Mentor Name: Trisha Leaver/ Lindsay Currie
Mentee Name: Jen Vincent
Title: HIS KISS
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Word Count: 63,000
Pitch:
Sixteen-year-old Nina Whitfield has never been kissed. Last summer, her crush, Hayden, made his move, but she panicked. Now Nina’s relying on her best friend Ev, a lip-lock pro, to coach her through her first-kiss fears. When Ev’s advice is unreliable, Nina ends up with three suitors, a heart-divided, and the need to figure out what matters most—her first kiss, making amends with Hayden, or finally following her heart.
Excerpt:
When I think of Hayden, I want to curl into a ball, hide under my bed, and forget that I ruined everything with him last summer. Almost a year later, and my heart still feels broken. I’m ready to swear off boys altogether and not torture myself anymore but then I get this text from Hayden.
“Hey heard your parents party is Saturday? You’ll be there?”
My eyes freeze in their sockets. I blink a few times, I must be imagining it. But no…there really is a text. From Hayden. I look over at my best friend, Ev, who’s sitting cross-legged on the floor, painting her fingernails neon orange. “Um, Ev?” I draw out the words, shocked.
She glances at me for a second, then goes back to painting her pinky finger. “Huh?” she says.
Pushing myself up from my chair, I look at my phone one more time to be sure it’s still there. “Hayden just texted me about Saturday.”
She stops, holding the nail polish brush in mid-air. “For real?” she asks.
There are too many thoughts racing through my head, too many emotions clamoring around – disbelief, anxiety, possibility. All I can do is nod.
“Let me see.” She motions toward my phone, and I scramble to sit down next to her, holding my phone out between us. As we read, my heart pounds in my chest.
Yes please! Query, synopsis, and full manuscript (the last two as Word documents) to ESubmissions at SarahJaneFreymann dot com please. Thank you!