Query 4: The Reader Ducks

People have been vanishing from Laura's school at an alarming rate --and once they vanish, everyone seems to forget they existed at all. Only Laura's brother seems to be immune to this effect, so when he tells her about the black doors people have been vanishing through, she just assumes he's crazy. Until, of course, she gets sucked into one herself.

So far so good.

On the other side, she finds herself trapped in a Sanctuary between two worlds, created for training people with a special gift: the ability to change reality.

Sounds weird. And I think I see a moral coming.

Supposedly she's one of them, an anchor.

A what?

But she doesn't have the powers, she doesn't have a true name,

A what?

and she does have a brother who's out to destroy the place. And what about Sharlinya, from the other world, who's anxious to break down the Sanctuary from within? If Laura can't figure out what to do, reality is going to start shattering.

This is too abstract a problem. Reality shattering? Give me some examples.

Anchors of Reality is a 30,000-word middle grade fantasy which would appeal to fans of Patricia C. Wrede, Diana Wynne Jones, and Madeline L'Engle.

Says you. As much as I like all of these authors, L’Engle is in a different league from Wrede and Jones. Comparing yourself to the greats is likely to be met with skepticism.

I've had four short stories published: two in Spellbound, one in The Leading Edge, and one in Beyond Centauri. I won second place in the Vera Hinckley Mayhew Short Story Competition for another short story in 2003. I also write and draw an online comic strip at [website], which averages around 200 hits per day and has a readership in the thousands. I've included a synopsis of Anchors of Reality here. Please let me know if you'd like to see the complete manuscript. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I'm getting a faintly funny vibe off of this letter, between "Sharlinya" and the use of what is usually an unstated, behind-the-narrative construct (ie, 'you, too, can change reality') as an overt plot device. The problem with putting your story in the same place as your moral is that people will see the moral coming and avoid it. Let's say you want to hit people with a big mallet. Do you point to the mallet and say "Look right here," and then try to whack them? No, of course not; they'll duck. You say "Look over there!" and then wallop them while their heads are turned.