Comments on: Miriam’s Slush Week entry

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:32:44 +0000

'How many books have had a nutbar as the figure the author might want people to identify with?'

[insert Ayn Rand joke here]

By: Gilbert J. Avila

Gilbert J. Avila — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 04:50:04 +0000

I have a hard time with Bunbury as the protagonist. How many books have had a nutbar as the figure the author might want people to identify with?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:40:39 +0000

You know what? This could work if the author's willing to take her suggestions, even applying them to the book. If this was in the vein of say "The Heretic's Daughter" then the author may have something. Religous fanatic carves a path of destruction. And still the woman he desires doesn't want him. I say desires, because after all is said and done, if he realizes he really didn't love her but only desired her then that could start his moral re-birth.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:28:47 +0000

Anonymous 12.19, I think that's a good point, but it's not the point of this exercise. The genesis of this competition was precisely to see a random sampling of the slush pile, rather than particularly good or bad examples. It's nice seeing things that haven't been selected as extreme examples, and that don't really have anything egregiously wrong with them. The problem with the first three, particularly, is that they are 'meh' rather than anything that would make you run for the hills. And that's a useful lesson - if you're an aspiring author, your enemy isn't 'awful' it's 'meh'.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:19:59 +0000

So far we've seen queries that understandably would make the slush pile. (Sorry!) I think it would be just as important to see a few queries that are well written and would pique enough interest that an agent would ask for more!

By: Linda

Linda — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:51:31 +0000

Thank you Miriam for commenting. I agree with anonymous, can we pa-leeeeeze do this more ofen?

Thank you author for submitting, good luck on your book.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:13:17 +0000

Well ... it's the most ambitious one so far, you have to give it that.

I'd be tempted to ask for a chapter, just to see a story of a simple, volatile, charity running psychopath who wants to mend a broken America via agnosticism and Satan worship.

Books should be provocative, but they've also got to be coherent, and that's just flinging darts all over the map.

The best word, by the way? The best word in that query letter is 'insuring'.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:12:39 +0000

I'm beginning to see a trend here:

Less is more. Don't attempt to throw my thesaurus at you. Succinct explanations yet broad strokes relating to plot.

I'm loving slush week. Please, oh please say you'll do it more often!