Happy Wednesday, Everyone! I hope you are all having an excellent week so far!
We’ve got two things on the agenda today – the May Pitch Pick and today’s Would You Read It. Luckily, we’ve got something delicious and chocolatey to fortify us 🙂
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| Yum! Chocolate Cream Pie! 🙂 |
Please help yourselves to as many slices as necessary to fuel you for the morning 🙂
Now then. Let’s start with the May Pitch Pick. We had 5 terrific pitches. The pitchers all took your generous counsel to heart and have revised their original offerings. Please read the pitches below and then vote for the one you feel deserves a read by editor Erin Molta!
#1. Jesse
Daydreamer (YA/Sci-Fi)
Dr. Edwin Wallace has found the answer to one of science’s great mysteries – deja vu, revealing a clue to his visions. But as they fade with age, could the exceptionally gifted 17 year old Jackson Cooper unlock the answer to harness their premonitions for the good of mankind? When Jackson is taken by a secret military agency, he will need to rely on the bond of new found friends to help him fight his way back home.
#2. James
Story Bored (MG)
#3. Rita
Nobody Loves Roberto A. Tailbottom (PB)
#4. Kimberly
Bonjour, Remy! (PB)
Six-year-old Remy loves adventure—just so long as it never leaves the garden. So she hesitates when her parents surprise her with a trip to Paris. How can she leave all of her favorite things? It might take some convincing, but if Remy will leap into the new and wonderful Parisian culture she might just learn that beauty and her favorite things can be found in many places. They just might have different names.
#5. Sian
The Word Thief (PB)
Benedict the Vampire likes nothing more than snacking on a tasty noun. He’s on a rampage, gobbling up ‘words, whispers, songs and shouts’ until the city is silent. Who can stop him? Something furry lurking in the sewer could have the answer….
Please cast your vote for your favorite pitch by Saturday June 15 at 11:59PM EDT.
Now, onto today’s pitch which comes to us from the lovely Heather who says, “When people used to ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up I answered, “A children’s book author and illustrator.” As I grew older I thought that was too unrealistic so I majored in sociology and started working for a small business. However, I recently decided to chase that childhood dream, and started writing! Hopefully this dream comes true!”
(And I just have to sneak in with my 2 cents and say I think she’s well on her way 🙂 She wrote a terrific entry for the In Just Spring Contest, and if you go to her blog you’ll get to see some of her fabulous art… including a picture of the cat who lived in the flowerpot :))
Here is her pitch:
Working Title: The Cat Who Lived In The Flowerpot
Age/Genre: Picture Book (ages 3-7)
The Pitch: Tristan the cat lives in the flowerpot between apartments 7 and 8. He loves his human neighbors and they love him. There was just one problem. NO PETS ALLOWED! One day the strict landlady swings by for a surprise visit and discovers Tristan. He finds himself in danger of losing his flowerpot home and the neighbors he loves.
So what do you think? Would You Read It? YES, MAYBE or NO?
Heather is looking forward to your thoughts on her pitch! I am looking forward to seeing who wins the May Pitch Pick. I have a feeling it’s going to be another tight race!
Have a wonderful day, everyone! 🙂
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Thank you Genevieve! It is an outside flowerpot. You can see a few of my illustrations for it at http://heatherdentstudio.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-first-picture-book-dummy.html
Yes, I would read it. Like the idea of the cat living in a flowerpot between two appartments. It sounds like he adopted the neighbors, and really doesn't belong to anyone. But, he is still in threat of being ousted by the landlord.
Glad you enjoyed the pie, Vivian! There's plenty more in the kitchen, so help yourself to seconds… and thirds if you're so inclined 🙂 Thanks so much for your very encouraging and helpful comments for Heather! 🙂
Yes, I'd read it! A cat and a flowerpot- I'm in! 🙂
Voted! It wasn't an easy choice, though…
Heather's story sounds delightful. I'm a cat person so of course I would read it.
Maybe it's regional, but I was confused by the word 'flowerpot' and how a cat could fit in one. A flowerpot, to me, is small. Something large enough for a cat to live in I would call a 'planter' but maybe that is just me?
I also thought the second sentence could do less telling and more showing. Are there some details from the story that would help us see how beloved Tristan is?
I kind of wanted to know the name of this apartment building, especially if it is a fun/wacky kind of name. That would be more fun than just knowing he lives between apts. 7 and 8.
Wendy had a great suggestion for tightening the ending.
I also thought the title needs some work. I'm not sure what to suggest, not having read the story, but it seems a little flat to me. Even “The Flowerpot Cat” would feel more mysterious and attention-getting to me.
Good luck with the story, Heather! It sounds fun.
Thanks so much for all your helpful suggestions for Heather, Carrie! 🙂 and thanks for voting!
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Thanks for chiming in, Elaine, and I'm sorry disqus is calling you names disqus_xkUvROpuwp 🙂
Thanks for your thoughts for Heather, Pat! I agree – I find the concept charming 🙂
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Thanks for chiming in, Genevieve! How does Cupcake feel about cats? 🙂
Thanks for your thoughtful suggestions for Heather, Stacy, and thanks for voting! 🙂
And that is why we are kindred spirits, Coleen 🙂 Thanks for your enthusiasm for Heather 🙂
I thought it might be 🙂
No surprise here. She's afraid of cats.
Hahaha 🙂 Poor Cupcake 🙂 My dogs have never seen a cat, but I'm afraid if they did they'd do it a serious mischief. They think anything that runs is fair game and the game's not over til someone stops moving! A number of squirrels, chipmunks, moles, and mice have come to a bad end 😦
Thank you Pat! I'm glad you said that about Tristan because that's exactly how I wanted to portray him. Even cats who have owners often act like they don't belong to anyone. That's just how they are.
Thanks Elaine! I'm so very glad you liked it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to provide this helpful feedback. I truly appreciate it.
I can safely assure you that here in Berea Kentucky cats can fit in flowerpots. This story is loosely based off a cat I know personally who made a flowerpot her home. I've never heard of a planter before. Is that just like a really big flowerpot?
You are not the first person to say something about the title. I have had trouble finding something I really like. I will have to give it some more thought.
hahahahahahah, it's so mad at me! 🙂
I love the idea of a cat that lives in a flowerpot so yes, I'd read it. I'm a little confused about whether the cat is inside or outside though. And if it lives inside, I'm wondering how it came to live there if its a stray (though that may not be relevant to the story).
Something that might strengthen the pitch for me is a hint at how the cat solves the problem (so we know Tristan is the one that solves it and not one of the neighbors).
I love the pitch! It sounds like a darling story! I can just imagine that strict landlady!
Nice pitches this month. It wasn't easy to choose!
Thanks for your enthusiasm for Heather, Penny! And thanks for voting! It's getting harder and harder now that everyone is getting so good at improving based on feedback! 🙂
You and Meg – it's doing the same thing to her 🙂
Thanks so much, Andrea! These are good questions that I'm sure Heather will be glad to consider.
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So, now
I like the pitch even better. That's exactly the way I pictured it!
Thank you Andrea for your feedback. He is an outside cat. If you'd like to see how I've visualized it you can see some of my illustrations at http://heatherdentstudio.blogspot.com/2013/06/my-first-picture-book-dummy.html
Thank you Penny! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Wow, I'm really impressed with these pitches! Somehow I narrowed it down to two of them I liked best, and, yeesh, it was really hard to choose just one of them. They are all well done!
The flower pot cat sounds adorable! I love in an apartment that can't have pets, but I see cats in people's windows all the time and the couple above us have a small yippy dog. Our landlord must not be so strict, LoL!
Happy reading and writing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines
Thanks for voting, Laura, and thanks so much for your comments for Heather 🙂
Hmm, Heather, I'm not positive you absolutely need to address that in the pitch, but it would make it less confusing to an agent/editor who might wonder is he or is he not a pet. 🙂 As for “squatter,” you could be the person to introduce that bit of vocabulary to a whole new generation. LOL!
Well, there *was* a house for sale across the street… 😉