Winners of the Query Crit Contest : D

I just realised that I'm pretty fascinated by the query letter as a form of writing. I don't know who thought of it in the specific form it takes right now, but whereas I used to think of that person/those people as masters of torture and cruelty, beings possibly formed from the tiny remaining particles of Sauron, I now suspect that the QUERY is genius.

Of course that's not to say I haven't indulged in my share of wailing and rending garments over the ones I've written; but that didn't stop me writing one before I even started any kind of detailed thought about Book #3. No need to rub your eyes, you read that right - I wrote one just 'cos. I didn't need it. It may never see light of day. But what it has done is make me focus on what I want Book #3 to be about, right at its core. How I'm going to go about writing that book is a different matter for a different day - the point is that the query isn't there to torture you (stop narrowing your eyes, I can see you doing it.)

Maybe, instead, it's your opportunity to show that you know how to write, no matter what anyone asks/needs you to write. Maybe it's your chance to show how well you know your story, how thoroughly you understand what your characters choices are and how you can make someone else understand that in less than two hundred and fifty words because you're good enough to do that. (Even if, like me, you write seven million and forty three drafts before you come up with a query you think might fly.)

You already wrote 50k words, or 150k words to finish your novel. What's another 250, right?

So now that I've lured you into reading my mini-ramble, here are the queries I'm going to read and crit. Emails on the way to:


Laura Fey - Being Human

Boo Irwin - Tattooing Angels


and let's make it three because, well, why not?


Matthew Turner - Beyond Parallel


Thanks to all for entering! February's crit round will be another beta reading and March might hold a return to the queries, so check back, join in, tell Twitter or...the whole world, you know, whatever you feel like :)