Desolation Ghosts is a 65,000-word adult literary fiction novel in the vein of The Human Stain. It is set in North Cascades National Park and is about a missing traumatized female veteran with alcohol and relationship addictions who changes her mind about killing herself, but then falls off a mountain and must survive in the wilderness while park rangers battle over how much effort should be spent to locate her. The story takes place during the Covid-19 pandemic and the beginning of law enforcement reforms following the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. This book will appeal to readers who are interested in national parks, outdoor recreation, the Pacific Northwest, and the controversial issue of how emergency services treat people with mental health challenges. It includes exciting stories, based on real-life events, about using rock climbing and short-haul helicopter techniques to rescue a pack string mule who fell off a trail and a mountain climber who fell off a crag, a shoot-out and its impact on park rangers, a couple drownings, an aquatic body recovery and other sad outdoor tragedies, and funny and scary encounters with bears and other wildlife. If you like Jack Kerouac, Nevada Barr, Bree Loewen, Jon Krakauer, Michael Connelly, James Dickey's Deliverance, Matthew Quick's The Silver Linings Playbook or Scott Heim's Mysterious Skin, you may enjoy Desolation Ghosts.

Friday, October 22, 2021

Rejection

Got my first actual rejection from an agent query (usually they just ghost you). I'm not discouraged. I've heard how many rejections even famous writers have gotten. Trying to get an agent seems harder than writing the book. I've queried 21 but expect to query a couple hundred. Each one takes a surprising amount of time to find the right agency and agent within the agency and personalize the query letter. Each has different requirements, so I have different sized synopses, etc. I just changed my basic query letter because, as my friend, Mary, says, if an ad isn't working, pull it! If anyone feels like giving me feedback on my query letters or telling me which is better, it would be most welcome!


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