The Writer's Voice: Query & 1st 250 Words

GILDED FEVER (QUERY):

The California Gold Rush had promised untold things. Riches. Freedom. Life anew. Gold promised anything. Gold promised everything.

And it was all a lie.

It’s 1850, and the easy gold is gone. Sixteen-year-old Annie Duvall’s father and his mining crew are on their last legs, losing men, patience, and their sanity in the process. Desperate and out of options, Annie’s father recruits Severo, a foreigner whose mining technology has the ability to cycle through the riverbed five times faster than his men’s bare hands.

When Severo’s equipment is vandalized in the night, rendering it inoperable, he quickly points his finger at Annie. But it is not Annie who is sabotaging the mining operation, rather Keme, a mystic Indian boy whose tribe is dying at the hands of her father’s mining methods.

As Annie begins to develop feelings for a native she didn’t know were possible, she is forced to choose between the lure of gold and helping a savage destroy everything her father has worked tirelessly for. Both will tear her heart apart, but one will leave her dead.

GILDED FEVER (80,000 words) is a YA Historical novel about the California Gold Rush. This novel may appeal to fans of A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly and Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.

I am a blogger and YA reviewer for the Teen Librarian’s Toolbox http://www.TeenLibrarianToolbox.com. The blog was featured in VOYA’s Trending in Youth Culture: The Best Blogs and Sites for Youth Advocates in 2012. GILDED FEVER was also a finalist in the PitchWars writing contest. Per your request, the first 250 words are included below.

Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Cuyler Creech

Email: cuythewriterguy@gmail.com
Website: www.cuythewriterguy.com
Review Blog: www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com
Personal Blog: http://cuythewriterguy.blogspot.com/

GILDED FEVER (1st 250 Words):

Thomas Miller had never killed a soul before in his life.

He had never uttered a foul word, or even been in so much as a fight. Thomas Miller was a good ol’ boy in the eyes of many.

But it only took a sparkle. A single sparkle and Thomas pointed his gun and pulled the trigger.

Thomas bent over the man. His head was face-down in the river, a thick shadow of red coloring the water. Once he and the man had been as close as brothers, but now Thomas barely cared to remember his name. All he cared about was what was in the man’s hand.  

Thomas pried open the dead fingers. They were still warm, still covered in a layer of dirt from the day’s work. He unfurled death’s grip, and grasped what had caught his eye just seconds before he’d  pulled the trigger.

He’d been working for months. Worked so hard it seemed like this was all he knew. Like breathing or keeping his heart beating. He’d heard the stories—they all had. Stories about a rock so pretty it shone with the sun’s light. A stone that granted man’s wishes. A pebble that meant life anew.

Gold.

Gold, gold! Gold found in the great American River!

It was a story worth leaving families for. Excitement spread through the entire world like a flame to a haystack. They flocked from everywhere, coming for a taste of golden freedom. A taste Thomas craved so hard it ached.