Still plugging away on my new trilogy! First drafts of Book 1 and 3 are done; I’m halfway through Book 2 and should have it done by the end of the month. If homeschooling doesn’t do me in first!
I’m considering seeking an agent. In past years, I’ve merely dabbled at talking to agents. But this trilogy has me excited about taking a new path. Last fall, I submitted the following to a friendly and well-known agent:
The Secrets Within Us is a contemporary romance novel of approximately 72,600 words.
“They say few people can remember anything that happened to them before the age of 3, but can the trauma of being kidnapped lie buried for 24 years? At 27, Jacob Redmond has already seen enough tragedy to fill a lifetime: father dead, mother in a long-term coma. When he meets the charming and practical Penny Travis, he thinks things are finally getting better–until the headaches begin. How can the woman of his dreams be the force behind his nightmares? It might be because Penny is the key to a past Jacob doesn’t even know he has. A past where his new girlfriend unwittingly played a part in a crime that has defined Jacob’s entire life.
“Penny is broken-hearted that the school her late father created has been lost to foreclosure, largely due to the embezzlement committed by her loser ex. Discouraged and lonely, she can’t help her attraction to the sharp real estate attorney representing the new owner, despite his ’enemy’ status. When Jacob’s dreams reveal a startling similarity to the unsolved abduction of her childhood playmate, Penny must decide if she is willing to follow him into the rabbit hole of his nightmares and help bring the truth to light.
“As Jacob’s mother stirs from her deep slumber, secrets begin to unfold, secrets that shake Jacob’s world to its core. Can he accept the heartbreak of the past and move on with his newfound love? Or will the truth destroy his ability to find happiness with Penny?”
The Secrets Within Us is the first of a three-book series about three siblings, all adopted, each whom must delve into their hidden pasts to solve present-day mysteries. The plan is for the three books to have overlapping timelines and crossover characters—with the intent that they can be read in any order
The agent liked my query, and asked for a decent sized partial. Her response:
“Thank you for sending me a portion of your manuscript. I enjoyed reading it.
“While I think the story concept is excellent, I wasn’t clear from the early chapters what this was- is it a romance? Is it a mystery? It didn’t feel like it was following the conventions of either genre and I think editors will expect to have a clearer sense of that in the opening pages.“
So, I am naturally concerned. I immediately thought, “I need to beef up the romance!” Of course, I did market the work to her as a romance novel, and she is a romance agent. But I am anything but a formulaic writer. I don’t follow standard romance tropes or pre-set story arcs. Do these books all have a HEA? Yes. Is the romantic relationship important to the story? Absolutely. Does the relationship provide the main or biggest conflict/challenge to the characters? That’s a toss up. At some point in each story, the H/H join forces to solve the external conflict.
I took some time to research the romance vs mystery challenge, and got all sorts of opinions. Oh, and don’t forget the ubiquitous “romantic suspense.” I think I need to pour a cuppa and ruminate.