Caribbean Christmas Pictures

It's the holidays, and I know that for most folks that means lots of snow and cold weather. I, therefore, thought it would be nice to share a touch of Caribbean warmth with some photos taken around my home of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. Credit for these images should be shared with my coworkers, Ms. Anne-Marie Gibbs and Mr. Halston Francis, since most of these images were taken while I was on the job and the camera would be shared between the three of us. Enjoy!

Glass City Query

Boy, it’s been a while. Sometimes the real world gets in the way, not to mention a lack of internet access at home. I’m back, though, and hopefully I can make my posts a bit more regular here.

I’m borrowing some sound advice from our good friend(s) over at Query Shark. To quote from her post #125 which is linked here: Query Shark #125

“Remember the formula: Who is the hero/heroine? What choice does s/he face? What are the consequences of that choice/not making the choice. That's what your first paragraph should cover.”

I’ve since had my own query looked over by a number of my friends at the online writing community of which we are members and they’ve helped me, along with the guidance from Query Shark, to get it pretty darn close to where I think it needs to be.

Here’s my current query letter (247 words). Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Dear Mr. XXXX:

Glass City is an island metropolis off the eastern seaboard that hides a dark world beyond its guise of transparency. June is a photography major returning to her prodigal home to attend the university at the beckoning of her childhood boyfriend. She doesn’t know that he is a minion of the city’s vampire brood with plans to recruit her for her potential abilities. After her transformation, she hopes to confide in David, one of her nerdy floor mates, but he has his own problems to face when his soul is ripped from his body by a coven of warlocks to make him into a reanimated homunculus slave. The city’s werewolf pack is also on the move to increase its numbers, forcing June and her new vampire family to go on the offensive. The warlocks take advantage of the chaos run amok in the city and initiate their ultimate plan to revive their demon patriarch.

June is torn between saving her homunculus friend, befriending a new werewolf recruit, and forcing a renegade warlock to face up to her crimes, all while attempting to determine what her new identity should be. Is she a deadly vampire assassin, or can she still be June? This unlikely crew of mongrel creations must survive the chaos created by their respective clans if they expect to escape the darkness of this blood diamond of a city.

GLASS CITY is an urban fantasy novella complete at 40,000 words. I thank you for your consideration.

Nicholas Mena

[contact information]