Have questions about submitting to Pitch Wars or just want to know what it is? Start here!

Blog

PW #334: Young Adult Contemporary reimagining of the Bronte family: WALLOWING HEIGHTS

Thursday, 2 November 2017  |  Posted by Brenda Drake

Manuscript status: Two week delivery

Mentor name: Rosalyn Eves

Mentee name: Molly Cluff

Title: WALLOWING HEIGHTS

Category: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary reimagining of the Bronte family

Word count: 77,000

Pitch:

When Afton Bell’s older sister’s book series gets cancelled, she’s hellbent on rallying fans through her booktube channel to save it. Problem is, her online identity is built on a lie: her fans don’t know her connection to the author and her sister doesn’t know she’s a booktube star. Raising support means risking her two worlds colliding.

Excerpt:

I made sure my door was locked before uploading my video.

My viewers expected new videos on Mondays. Monday was half over. I knew I should have done it earlier; Eloise would arrive any minute.

I clicked through the Youtube screens on my laptop and prodded the upload button. The video’s preview image showed me smiling, holding a glossy purple book with a gnarled tree on the cover.

While the upload progress bar inched along, I inspected my closet. I couldn’t decide what shoes to wear. Clearly, Eloise and I had been apart too long. You shouldn’t have to try to impress your sister with your footwear choices—especially your sister who had worn the same grubby combat boots since high school. And yet, after eight months of Eloise flitting about Belgium, here I was: trying to choose between turquoise flats or lacy red ones.

I glanced at my laptop screen after five minutes, then frowned. The upload had stalled at 8%. I was running out of time.

A car rumbled into the driveway outside, and I rushed to lift a slat of my blinds. Against the monotone desert grass and endless scrubby bushes, Eloise’s silver sedan stood out like a pod from the future. Without it, we could have shot a pioneer movie in our front lot.

The driver’s side door opened. Eloise stepped out.

Eloise Bell, celebrity status author of the teen phenomenon, The Wallowing Hours series.

Aka, my sister.

Filed: PW Entries

5 Comments
  • Justin Wells says:

    Hi Molly – this sounds absolutely incredible! I would love to take a look at your full manuscript! Please send it (along w/ required info in the form) via my Pitch Wars QM form: https://querymanager.com/query/Justin_Wells/Pitch_Wars

  • Jess Dallow says:

    Hi Molly,

    I’d love to read more! Please send the full manuscript attached in a word doc with your query letter in the body of the email to Jess@Browerliterary.com with #PitchWars and your title in the subject. Looking forward to reading!

    Jess

  • Molly, I would love to take a look at the full manuscript! Please email a query letter to maria@psliterary.com with the subject line “Pitch Wars Request: Wallowing Heights” and include the manuscript (+ a synopsis) as an attachment.

  • Natascha Morris says:

    Molly, this sounds interesting! I’d love tot take a look. Please upload your manuscript here at QueryMe.online/1067/PitchWars2017. Thank you!

    Best,
    Natascha Morris

  • Roseanne Wells says:

    I’d love to read more! Please use the guidelines on jdlit.com to send 30pp (instead of the normal 20), and include #Pitchwars in the subject line. I can’t wait to dive in!

    Roseanne Wells
    The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency

IMPORTANT!
We're thrilled at the different ways those in our Pitch Wars community are giving back—and we encourage them to do so. However, please keep in mind that Pitch Wars is not affiliated with any of these various contests, promotions, etc., including those of our mentors and mentees. Promoting any such opportunities via our social media channels doesn't imply endorsement or affiliation. We encourage you to do your research before participating.

Pitch Wars takes a stand. ANTI-BULLYING. Click here to review our policy

Pitch Wars 2021

Blog Archives

Blog Categories

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.