Writers Voice Contest-CROOKED THINGS

So I was lucky enough to be one of the raffle winners for the Writers Voice Contest. I tried not to get my hopes up when I entered the raffle (cause it was based on luck), so I was pretty excited when I got the email. Thanks for the opportunity Brenda, Monica, Krista, and Cupid. Here's the query for my book, Crooked Things.

Query

Dear Coaches,

Change is good—unless you’re becoming a monster.

At sixteen, Hannah Ellender discovers she isn’t completely human. Something inside her is changing, but the end result is unclear. She begins to see things no one else can: crooked things better left in the dark. One of those things is Bain, a soul imprisoned in a box. Once a powerful warlock, he was betrayed and separated from his body by a spell. With a wicked sense of humor and an alluring voice, he promises to guide her through the world of magic. 

But when she unknowingly frees him, Bain’s spirit jumps into Landon, a boy Hannah has been enamored with since middle school. Now she only has one month to find Bain’s immortal body, otherwise Landon becomes a disembodied soul. As the search brings them closer together, Hannah’s feelings towards the warlock become muddled. Is it Bain she’s beginning to care for, or is it just the skin he’s wearing? Nothing is clear as she falls further into a dark, deadly world of vampires, stone creatures, and mad warlocks. Here the lines are blurred, friends are divided, and even love becomes a crooked thing.

CROOKED THINGS is a 81,000 word YA paranormal fantasy. It will appeal to fans of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare and Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl.

First 250 Words

“Watch it!” Hannah hissed as someone danced onto her foot. She stopped herself from kicking the offender in the shin, and stood still like a rock in a whirlpool of sweaty teenagers. Students crowded the living room, dancing haphazardly around her in groups. The closest tag-team of juniors was jumping up and down while pumping their fists to the music. One of them hopped onto the couch pushed up against the wall to accommodate the endless stream of people still pouring into the house. The flood of bodies shifted again, pushing Hannah Ellender into her friend Dannie.

 “You okay?” Dannie asked.

“I’m fine.” Hannah directed a glare at the guy that pushed her. She turned back around to see Landon standing a few feet away. Her mouth grew dry as she thought of asking him to dance, but the blonde hanging off his arm might have a problem with it. His girlfriend scowled at her and Hannah looked away.

“You sure about that?” Dannie flipped her black hair out of her tan face. “Cause you’re looking kind of psychotic right now. You’re not planning to murder anyone, are you? If you do, I’ll be a character witness at your trial. I’ll tell the jury about how sweet you are until someone pokes you with a stick.”

“A stick? You make me sound like a bear,” Hannah muttered as she pushed her light, brown curls away from her green eyes. “My hair isn’t that fuzzy.”