Query Letter
Dear ________________,
A Light in the Dark is a 117,000-word Young Adult novel that is Blood and Bone meets The Girl of Fire and Thorns, set in a world where fourteen year old Catherine and her two siblings are faced with the quest to recover the hidden Shards of Grace before the prophecy of the Willow’s Rain destroys all life.
Catherine never asked to save the world. Shipwrecked and orphaned with her two siblings, she has tried to live a normal, quiet life, caring for what is left of her family, but her fate refuses to be silent. Catherine feels the pull of forces beyond her understanding, but chooses to ignore them in favor of building a life of simplicity. Younger sister Abby dreams as she reads the old storybook Catherine has put down, one of the only clues to their past. Older brother Nathan broods, suppressing the secret that he knows who they truly are.
One day, Abby’s stuffed bear awakens to reveal the truth of the children’s lineage. They are the last of a lost race and the only ones left who can find the Shards of Grace and stop the end of the world. Abby desperately wants to help, but Catherine refuses. Driven by passion to find their mother, Nathan leaves in the middle of the night, leaving Catherine with a terrible choice. Is she going to keep her family together, or allow them to be torn apart?
Her quest is made harder when the ship the three siblings stow away on is wrecked far out at sea. When she awakens on a mysterious shore, full of monsters she’s only ever dreamed of, Catherine must confront the reality of her fears of losing her family. Reuniting them will mean confronting her fate and force her to answer the ultimate question, is she going to save the world, or is there anything left worth saving?
A Light in the Dark was written for my two daughters as a way to share with them truths about life and the difficulty of making choices when faced with, what can feel like, superhuman obstacles. The land of Noleva has grown out my years as a psychologist and is blended with classical influences, offering young readers both a high-stakes fantasy and opportunities to explore resonant truths about resilience, embracing yourself, the power of connection, and finding inner peace. This is my debut novel, with series potential.
Thank you for considering my work. I’d be delighted to send you the full manuscript of A Light in the Dark.
Sincerely,
Jeff Lovelace
(413) 265-1715
Instagram: @jeffreylovelacewrites