I’m a former English & Science teacher currently working as a part-time freelance writer/editor. I write YA contemporary and light sci-fi. I would like to find another beta reader or two for my current completed project–a contemporary YA about two female cousins/enemies who must complete their agoraphobic grandpa’s unfulfilled bucket list. I began querying it last month, received 3 requests right away, but all three resulted in rejections. I’d like to have more eyes on it to see where I can improve.
I also have a YA contemporary romance WIP for which I’ll need a CP/betas in a few months.
I love YA contemporary, light sci-fi, light fantasy, and some historical fiction.
Not a big fan of hard sci-fi or high fantasy. Nothing which deals with killing or abusing animals. Don’t like horror either.
Dear Agent,
When their agoraphobic grandfather dies, K.J. and Becka, are shocked to learn: 1.) He had a secret fortune—one which will fully fund their college tuition and then some, and 2.) They must complete his unfulfilled bucket list to get it.
K.J. would rather eat cockroach soup than spend a full minute with her snooty cousin, Becka. But since there’s money up for grabs (aka, a way out of trailer park hell), she’s game for Grandpa’s five tasks. First up: riding a mule into the Grand Canyon. How hard can it be?
Becka, on the other hand, has a full soccer scholarship to the University of Arkansas and no desire to travel anywhere with the oddball cousin she despises. She’s only completing Grandpa’s tasks for her mom, who’s saddled with hospital bills from the death of Becka’s brother four years ago.
Aside from a close encounter with a grizzly and a near-drowning incident at the Bull Sluice, the girls must also survive each other. But when a letter from Grandpa reveals the hidden truth behind their mothers’ long-time feud and his real intent behind these trips, their collective world is rocked. If K.J. and Becka can’t forgive their mothers’ mistakes and accept each other, differences and all, Grandpa’s ultimate wish—to mend his divided family—will have been buried inside that grasshopper green casket right along with him.
Told through the alternating viewpoints of both cousins, THE BUG COLLECTOR’S BUCKET LIST is part Ladybird and part Adi Alsaid’s Let’s Get Lost. This contemporary YA novel is complete at 66,000 words.
Where does someone even get a bright green casket like that?
The question hasn’t stopped rattling through my brain since Mom and I snuck into the chapel and slid into the very last pew. There are a lot more important things to be worried about at the moment, but all I can think is What. The. Hell? Grandpa was a weird duck—everyone knows that—but I definitely never saw this coming.
Beside me, Mom shifts uncomfortably in her seat and pushes a strand of hair behind her ear for the hundredth time. It’s a nervous tic of hers. But I get it. Being here is beyond awkward for both of us.
Two rows ahead, an old lady with painted-on eyebrows turns to squint at us. She’s probably trying to figure out why we’re sitting in the back of the chapel instead of up front with the rest of the family. Maybe she doesn’t know the story. Or maybe she does and thinks my grandpa’s death is reason enough to move past it. But fact is, the rift in my family has held strong for almost two decades now—since before my birth, anyway. Things won’t be changing anytime soon. I give her a whatcha-gonna-do-old-lady? look, and she turns back around.
Another hymn begins, and along with it, a chorus of off-key voices. Neither Mom nor I join in. Instead, I stare at my shoes. Maybe gray converse and black jeans were the wrong choice for today, but it’s not like I own anything nicer. My closet has definitely never seen a dress. Mom leans in close, her breath reeking of strong coffee. “As soon as they start lining up for the walk-by, we’re outta here.”
Time Travel romance (light sci-fi) completed
MG contemporary completed
YA contemporary completed
YA contemporary adventure completed (this project)
WIP: YA contemporary romance (drafted, currently revising)
Future Project: Future-based YA sci-fi
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