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Workshop Report: Query Letters by Lisa Verge Higgins
At the fabulous New Jersey Romance Writers “Put Your Heart in a Book” Conference, I attended a great workshop on writing query letters.
Multi-pubbed author Lisa Verge Higgins presented a well-organized, information-packed class on how to write a polished, professional query letter that will have an agent/editor begging to read your manuscript. She calls it Get Your Foot in the Door: Writing a Killer Query.
For those who are just venturing into the crazy business of getting your book published, a query letter is the one-page introduction you write to an agent and/or editor. It describes your book in two or three paragraphs and includes any biographical information relevant to your project. It’s a bear to write, mostly because of having to do such a short summary of your 90,000-word masterpiece.
So, without giving away all of Lisa’s trade secrets (come to the conference next year!), I will share with you her excellent tips on how to write that darned book summary:
Don’t tell too much. Include just the basic premise: main characters, their motivations and conflicts, and their growth. Make it emotional! Use verbs that hit you in the gut. Include the following:
1. Hook ’em with your characters. Describe each main character in 2-3 sentences. What’s interesting/different/unique about your character and his/her goal? Pick two adjectives to attach to each character. Then pick a third adjective that contrasts with the first two.
2. How do you torture your characters? What is preventing that person from getting what he/she wants? Again use 2-3 sentences. You can use juxtapositions to show conflicts, rather than having to explain at length.
3. Choose one of the following to show the action of your book:
a) Inciting incident–what gets the conflict rolling;
b) Major crisis;
c) Point of growth–a plot point where the character decides to change.
Lisa emphasized that :
1. Your pitch should be emotionally compelling with high stakes for the main characters;
2. The “voice” or tone of the pitch should match the tone of your manuscript;
3. You should not be afraid to be creative and mix things up a bit. However, keep it professional at all times.
The great thing about writing this summary is that you can use the same pitch when you meet an agent/editor face-to-face at a conference. It’s all there!
After Lisa’s workshop, I went back to my room and rewrote the pitch for my current work-in-progress. Guess what? The first editor I emailed it to requested my manuscript! Thank you, Lisa!
Random act of spookiness
My husband was sitting in the family room last night when the doorbell rang. No one was there. However, this is what met his wondering gaze:
This may not look strange to you, but here’s the thing: those pumpkins were all intact when we put them on the porch. No evil scowl, no mustachio-ed grin. Just blank, boring pumpkins.
Some wonderfully whimsical person pumpkin-napped them, carved faces (on both sides!), returned them to our porch with candles lit, and vanished into the night.
So whoever you are, thank you for your random act of spookiness! You got us empty nesters into the spirit of Halloween!
Tree Trauma
The tree in our back yard took a sudden dislike to our fence. It hurled not one, but two giant limbs down on top of it. This is the second limb protruding through what’s left of our fence after the first limb hit it. This is taken in our neighbor’s yard, BTW.
The green plastic mesh is the temporary fix we put in to confine the dogs after the FIRST branch took out a section of fence (no photos of that one since we didn’t plan to file an insurance claim for it).
Here’s the branch from OUR side of the fence:
Can you believe our gargoyle Freddy survived? That limb hit less than an inch from Freddy’s wingtip. He was completely unscathed.
Not so our neighbor’s garage which got bashed in several places. So my husband decided the tree must go, since it was now attacking innocent garages. I was sad to see a tall old oak tree taken down but the process was quite fascinating.
Here’s Andreas the Tree Guy sailing through the branches, buzz sawing as he went:
This next picture gives you some idea of how high up he was while swinging and sawing. I can’t even imagine doing his job!
Here they take down a section of the trunk.
And here’s the bottom of the trunk. It gives you an idea of how big this tree really was.
I was glad to hear that they would sell this beautiful straight trunk and not just cut it up for firewood. I hope someone has my oak’s planks in their floor or made in a desk. Even though the tree had turned violent, I feel its trunk can become a useful member of society with the proper rehabilitation.
While the tree’s absence leaves quite a gap in my back yard, I am relieved it is no longer a threat since Hurricane Earl is supposed to graze us this evening. Who knows what the Evil Oak would have thrown at us, given a high wind at his back!
They lost!!!
I go to ONE baseball game a year. ONE!! And the Yankees lost! They are not supposed to lose when I am there. After all, this is the team who’s won 27 World Series. All I need them to do is beat the Red Sox one day this year and they couldn’t manage it. Pooh!
At least when I drag my husband to the ballet once a year, the dancers don’t actually lose. They’ve never even fallen down, although one time the prima ballerina’s strap broke and her tutu top fell down TWICE. My DH thought that was kind of entertaining.
Honestly, even though the Yankees lost, it was a fun evening. I saw the new Yankee Stadium for the first time and it is, as my DH says, a cathedral to baseball. Here are some of my pix:
Reminds you of a church, right?
This is the main entrance hall. It’s very spacious.
That’s yours truly with the field in the background.
Just three of their 27 World Series flags. But they’re not bragging or anything. I like the fact that the new stadium’s design kept the arches and vertical elements that characterized the old stadium. Even if I’m not a baseball fan, I like the sense of continuity.
Here’s Derek Jeter swinging for the fences. Unfortunately, the opposition caught it and tagged him out.
This photo is especially for my buddy Lisa, the rabid Red Sox fan.
Finally, I couldn’t resist this picture because it reminds me of my favorite scene in Bull Durham.
The first person who emails me with the topic the players were discussing in the movie when gathered on the pitcher’s mound like the Yankees gets an autographed copy of one of my books. You get to choose which one. My email is [email protected].
Can’t wait to hear from all you baseball fans!
The Rita Awards
How many of you know that the highest award a romance novelist can win is the Rita? Each year the Romance Writers of America (the largest writers’ group in the world!) honor the best books in the genre at their national conference. 
As you might imagine, the golden statuette is something every romance writer aspires to take home.
The award was instituted in 1980 when R.W.A. was founded, but was named the Golden Medallion. In 1990, the name was changed to honor two co-founders of R. W. A.: Rita Gallagher and her daughter Rita Clay Estrada. The letters also stood for “Romance is Treasured Always.
Over 1,000 novels are entered in the Ritas every year. Published members of R.W.A. (like me) are the first round judges. I look forward to the arrival of my box of Rita entries, often discovering an author I have never read before who then goes on my auto-buy list.
This year the Rita ceremony took place in Orlando at Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Hotel. It’s always fun to see the gorgeous glittery evening gowns both nominees and audience members wear.
And this year’s winners are (drumroll please):
Best Young Adult Romance:
Perfect Chemistry
by Simone Elkeles
Best Inspirational Romance:
The Inheritance
by Tamera Alexander
Best Novel with Strong Romantic Elements:
The Lost Recipe for Happiness
by Barbara O’Neal
Best Romance Novella:
“The Christmas Eve Promise” In The Night Before Christmas
by Molly O’Keefe
Best Contemporary Series Romance:
A Not-So-Perfect Past
by Beth Andrews
Best Contemporary Series Romance, Suspense/Adventure:
The Soldier’s Secret Daughter
by Cindy Dees
Best Historical Romance:
Not Quite A Husband
by Sherry Thomas
Best Regency Historical Romance:
What Happens In London
by Julia Quinn
Best Paranormal Romance:
Kiss of a Demon King
by Kresley Cole
Best Romantic Suspense:
Whisper of Warning
by Laura Griffin
Best First Book:
One Scream Away
by Kate Brady
Best Contemporary Single Title Romance:
Too Good To Be True
by Kristin Higgins
Many congratulations to all the winners! Someday I hope my name is among them.
The High Line: a park on stilts
Another adventure! My friend, Rutgers University professor Marija Dalbello, introduced me to the coolest new park in New York City: the High Line. It’s been a long time under development, but the park is now open from 20th St. to Gansevoort St. (with more to come heading north). It’s located on elevated train tracks built in the 1930s to transport freight up and down the West Side. Before the elevated tracks were built, Tenth Avenue was known as “Death Avenue” due to the large number of collisions between freight trains and street-level traffic. The last train ran on the elevated tracks in 1980.
Instead of demolishing the unused tracks, the Friends of the High Line persuaded the city to turn it into this fabulous long, skinny park. Walking it is amazing! Here I am standing on the High Line 30 feet above street level. It gives you a whole new perspective on the city…and you can catch a breeze, even on a hot day.
The design incorporates the original train tracks and the plants and grasses which grew naturally after the trains stopped running. Once the plants are established, the High Line should require little daily maintenance of the gardens.
There are decks, benches, art installations, a water feature (not quite completed yet), an amphitheater with a view of the the street below, and all kinds of other fun spaces. Marija and I encountered several photo shoots taking place on the High Line, probably because the settings are so compelling. You look across the roofs of Manhattan.
Down at the bottom of the High Line, we walked under a skyscraper which straddles the High Line. Turns out it’s a very hip new hotel called The Standard. We took a nice air-conditioned break in the lobby where the people-watching was fabulous. Even the bellboys were hipper than me (okay, not that hard but still…). Marija noticed that the ceiling above us was mirrored so here we are reflected on high.
Kudos to the Friends of the High Line for creating such an amazing urban experience! I can’t wait to stroll it again (when the weather cools off a bit).
Adventure 1 (continued)
My good friend Ellen requested more photos from my visit to New Jersey’s Grounds for Sculpture. Since I LOVE to take pictures, I just happened to have a few more to share. Thank you, Ellen, for asking. And here they are….
This tiger is one of the newest installations. There are several of the big cats roaming around the amphitheatre.
Yes, it’s Manet’s Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe in 3-D. In fact, it goes beyond 3-D to reality because the ladybathing in the background is standing in a real pond. You can walk all around it and become part of the painting.
I expected Darth Vader to emerge from this sculpture at any moment. Its real title is Dorion.
I kept hearing someone screaming for help and wondered what sculpture that was emanating from. The mystery was solved when we encountered a flock of peacocks (no hens in sight). Mother Nature is an amazing artist herself.
Here’s another example of how beautifully the sculpture and the landscaping interrelate.
Ellen, you should really try to take a trip here! You’d love it!
Adventure 1: Grounds for Sculpture
My friend Betsy and I decided we were in a rut and needed to get out of town more often. So we promised each other we would go on one adventure every month. Our first was a trip to the Grounds for Sculpture near Trenton, NJ. We set out on the New Jersey Turnpike, which is an adventure in itself, and arrived at this spectacular 35-acre spread of gorgeous landscape and 200+ giant outdoor sculptures. It’s well worth a trip if you’re anywhere in the vicinity. Here are some pix to prove it:
The Loch Ness monster greeted us as we began our wanderings. That’s not its real title, of course, but what I love about modern sculpture is that you can interpret it any way you want to.
Another cool installation in water was this head. The mist is artifically created by water jets. Her name is Leucantha by Philip Grausman.
My friend Betsy is a garden writer so she especially appreciated the landscaping the sculptures were placed in. She really opened my eyes to the incredible creativity of the plant design. You see how the plantings echo and accentuate this sculpture’s lines?
I had just been into New York City to see the Monet exhibit at the Gagosian Gallery (free! I recommend it too!) so I was struck by these real waterlilies growing by Rat’s Restaurant, which is situated in the Grounds, and where we had a yummy lunch.
Here I am participating in a sculpture called Were You Invited? It’s a boating party from Renoir’s painting. Most of the sculptures invite you to touch them. One even has drumsticks attached so you can play it!
I felt very in-the-know when I saw the horse below and said, “Hey, I’ve seen this artist’s work before…outside the Denver Airport.” Luis Jimenez’s style is pretty distinctive, especially since his horse’s eyes always glow. I remembered the giant horse from Denver in particular because it wasn’t a popular installation there. People thought it looked evil and threatening. What do you think?
I have LOTS more pictures but I think you’ve gotten a good idea of what a great place this is. Thank you, J. Seward Johnson, for creating such a gorgeous venue, and letting us stroll through it at our leisure!
Thanks for supporting Brenda Novak’s auction!
The results from Brenda’s 2010 Auction for Diabetes Research were fantastic! Thanks to supporters like you, my blog readers, the auction raised a record-breaking $285, 780 this year. That’s in a depressed economy! Clearly, readers are generous folks. This put the cumulative total donated to Juvenile Diabetes research by the auction over the $1 million mark. Pretty darned impressive!
To the wonderful person who purchased my “Indulge Your Inner Reader” gift collection, many thanks! I haven’t gotten your name and address yet, but I’m looking forward to finding out who you are.
I almost didn’t go this year…
…but then I thought of my father who served in World War II. And of my nephew who hasn’t met his new son because he’s on a ship somewhere near Iraq. And of an old, old friend whom I never see anymore, but who served as a military policeman in the Vietnam War. So I put on red, white, and blue and went to our small town’s Memorial Day parade and ceremony. And I was glad I did.
For one thing, I’m a sucker for a marching band. When the piccolos trill in Stars and Stripes Forever, it gives me chills. Although my daughter graduated two years ago, I still know many of the kids in the band, and I’m still proud of what they do. Besides, once a Band Parent, always a Band Parent.
Even more moving is seeing all the people who come to hear the honor roll of names called year after year. Most of us don’t know any of the servicemen from our town who died for our country. In fact, we don’t even know their families, but it doesn’t matter. Those soliders and sailors and marines and pilots offered up their lives so that we could live our wonderfully ordinary, safe, healthy lives. The hundreds of people of all ages gathered in front of our memorials come to say thank you every year for that tremendous sacrifice. I was glad to be one of the grateful crowd yet again.
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