Genre:
YA Magical Realism
Word Count: 53,000
Pitch: A
sixteen-year-old girl isn't the only one writing in her Diary Dearest. Her
dolls are, too. Ancestral types named Ragdoll and Porcelain Doll who crave two
very different endings for the girl they haunt.
Excerpt:
ragdoll
i crinkle to life
when her blood spills.
i move in red and
breath.
she don’t see me
as i truly am and she don’t know that i see,
everything.
i am her
childhood doll.
i’ve seen since
we first found each otha’.
she was four.
that be twelve
years ago.
i been ‘round
lots longer.
i don’t know how
long.
i only remember
the smell of smoke and turpentine,
the taste of
oiled cinnamon,
the feel of hard
straw and needle pinch as it sewed on each stitch of mouth and coarse yarn
hair.
i didn’t have to
see to know it flamed shaggy red.
it was a long and
painful process.
creation always
is.
the nimble
strength and rough tenderness in my maker’s hands taught me everything
i needed to know
'bout love.
my button eyes
were sewn on last.
i saw my maker.
old and
weathered, battered by time, her skin dark chocolate, and her eyes rheumatic.
she saw me smile
and smiled in return, patting my stuffed arms and legs.
she’ll need you,
she whispered in a voice i recognized as my own.
i travelled great
distances, through many hands and lives,
none of ‘em right
for me,
to find the girl
who needs me most,
the one my
creator created me for.
Friday, October
31st
My dolls haunt me. They jump inside me and
make me write things I don’t want to write. Things I don’t need to remember. I
try to ignore them, but it doesn't do any good.
I'll but property! (Query and first 75 pages)
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Pete Knapp
This is excellently creepy. So creepy that I might not be able to read it because haunted/haunting dolls? *shudder* But still, excellent.
ReplyDeleteThere's a reason the PitchMadness feed was buzzing about this one. Amazing unique concept, writing that grabs hold and DOES NOT LET GO. So, so brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI honestly didn't get this the first time I read it and it was Fiona who shoved this back under my nose and said "this is so good". It's like a YA Chucky - good creepy. I did like the pitch, but got a bit confused reading the excerpt as I thought the story was going to include the ragdoll's pov all the way through it. I should've read all the way to the bottom (my bad).
ReplyDeleteThe opening from the ragdoll was super creepy in the best possible way and set up the premise nicely.
I think why there could have been not as many bids as I expected (or as it deserved given the amount of buzz this had on twitter) was the inability to connect to an MC. There's no name in the pitch or the excerpt. I think: Sixteen-year-old isn't the only one writing in her Diary Dearest - would have created a better connection with the agents.
I hope you find a home for this as I think it's perfectly creepy and full of win.
Ever since watching the movie DOLLS when I was younger....antique type dolls freak me the heck out. So. This book would be terrifying, but I think incredibly fun. I got chills just reading this.
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely comments! Thank you for taking the time to compliment me. <3 And yes, Sharon, you certainly have a valid point. I LOVED being on your team! MUCH thanks to Fiona for forcing it back under your nose...hee hee. So ecstatic that Peter Knapp sees potential in this!
ReplyDelete