsy Appalachia and a heaping tablespoon of Midwest Manners; shaken, not stirred. The diversity is evident in its people – and, thus, the characters in my novel – as well. The town’s biggest employer, the paper mill, has been owned and run by a well-respected Black family since Reconstruction. A Wharton grad and the mill’s current CEO, Bea Harrow, is one of my protagonist’s two best friends. The other is Carmen King, a lesbian café owner and the Latina daughter of a working-class single mother. Of course, familiarity breeds contempt, as the saying goes, and a small town like Lunken is ripe for harboring lifelong grudges and rivalries, as many of my characters do throughout the book. One of the more passive-aggressive players, for instance, is rich girl-turned-PTA President Dolores Scott, who looks down her nose at anyone who’ll sit still long enough (and who has motive of her own to be a viable suspect in the novel’s cold case).