The Five Randoms' Hook Contest

I'm thrilled to be one of six finalists in The Five Randoms' hook contest.  A hook is a very short summary of a book, intended to "hook" the interest of an agent.  The finalists are submitting the first pages of our books, and the winner will have her first chapter critiqued by agent Wendy Schmalz.  This is an incredible opportunity, and the competition is tough!

Here are the finalists' hooks.  I can't wait to read ALL of these books!

1.  The Book of Esther by Stephanie Boman 

http://sboman.livejournal.com/

FIRST PAGE: http://thefiverandoms.livejournal.com/6251.html

The Book of Esther: A Faerie Tale is an urban fantasy retelling of the biblical story of the same name – but the persecuted race in this version is Fae.

As a seventeen-year-old Faerie, Essie Hadassah's greatest desire is to blend in, lead a normal life and distance herself from her freaky Fae heritage.  She is part of a new generation of disillusioned Faeries no longer interested in being nature’s caretakers (an unfortunate fact contributing to the earth’s climate change).  Reluctantly competing to be the Mortal king's fiancee to please her cousin Cai who is raising her, Essie learns that the lives of the Faefolk are endangered.

Essie may be in a position to help them, but how does a girl who’s always shunned her birthright suddenly defend it?

Can Essie prevent her people from being changed into Vacants by soul-sucking Demons, ward off the earth’s environmental crisis and save herself from an impossible romance, all while coming to terms with her cultural identity?

2.  Weaver by Myra McEntire  

http://writingfinally.blogspot.com/

FIRST PAGE IS UP!  http://thefiverandoms.livejournal.com/6107.html

Emerson Cole has flushed her meds. Four years ago her parents died in a car accident and that’s when she started seeing things...swooning Southern belles, 1920’s jazz trios, Native Americans in loincloths. Medication kept her visions at bay for a while, but the side effects left her a complete zombie. Now that her "happy" pills have gone the way of the porcelain pipeline, Em’s personality is back. So are the dead - but this time one of them knows things about her - and he just happens to live in her bedroom.

3.  Crime Sketcher Case Files by Elissa Cruz 

 http://elissadcruz.livejournal.com/

Eleven-year-old Matthew Howell knows three things about solving mysteries:

1)   Keep your eyes open.

2)   Ask lots of questions.

3)   Draw fast.

People don’t always appreciate his lightning-quick pen or his talent for drawing, though.  Like Derek, for example, who is so tall and stiff when he plays baseball that Matt can't help but sketch him as a tree, or the crusty old custodian who makes the perfect model for a skeleton drawing, complete with overalls and a chain of keys.  But when Matt's best friend, Joey, has his set of ultra-collectible action figures stolen right out of the classroom and the adults at Washington Elementary don't seem interested in tracking down the thief, Matt knows he may be the only one who can solve the crime.  He sets out to help his friend and prove his artistic talent is good for something other than making enemies or earning him a permanent seat in detention.

4.  Demon in Residence by Angela DeGroot 

http://angeladegroot.livejournal.com/

 Lonely thirteen year-old Melanie is afraid. She’s afraid of the bullies at school, the ill-tempered homeless man down the road, and that her dad won’t return from his cross-country road trip to “find himself.” To make matters worse, Melanie’s fears of things both real and imaginary have aroused the attention of a fear demon who wants to literally scare her to death and consume her soul. The demon lures Melanie into his domain, plucks fears from inside her head and conjures images that transform into deadly reality before her eyes. Melanie must find the courage to believe in herself or she will die alone in the dark like she's always feared.

5.  Wolfsbane at Midnight by Joan Stranding 

http://authorwithin.blogspot.com/

Scarlet's red hooded cloak is supposed to protect her from the dangers of the forest as she gathers herbs for her grandmother's potions, but when she meets the woodcutter's seventeen-year-old son, Oren, the cloak fails to protect her from the powerful attraction between them.

Days before her sixteenth birthday, the Witching Ball grants Scarlet powers to see people's past, present, and future. Only then does she discover how dangerous Oren really is.

 Now Scarlet must decide whether to help Oren find a cure for the curse placed on him by her ancestors or seek revenge for her grandmother's death. WOLFSBANE AT MIDNIGHT is my 50,000-word version of a classic fairytale in which "Little Red Riding Hood" unwittingly falls in love with the werewolf who killed her grandmother.

6.  Spinning Coins by Barbara Quarrier Dell

SPINNING COINS is a YA time travel fantasy with a Shakespearean twist.

POLLY, an atheist, and JOY, an uber-sweet conservative Christian, have nothing in common, until a magic coin transports them to an alternate-reality 1526 Denmark.  Despite their opposing world views, the girls must work together to find a way home -- or accept that this is their new reality. Just when it seems possible that there may be a chance at the future after all, a couple of sixteenth century guys make the girls question if they even want to go home.  And an evil priest and a mob of rabble-rousing Lutherans might make it impossible.