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My Successful Query
Pitch Wars mentors and past mentees are sharing the successful queries that got them into Pitch Wars/got them their agent today, so here’s mine! This query letter got me an R&R from my amazing agent, Barbara Poelle of Irene Goodman Literary, back in 2015. I made a few small changes to reflect a plot detail that shifted in revision with my editor, but nothing that alters the effectiveness of the query.
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I’m writing to present my 85,000-word YA space opera, THE DISASTERS, for your consideration. It’s a queer take on Guardians of the Galaxy meets The Breakfast Club with a diverse teen cast. I chose to query you because I read in an interview that you liked tight, fast-paced narratives with unlikely heroes. I hope this manuscript will do it for you!
Seventeen-year-old Nax Hall is a screw-up on the verge of finally getting his act together—until he washes out of Ellis Station Academy on his first day like a champ. Time for a nice walk out the nearest airlock, because his life is as good as over.
But it’s actually the lives of everyone else on the station that are over. Nax’s one-way trip back to Earth is cut short when a terrorist group attacks the Academy, and Nax has to act fast to save himself and his fellow Academy failures. They escape—barely—but they’re also the sole witnesses to the biggest crime in the history of space colonization. And the perfect scapegoats.
The five rejects make an unlikely team: Nax the asshole pilot, the ex-footballer med student, the stressed-out navigator, the diplomatic history nerd, and the hijabi hacker they pick up along the way. Together, they devise a plan to pull off a dangerous heist: They’ll clear their names, stop the terrorist plot, spread the truth—and show the Academy why they never should have kicked them out.
Their methods may not be the most legal, but hey—whatever gets the job done, right?
I currently work as a YA librarian and am an active member of SCBWI and the ALA’s Young Adult Library Services Association. When I’m not writing or librarianing, I’m usually fannishly screaming about something or chasing after my dogs.
Per your guidelines, I’ve pasted my first ten pages, synopsis, and bio below my signature. I appreciate your time and consideration, and I hope we can work together in the future!
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THE DISASTERS is now up for pre-order, and you can add it to your goodreads here!
July Year of Space Goodies — Video & Tabletop Games!
HAPPY JULY!
We’re halfway through 2018, which is exciting and terrifying in equal measure! I’ve been doing this Year of Space thing for six months, which means you’ve got lots of spacey goodness to choose from now. There’s still lots more to come, though, including this seventh installment: Spacey Video & Tabletop Games!
There’s a big variety here, from strategy games to space combat, roleplaying games to straight-up adventures. Stuff for story-lovers, and stuff for explorers. Social games, single player games, cooperative and competitive. My personal favorite in each category is bolded, and I’ve put an asterisk next to each one I’ve personally played. Even if you don’t consider yourself a gamer, I hope you’ll give some of these a shot!
A caveat: These are almost entirely games that are currently and legally available/playable. Yes, heartbreakingly it means I’ve left out some classic games. There are many more beyond this list, so be sure to head to the boardgamegeek.com science fiction section and the Space tag on Steam.
Side note: my monthy newsletter will be going out soon with some big DISASTERS news! Sign up so you don’t miss it.
Now, on to the games! 🚀🚀🚀
Video Games
★ *Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator (simulator, space combat)
★ *Civilization: Beyond Earth (strategy)
★ Dead Space series (survival horror)
★ *Destiny series (first-person shooter)
★ Elite: Dangerous (space combat, MMORPG)
★ EVE Online (MMORPG)
★ Event[0] (adventure)
★ Everspace (space combat)
★ FTL: Faster Than Light (strategy)
★ Galaga (arcade)
★ *Halo series (first-person shooter)
★ Homeworld Remastered Collection (strategy)
★ *Mass Effect series (single-player RPG)
★ No Man’s Sky (exploration, survival)
★ *Phantasy Star Online (online RPG)
★ *Ratchet & Clank series (platformer, third-person shooter)
★ StarBound (RPG, adventure, sandbox)
★ *StarCraft series (strategy)
★ *Star Ocean series (JRPG)
★ *Star Wars: The Old Republic (MMORPG)
★ *Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (RPG)
★ *Star Wars: X-Wing and/or Tie Fighter (space combat)
★ Stellaris (strategy)
★ Surviving Mars (strategy)
★ Tacoma (adventure)
★ Wing Commander series (adventure, space combat)
★ Xenosaga (JRPG)
Board Games
★ Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game (semi-cooperative)
★ *Cosmic Encounter (competitive)
★ Eclipse (competitive)
★ *Firefly: The Game (competitive)
★ Gaia Project (competitive)
★ Galaxy Trucker (competitive)
★ *Race for the Galaxy/Roll for the Galaxy (competitive)
★ Star Realms (competitive)
★ *Star Wars: Imperial Assault (cooperative)
★ Star Wars: Rebellion (competitive, team option)
★ Terraforming Mars (competitive)
★ The Captain is Dead (cooperative)
★ Tiny Epic Galaxies (cooperative)
★ Twilight Imperium (competitive)
Pitch Wars 2018 is coming!
🎉 It’s that time of year again! 🎉
I’m thrilled to announce that my dearest Jamie Pacton and I are returning for our third year as Pitch Wars co-mentors! We were both mentees ourselves in 2015, and mentoring is our way of giving back to a community that has supported us so much over the years. And let me tell you, Pitch Wars has made some BIG changes this year and it’s better than ever!
But what is Pitch Wars? From pitchwars.org:
“Pitch Wars is a mentoring program where published/agented authors, editors, or industry interns choose one writer each to mentor. Mentors read the entire manuscript and offer suggestions on how to make the manuscript shine for the agent showcase. The mentor also helps edit their mentee’s pitch for the contest and their query letter for submitting to agents.”
You can learn more about the whole process here, and you can always feel free to reach out with questions on twitter to me directly or on the Pitch Wars hashtag.
So, how do you know if Jamie and I are the right mentors for you? You’ll have to wait until the Mentor Blog Hop to find out, which begins on August 14th! We’ll give you a full write-up of who we are, why you should submit to us, how we work, and what we’re looking for. We can’t wait!
The Pitch Wars 2018 Schedule:
July 15, 2018: Mentors Announced
August 14 – 27, 2018: Pitch Wars Mentor Blog Hop
August 27, 2018 (midnight EDT): Mentee Submission Window Opens
August 29, 2018 (10PM EDT): Mentee Submission Window Closes
September 6, 2018:: #PitMad Twitter Pitch Party (8AM – 8PM EDT)
October 12, 2018: Pitch Wars Mentees Announced
February 6 – 11, 2019: Agent Showcase
February 6: Adult entries are live on the Pitch Wars site
February 7: MG entries are live on the Pitch Wars site
February 8: YA entries are live on the Pitch Wars site
December 6, 2018: #PitMad Twitter Pitch Party (8AM – 8PM EDT)
Hope to see you around on August 14th! Are you thinking of entering Pitch Wars this year? Let me know and ask any questions you have in the comments!
June Year of Space Goodies — Nonfiction Books
HAPPY JUNE!
Sooooo, you may have noticed that I skipped May. Sorry about that! I had a new book due to my editor, so that kinda ate my life. May’s goodies were a twitter list of spacey accounts to follow, including literal robots crawling on Mars at this very moment, lady astronomers, former astronauts, public figures, journalists, & orgs. You can follow individual people or subscribe to the whole list if you like. I talked a little about why you should follow some of these accounts in a short twitter thread here.
But now it’s June! It’s summer! And that means every public librarian in the world is clutching their knees to their chest and rocking gently as the summer reading program kicks off. But it’s FINE, and I’m here with some spacey nonfiction books to get your summer reading off to a great start.
There are a lot of familiar names on this list (Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, Neil deGrasse Tyson, etc.), but there are several amazing recent books by women making big impacts in space-related fields, and I do hope you’ll look past the recognizable names to check them out.
Also, my monthy newsletter will be going out soon with some early quotes about THE DISASTERS, announcements about upcoming giveaways, and a few upcoming appearances.
Hope you enjoy these spacey nonfiction titles and their ridiculously long subtitles!
(All titles listed alphabetically by author.)
Adults and YA
- The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos by Christian Davenport
- Rocket Billionaires: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race by Tim Fernholz
Women in Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures by Karen Bush Gibson - The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition by Stephen William Hawking
- Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt
- Galaxy Girls: 50 Amazing Stories of Women in Space by Libby Jackson
- Find Where The Wind Goes: Moments From My Life by Dr. Mae Jemison
- The Future of Humanity: Terraforming Mars, Interstellar Travel, Immortality, and Our Destiny Beyond Earth by Michio Kaku
- Asteroid Hunters by Carrie Nugent
- Facts from Space!: From Super-Secret Spacecraft to Volcanoes in Outer Space, Extraterrestrial Facts to Blow Your Mind! by Dean Regas
- Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
- Cosmos by Carl Sagan
- Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space by Lynn Sherr
- Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
- Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto by Alan Stern and David Grinspoon
- The Planet Factory: Exoplanets and the Search for a Second Earth by Elizabeth Tasker
- Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
- Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour by Neil Tyson, Michael Strauss, and J. Gott
- Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
- The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must by Robert Zubrin
Middle Grade and Kids
- Seven Wonders of the Solar System by David A. Aguilar
- Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet by Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson
- Mission to Pluto: The First Visit to an Ice Dwarf and the Kuiper Belt by Mary Kay Carson and Tom Uhlman
- How Do You Burp in Space?: And Other Tips Every Space Tourist Needs to Know by Susan E. Goodman and Michael Slack
- Exploring Space: From Galileo to the Mars Rover and Beyond by Martin Jenkins and Stephen Biesty
- Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover by Markus Motum
- Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America’s Pioneering Woman in Space by Tam O’Shaughnessy
- Hidden Figures (Young Readers’ Edition) by Margot Lee Shetterly
- Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone
- StarTalk (Young Reader’s Edition) by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Charles Liu, and Shelby Alinsky
- Elon Musk and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (Young Readers’ Edition) by Ashlee Vance
Picture Books
- Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed and Stasia Burrington
- Margaret and the Moon: How Margaret Hamilton Saved the First Lunar Landing by Dean Robbins and Lucy Knisley
- Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly and Laura Freeman
- To the Stars!: The First American Woman to Walk in Space by Carmella Van Vleet, Dr. Kathy Sullivan, Nicole Wong
Happy reading!
April Year of Space Goodies — Space Crafts!
Not to be confused with spacecrafts.
WELCOME TO APRIL!
New month means new Year of Space goodies, and this is a special month indeed. It’s GLOBAL ASTRONOMY MONTH, and in honor of that my library teens and I have planned a program later this month. At that program, we’ll celebrate all things space, scream about our favorite spacey books and fandoms, and best of all, do spacey crafts! So, what better time to push my love of space on y’all via arts and crafts?
Throughout the month, I’ll be posting photos of the spacey crafts I make over on my instagram. The first one goes up later this afternoon, along with a link to instructions. I’ll admit, I tend to wing it and make up my own methods with crafts, and I’m no crafty superstar, so nothing I share will be overly complicated or difficult. I do find crafts relaxing, though, and I’m a BIG fan of today’s craft, so I hope you’ll check it out! As I complete each one, I’ll be adding the links to the bottom of this post.
Also, don’t forget that my newsletter subscribers have a chance to win a 2018 debut book of their choice this month, which could be a spacey book (or even THE DISASTERS) if you so choose. Your final chance to enter will be in this month’s newsletter, which should go out in the next two weeks or so… with ARC news!
Hope you enjoy these early days of spring, and don’t forget to look up at the night sky!
SPACE CRAFTS:
April 2: DIY Galaxy Umbrella: See it on Instagram, and view tutorials here and here.
April 13: Nebula in a Jar: See it on Instagram, and view a tutorial here.
April 23: Galaxy Sugar Cookies: See it on Instagram, and view a tutorial here.
March Year of Space Goods!
Happy March!
Okay, March sneaks up on me EVERY YEAR because February is so short and it’s not faaaair. BUT, I am still ready with your March Year of Space Goodies, and I’m featuring one of my favorite things. Here we go!
Why the Year of Space? Because I love space a lot, and my debut YA space opera is coming out in December, so I’m counting down with goodies on the 1st of every month to help you get more space in your life. Music, books, video games, podcasts, GIVEAWAYS, & more! I’m using #2018isforSpace all year, but no need to go hunting—I’ll be posting all the goodies on my Year of Space page and linking to them in my newsletter each month.
This month, I’m featuring podcasts that will get you both fiction and nonfiction spacey goodness. WAIT, DON’T GO. I know not everyone has jumped on the podcast bandwagon, but I beg you to hang in until the end of this post and consider giving them a shot.
What’s a podcast? They come in so many different varieties, and they can be anything from talk radio shows to radio dramas to audiobooks. There’s a little bit of everything in this list, so no matter what you’re into there should be something that will appeal.
How to listen to podcasts: You have lots of options! Most (if not all) of these shows have audio players built directly into their websites, so you can definitely listen that way if you prefer. I always use my phone, though, because it means I can listen to them in the car, while getting ready for work, while cooking or cleaning—whenever! There are tons of apps out there that let you subscribe to podcasts. I use Apple Podcasts and Overcast, and I definitely recommend Overcast for iOS users. For Android users, there’s a handy list here. It’s super simple. Just dive in and give it a shot! (My favorite non-space-related podcast is Print Run, and I can’t sing its praises enough. Start there if you’re interested in the publishing industry!)
So, without further ado: the list!
I kept this list pretty tightly curated re: the line between science fiction/science nonfiction and SPACE fiction/nonfiction. There are so many excellent podcasts out there about general science topics, or covering science fiction as a whole genre. This is the year of space, though, so I wanted to stick with podcasts that are as directly relevant as possible. (For more sci-fi podcasts, click here.) Starred podcasts are regular listens for me!
Spacey Fiction Podcasts
I always used to wish I had more short fiction in my life, but I never seemed to think of it when looking for something to read. Fortunately, many of the major SF short story markets put out podcasts with audio versions of their stories! Between that and serialized radio dramas and comedies, I’m well set on short fiction these days.
Clarkesworld Magazine Podcast – In print since 2006, now available for your ears. Short fiction from Clarkesworld Magazine, 6 times per month.
Escape Pod – Founded in 2005 by Serah Eley, and presently co-edited by Mur Lafferty and Divya Breed. A weekly podcast with short stories from some of today’s best science fiction authors..
☆ Lightspeed – Produced by Skyboat Media, and under the direction of Grammy and Audie award-winning narrator and producer Stefan Rudnicki. Features audiobook-style recordings of four of the eight stories published each month in Lightspeed, released more or less on a weekly basis.
StarShipSofa – Actually several podcasts under one umbrella brand: short fiction, author interviews, and sci-fi news.
☆ Uncanny Magazine Podcast – Uncanny Magazine is an online Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine featuring passionate SF/F fiction and poetry, gorgeous prose, provocative nonfiction, and a deep investment in the diverse SF/F culture. This is a monthly podcast featuring a story, a poem, and an interview that is likewise released on the first Tuesday of each month.
MarsCorp – MarsCorp is a 12-part scripted comedy podcast about Station Supervisor E.L. Hob’s first year at MarsCorp, a terraforming colony established on the red planet in 2070. There may be a 12-episode second season… one day.
The Message – A serialized story following the weekly reports and interviews from Nicky Tomalin, who is covering the decoding of a message from outer space received 70 years ago. Over the course of 8 episodes we get an inside ear on how a top team of cryptologists attempt to decipher, decode, and understand the alien message. (complete)
Spacey Non-Fiction Podcasts
Between SpaceX, the push for Mars, and the upcoming Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, there’s a lot going on! These podcasts manage to be full of cheeky humor, real science education, and that breathless wonder that draws humanity to the stars, all at once.
☆ StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson – It’s space, it’s comedy, it’s celebrity guests, it’s all things to all people. Though it does fall into general science topics fairly often, it’s hosted by America’s beloved astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and often features spacey topics, “Cosmic Q&A” with listener questions from twitter and instagram, and regular visits from Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye the Science Guy. Speaking of the Planetary Society…
☆ Planetary Radio – The Planetary Society’s weekly podcast. Regular updates on what’s going on in the world of space, space policy and advocacy, interviews with scientists and engineers, and more. Each week closes with a random space fact and a summary of what you can see in the night sky that week.
NASA podcasts – Holy spacecows, there are a lot of NASA podcasts. Updates from the International Space Station, “Houston, We Have a Podcast” for news from Johnson Space Center, interviews with experts, This Week @NASA, and much more.
Are We There Yet? The Space Exploration Podcast from NPR – “When it comes to human space exploration, we’re on the brink of something big.” Host Brendan Byrne, a space reporter in Orlando, FL, hosts scientists and engineers who are tackling the big issues of getting to Mars, working on the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, and otherwise getting humankind out among the stars.
Big Picture Science from the SETI institute – Okay, this really is more of a general science podcast, BUT it’s hosted by the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) institute. “The Big Picture Science radio show and podcast engages the public with modern science research through lively and intelligent storytelling. Science radio doesn’t have to be dull. The only dry thing about our program is the humor.”
AstronomyCast – Astronomy Cast is “a fact-based journey through the cosmos as it offers listeners weekly discussions on astronomical topics ranging from planets to cosmology. Hosted by Fraser Cain (Universe Today) and Dr. Pamela L. Gay (CosmoQuest), this show brings the questions of an avid astronomy lover direct to an astronomer.”
Did I miss any? Recommend your favorites in the comments! I’ll see you on April 1st for more space goodies. Until then—get some space in your life! ☆☆☆
Cover Reveal for THE DISASTERS!
In case you missed it, the cover for THE DISASTERS has been officially revealed, and my very first ARC giveaway is happening along with it! Yaaaaassss!
Wanna enter that ARC giveaway and see the new cover? Head on over to the reveal post on YABooksCentral and let me know what you think. I think it suits the book so well!
In the meantime, it’s social media hiatus time for me. Gotta finish up my first pass pages for THE DISASTERS, finish the first three chapters of MG Space Book, and dive hardcore into my second book! Catch you in a few days. 
February Year of Space Goodies!
Happy February!
The first month of 2018 is somehow already over, but that’s okay because that means it’s time for your next dose of space goodness! Onward and upward!
What the hell is this about? As a reminder, last month I declared 2018 the Year of Space, and to celebrate I’m posting goodies on the 1st of every month to help you get more space in your life. Music, books, video games, podcasts, GIVEAWAYS, & more! I’m using #2018isforSpace all year, but no need to go hunting—I’ll be posting all the goodies right here and linking to them in my newsletter each month. (Speaking of which… if you wanna see the cover of THE DISASTERS before the rest of the world, you might wanna sign up for that newsletter in the next 10 hours… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)
This month I figured, hey, we’ve got 11 months left in this Year of Space, so maybe I should pick something that’ll take you a good long time to consume, right? So, buckle up for an epic list of…
Yep, I went full librarian on your asses. I’ve included books across four age categories of (mostly) fiction here: Young Adult, Adult, Middle Grade/Kids, and Picture Books. But folks, I’m totally serious about this: I really think you should read at least one from each category. Your local public library system should have most of these on hand, so why not give a spacey picture book a try? It’s 32 pages and usually less than 800 words. You can handle that. I believe in you. I’ve also curated this list to ensure it only has books that involve space. That means no Earth-based sci-fi, no time travel, alien invasions, or other sci-fi subgenres.
Just like last month’s Space Tunes playlist, this is a living list, meaning your contributions are always welcome! You have books you want to see on this list? Suggest them in the comments or over on twitter and I’ll look them over to see if they’re a good fit.
Without further ado, you can download the base list as a PDF, or visit the living list here.
Enjoy a year of fabulous space reads, and I’ll be back next month with more space goodies! As they say on StarTalk Radio—don’t forget to look up.
Now Available:
