For the Writers Voice Contest

Query letter

Dear Literary Agent,

I’d like to offer Pocket of Uncertainty, a young adult novel of 70,000 words, for your consideration.

Seventeen-year-old Jessica thinks high school would be perfect if she could catch the eye of super jock Michael Hoffman instead of shy Tyler. Michael, a sociopath in the making, pulls a prank that results in a horrible accident.  Jessica’s physical body falls into a coma while her spirit splits off to invade the thoughts and dreams of friends and enemies. She roams her school, harvesting slivers of others’ souls and unknowingly spreading everyone’s secret memories.

When she indwells Tyler she experiences not only his feelings for her, but a dream kiss that makes her question her faulty self-image. Maybe she could be the type of girl Tyler envisions – if she ever wakes up from this coma.

She pushes her way into Michael’s girlfriend, a hollow beauty with a broken soul. Jessica always wanted to be in her shoes and now she has a chance to be half of the coolest couple in school. But the longer Jessica’s spirit is split from her own body the harder it is for her to maneuver the supernatural realm.  And leaving behind thoughts of that dream kiss complicates matters. The only people who can still communicate with Jessica’s splintered soul – the two she has hurt the most – must find a way to help her before she dies, becomes a vegetable, or gets stuck being someone she no longer wants to be.

Pocket of Uncertainty is a young adult novel that explores the doubts and hesitations that most teens have about life and love, and does so from the troubled perspectives of five uncertain souls. It should appeal to fans of YA paranormal and teen romance.

I hold a Master of Arts in English and am working on building an online platform. 

Thank you so much for your time and attention.  I have pasted the first 250 words below per your submission guidelines.

Debra Chapoton

 Pocket of Uncertainty

Chapter 1 Jessica – Thursday and Friday

I’m such a bad person.

I held the knife, steadily this first time, directly over her heart. Her eyes didn't flutter open. I stayed poised waiting for that exact unpracticed moment when I would raise my arm higher, release my breath with a scream, and plunge the weapon downward with jealous rage.

Or resentful hate.

Or odious envy.

I hadn't really got hold of my circle of emotions yet. I stared at her closed eyes, waiting for a signal. She looked like my enemy. She had the same long blonde hair as Hannah. And she was pretty, just like Hannah.

And Michael would step between us at any moment now and save her.

“Jessica,” Michael whispered my name. I raised my arm. Jerked it. I felt a tingle in my shoulder like a tendon snapped or something and I half turned without meaning to.

Her eyes opened. She didn't scream and neither did I, though one of us should have. She sneered instead, rolled her eyes toward Michael and whispered the classic save me.

I slammed the knife down and let the blade flash through my palm, my fist stopping lightly a quarter inch from her chest. In the same instant Michael leaped from behind me and punched at the knife. The handle was all the way exposed. It easily flipped away and thumped on the floor, no resounding metallic clatter. Of course not. The rubber stage prop was as phony as we were. Our sixty second impromptu warm-up exercise received the hesitant applause of the other twenty-seven kids in Drama class. Then three more kids took the stage.

Update: This novel was renamed A SOUL'S KISS and is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.