If you competed in #PitchMadness 2017 I would love to learn from you.
If you are willing, please post the following in the comments:
1. Title
2. Genre
3. Category
4. 35 Word Pitch
5. Twitter Handle if you’d like
Here’s Mine (greatly edited after all I learned during the week)
Title: Under Western Skies
Genre/Category: YA Sweet Romance
35 Word Pitch
When Sarah’s boyfriend dies she’s left with a broken promise and a dwindling faith. Searching for peace, Sarah travels to California where a brooding surfer challenges her heart and a Mormon missionary tests her beliefs.
First 250
My foot tapped on the floor of my cousin’s car as we wound our way down the coastal highway. I’d been waiting for this moment since my fifth grade state report on California. Despite my being sent on this trip as part of an emotional hiatus, I found it hard to not feel some excitement.
“It’ll be a minute,” Brian said, annoyed by my tapping.
He was going to college in the town that was to be my new home for the next sixth months and got the lucky job of being my chaperone. I could have stopped the tapping, but I didn’t. He should know better than to conspire with my parents.
Using my boot to make a little more noise, we continued up the canyon. It wasn’t until we reached the top that my tapping stopped and it came into view like a gigantic, blue, jack-in-the box. Even though I’d been expecting it, the sight of the Pacific took my breath away.
“What do you think?” Brian asked as I stared out my window.
The sight of the waves beating against the cliffs and the gull sailing low across the endless landscape held me mesmerized. “Is there a beach?”
Brian laughed. “Do you plan on going swimming?”
“You make it sound like its cold.”
“Sarah, this isn’t San Diego. You need a wet suit for this part of the ocean.”
I hadn’t accounted for that and turned my attention back to the sea. A short while later Brian exited the highway and wound his way down the narrow streets toward a pier.