POSSUM SUMMER

Today's guest blogger is Jen K. Blom, the wonderful author of POSSUM SUMMER.

You all remember the rules right? Go read her blog, become a follower, and only then may you return to read this amazing post!

Also don't forget how this works. Jen's thoughts are going to be in blue (she asked for red but I was worried that would be too confusing - also I am the mad professor here and I will not give up the power of the red pen for anyone, mwah hah ha ...).

Yeah, where was I? Oh yes, my own comments will be in red so try to keep that straight, okay?

Take it away Jen!

First off: The Story. I'd just decided to query my recently completely revised manuscript. I had two agents I wanted to try first...one I'd loved long and long, and one that had shown previous interest in my writing. I'm a member of Publishers Marketplace (**highly recommended!**) and they had a short blurb on Marlene branching out on her own when I went in to see what was selling that day. (Common knowledge but still > an agent with a new business is a hungry agent. Plus you'd be at the top of their client list, which was also a nice idea).

The blurb on Marlene came out New Year's Day. I queried her that day, as well as the two other agents I had in mind. The next day all three asked for partials - then fulls the next day - then all offered that week! It was a week full of LOTS of angst! But I made a great decision, and Marlene recently sold my debut novel POSSUM SUMMER to Holiday House books for a 2011 release. (I'm on Goodreads - friend me there!)

Hmm, I'm not sure I'm aware of a more awesome story, POSSUM SUMMER must be quite good!

But let's go on...

Dear Ms. Stringer,

It's so hard to know if they're married or not. And you don't want to P-O an agent over something so silly as a Mrs. Ms. Miss. etc - and I didn't want to email her "Yo, Marlene"!, either. So I went with Ms.

What a good point. Back when I queried terribly over a year ago I would address agents by their first name. This is passable I guess but it really is more professional to use Mr. or Ms. Jen is spot on about it being a good idea not to insult anyone, so I think she gives good advice here about using the universal Mizz.

First off, congratulations on your new agency! Two thumbs up on the webpage too, it's quite classy.

This way I thought she'd know I was savvy to the relevant information outlets available for non-pubbed (and non-agented) writers. It's always good to appear like you know what you're doing - even if you don't! I also went to her website and snooped around. It was nice. Succinct, elegant, and full of info. Since I'm a succinct sort of girl myself, I appreciated this. Plus I was a bit irreverent without being cheeky. Cheeky is bad.

I had never really thought of this but I don't suppose it's all that different from saying: I read your blog daily and thought you would be a good fit for my novel because ...

Of course this kind of personalization is not going to earn representation for a poor story or bad writing. Story, voice and good writing are still requirements, but if you've got all three of those, along with a dash of work ethic and a pinch of uniqueness, there's no reason something like this would hurt your chances.

Princess is a die-hard tomboy growing up in the middle of the Oklahoma plains with only two friends in a thirty-mile radius: her best buddy Mart and her mutt, Blackie. Her dad's off to war and her mama is gone all day working, so she's in charge of the farm and all the inhabitants living on it for the summer. When she finds an orphan opossum kit in the ragged remains of a possum her dog just killed, she has a real tough decision to make.

I wanted the query to be in the style of the voice in POSSUM SUMMER, so I wrote it out in 1st POV and then switched it to third. It took many different attempts before I got the sense of loneliness and responsibility down that I wanted to hook the agent in the first sentence.

Well this is certainly different. Remember what I was saying about uniqueness? This story sounds very intriguing. You've got a unique setting, a sympathetic character, and a scenario of conflict that I've certainly never heard of before. No wonder agents took an interest.

Save him against her father's wishes? Or let him die?

I deplore rhetorical questions, but sometimes I think a good question or two can make the agent's mind wander to the possibilities inherent in a book. Since mine didn't have explosions, vampires or a love triangle - unless you counted a dog and a possum - I thought this was a handy way to bring them into the world my protag resides in. :-D

We're all well aware of the hate for rhetorical questions among some but I think this works just fine here. Jen quickly introduces further conflict by mentioning the father's wishes but leaves us wondering exactly what she means, which is just fine in a query.

From the moment she looks into his eyes h er - ACK! A typo! Er, don't do this HA HA *gasps* heart is lost, and she decides to try it - no matter the cost to her. But when Ike the possum's cover is blown and tragedy strikes, she struggles to find the power in herself to get past the price he has to pay.

Cliche are so cliche, but I wanted to turn one on its nose and have a little word play at the same time.

I don't really see the cliche here. I mean yeah "price to pay" is a pretty common phrase but applying it to a possum's cover being blown is pretty darn new and different if you ask me. I love that the conflict at the heart of this story is really pretty simple. Girl feels sympathy for an adorable dying animal and saves its life against her better judgment. This kind of thing sounds perfect for MG.

A Middle Grade novel complete at 55,000 words, "Possum Summer" would appeal to fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Kate DiCamillo, and Wilson Rawls. I'd be happy to forward at your request.

Genre! Word count! Title! Easy author placement! And the "I'd be happy..." I got from Janet Reid. I figured if the agent had gotten this far I wasn't gonna blow it with a long-winded About me section.

Great advice! Keep the housekeeping succinct. As long as your word count isn't 400,000 or your title POSSUMS GONE WILD, none of this matters THAT much anyway. Just make sure these details aren't ones that would blow it.

Yours sincerely,
Jennifer Blom

I included my blog addy after my name and used a stock generic ending for that last bit. Plus, I'm not a really windy writer at all, and short and sweet is how I roll, baby.

Awesome. So what do you guys think? I think this story sounds incredible. The simple idea of saving the life of a needful animal, without magic, vampires or telepathy sounds pretty powerful to me. This kind of story takes me back to my childhood and the kind of stuff I used to read like Where the Red Fern Grows, The Red Badge of Courage, or Danny, Champion of the World.

I haven't read Jen's book but it sounds like it will be really touching and just the kind of thing a young girl like my 9 year old daughter would love to read. Any questions? Did you forget to follow Jen's blog? Shame on you.