Author: Trina Allen
Date:   11-08-08 11:04

So far I've queried nine agents for my novel, been rejected by five (including one from WritersNet). Four queries are still out. Since no one have asked for a partial, I wonder if my query isn't strong enough. Please help!

Dear Mr. Agent:

I would like to invite you to review my young adult novel The Magic Quilt, a historical fantasy set in both the present and in 1775 Boston. Based on your success with TITLE and TITLE, I think this might be a good fit for your list.

It is tough enough to make it through the sixth grade when you aren't trying to save the world. Katharine is a shape-shifter who has traveled back to a time where electricity, cell phones and bottled water have yet to be imagined; her new friends are dead or in peril. Standing on the Lexington Green in the midst of the battle, Katharine is oblivious to her own danger. With the metallic smell of blood and gunpowder heavy in the air, she must make a choice: She can save her friends and turn the battle toward freedom or destroy the evil shifter, Dr. Ziegawart, in whatever form he might choose--an alligator, a dragon, or a tiny cockroach. As a musket ball whizzes by her head, she decides.

Patrick M. Leehey, the research director of the Paul Revere Memorial Association checked the manuscript for historical accuracy. He said, “I found your story to be quite enjoyable.” That might be because I’ve included some surprising historical facts. To name a few, Paul Revere never finished his midnight ride--he was captured by British officers before arriving in Concord. Nor did he own a horse, although he was a messenger and a spy for the revolutionaries.

The Magic Quilt is a 55,000 word historical fantasy and my second novel. I'm a longtime writer with numerous fiction and nonfiction publishing credits in magazines such as Chiron Review, Word Catalyst, Dana Literary Society, Science Scope Magazine, and Education Today. My short story "To Live Again" won first place in Write Around the Block’s January 2008 short story contest. A former middle school teacher with an MS in reading education, I write a blog about the process of writing and life after the classroom.

You can read the first two chapters of The Magic Quilt on my website, http://www.trinaallen.com. Upon your request, I am prepared to send the complete manuscript.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Trina Allen