I started querying Red Hollow Road in January. 20 agents and 9 rejections later, I’ve yet to receive even a partial manuscript request and the only personalized feedback I got was that the opening pages didn’t hook them enough. That’s totally understandable! I’ve never done this before. Rejections are an occupational hazard and my skin is pretty thick. However, I do know how to apply feedback and with that in mind, I’ve decided to shelf Red Hollow Road for a few months and rework the opening pages to get them as strong as possible before I try again.
But because I’m so eager to see things happen (and yes, also a tad impatient!), I just started querying my second completed novel, a YA Fantasy with Horror elements titled, Moondancer House.
Moondancer House is a haunted beach house story inspired by a vacation home we had up until I was about thirteen years old. It was nostalgic and easy to write because I adored the setting and the protagonist’s relationship with her grandparents.
Here’s the blurb:
Eager to escape the aftermath of a devastating betrayal, sixteen year old Agnes accompanies her grandparents to their beloved beach house in the sleepy seaside town of Ellismouth Cay. Agnes has always felt safe within Moondancer House’s walls, nestled high above the sand and surf where nothing can touch her. But this trip isn’t like the others. This is the first time she will sleep alone in the upstairs bedroom with its cyclopean window and suffocating pastel wallpaper. It will also be her last visit to Moondancer before Grams and Boppy sell it and she’s determined to make the most of it, even if it kills her.
But the house Agnes loves is not the same as it was before. Every day, peculiar runic drawings appear in the condensation on her window. Jewelry, flowers, and other objects materialize in her closet and on her nightstand. Shadow figures and impenetrable choking mist plague her dreams. Even Ellismouth Cay has become dangerous, a recent string of grisly murders rattling the otherwise peaceful town.
To solve the mystery of Moondancer, Agnes enlists the help of her local childhood friend and a charming neighbor boy while attempting to deny her growing feelings for both. After all, she only has two weeks before she has to say goodbye to them and the town she loves. But the malevolent forces at play will do whatever it takes to keep Agnes forever. And she just might let them.