OK, folks, I’ve got another exciting update for you today! The book is complete, my beta readers have gone through it a second time, the synopsis is done, and I am ready to send out the query letter (below) to agents and publishers!
Firstly, what a privilege to read such a warm, smart book. It’s very moving and its themes of family and friendship are very strong and I think that the group has strong chemistry. The characters are stellar and act like real people, and they fit immaculately into their settings which are almost characters themselves. I think the text has a great flow and it’s very strong.
Early beta reader review
This is the most anxiety-inducing part of the process. Very few people can imagine how it feels to pour your heart and soul into something for four years only to have someone you’ve never seen or heard dismiss the whole thing with a casual, “Sorry, this isn’t trending.” Scratch that: this represents more than four years of my life; it represents my ENTIRE life, because I honestly could never have written this book without a lifetime spent learning how to write it.
I learned the hard way that agents and publishers only care about what people are reading TODAY … and I think The Stargazers’ Daughters delivers on that front. While it may not fall neatly into the romantasy genre, I am confident young readers will adore it. The story is far more character-driven and heartfelt than anything I’ve written. It has all the charm and whimsy of a Studio Ghibli anime film, and my youngest daughter assures me that, “It’s impossible to read this and not fall in love with the characters.”
With every title I’ve released, I learned a great deal, not just the art of storytelling, but the business side of selling to readers. Ages of Aenya remains a great book, and I still stand by it, but I now know it has limited appeal. It’s a book for fans of pulp action/adventure serials like Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and H.P. Lovecraft. Fantasy fans wanting the next A Song of Ice and Fire were bound to be disappointed. In other words, AoA wasn’t “trending.” The same could be said about The Princess of Aenya, a book I’m most proud to have written. But again, how many people remember or care to talk about the novels that inspired it: The Last Unicorn or The Neverending Story? The Feral Girl is my most popular title to date, a top seller, but despite strong feminist messaging, it mostly appeals to adolescent boys titillated by the thought of a naked girl running around the jungle.
Agents hold all the keys, and publishers guard all the gates. If I am lucky, this query will be the key that opens the door to my future, allowing Lilliea and Rose to live on in the minds and hearts of readers the world over. But even if they are rejected, I AM NOT GIVING UP on this series. I can’t give up because at 51 years old, I am quite literally OUT OF TIME. I plan to do everything in my power to promote The Stargazers’ Daughters, roam the country with books in my trunk, shout about it from the mountaintops, invest heavily from my life savings, you name it … to make these characters a household name because, goddammit, this book is better than half the shit at Barnes & Noble, and I aim to prove it.
Now, without further ado, I give you the dreaded query letter (below).
Dear _____________________
Thank you for the opportunity to submit my query to your agency/publishing house. THE STARGAZERS’ DAUGHTERS is a YA fantasy/adventure similar to _______________________ and, I believe, a perfect fit for your company. It is inspired by Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass but with the irreverent humor of Matt Dinniman’s Dungeon Crawler Carl, the whimsy and charm of a Studio Ghibli film, and the magic and wonder of the Witch Hat Atelier manga series.
THE STARGAZERS’ DAUGHTERS explores the concept of the multiverse in a way we haven’t seen before. It asks the question: what if everything we imagine, every world we can dream up — is REAL — given infinite space and time? In this story, Lilliea Graton discovers just that.
It’s hard enough being the stargazer’s daughter, harder still when everyone thinks you’re an insufferable know-it-all. And having Rose for a sister—an eight-year-old with an overactive imagination and a frog for a pet—is no picnic either. The sisters’ lives take a dramatic turn, however, when a comet blazes across the noonday sky, throwing the superstitious townsfolk into a panic. While their father, Mathonway, assures the hysterical mob that the world isn’t about to end, for Lilliea and Rose, the world is about to do just that. That fateful night, Mathonway is whisked through a magic doorway, never to return, and the sisters are swept into an adventure full of danger, magic, and cosmic mystery. To save their father, Lilliea must question everything she knows about the man who raised her and the nature of the universe itself.
Halfway through writing THE STARGAZERS’ DAUGHTERS, I was diagnosed with leukemia, and my own daughters, who inspired Lilliea and Rose, also risked losing their father. As I recovered, I began to think more deeply about family, parenthood, and the stories we tell ourselves. The message I most want to share with this book is quoted by Lilliea’s father, who tells her:
Above all else, do not neglect your sense of wonder, for wonder is the key to all things.
I’ve honed my craft for over 30 years and earned my BA in English Literature from the University of South Florida. Since then, I’ve built a devoted fan base for my earlier novels, and I hope to enchant young and old readers alike with my latest story. Having quit my day job, I plan to tour the country to promote THE STARGAZERS’ DAUGHTERS, and I hope to partner with you on this venture. I truly appreciate your time and consideration.
The Art of Storytelling 
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