Saturday, February 26, 2011

Would you pick up this book (as an agent)?

Writing that first query letter for publication seems to be a daunting task, but writing that tenth or twelfth one doesn't get any easier, from my experience - especially when none of them have worked so far. I've tried my hand at query letters to three or four different agents with online blogs, and so far, I've had no luck. Here is my current planned query for a 90,000 word science fiction novel called Lucifer's Odyssey. What do you guys think?


----------- Current version of my query letter format -------------

Lucifer’s Odyssey is a tale of gods, angels, demons, elves, goblins, mortals and immortals and their interactions in a complex, evolving multiverse – a collection of universes that result from projections of primal patterns. The story starts with Lucifer and his demon cohorts, who have been trapped on Earth for over 200,000 years by the young god Jehovah, a former demon and relative of Lucifer who has created his own universe in the outskirts of the cosmos.
The entrapped demons are waiting for an apocalypse to occur, an armageddon the demons set in motion long before they arrived on the planet, so that they can free themselves from their forced confinement and return back to their home universe of Chaos. Little do the demons know that their attempt at destroying Jehovah’s amazing creation will cause a doom upon their own universe and a series of epic battles that will forever shape the fate of every universe in the cosmos!

Writing despite distractions

I often find myself at odds with what I want to write, what I should write, and what I have time to write. My other career requires a lot of technical writing, theory, and exposition, and I find that my story-writing lacks in direction at times - often because of the months or even years that go between writing chapters or picking up a synopsis and proceeding forward with it.

This got me thinking about how other aspiring or established authors handle these worldly pressures - careers, friends, family, children, marriages, deaths, etc. How do you guys and gals find the gumption and time to piece together your novels, despite interruptions, and how long does it typically take you to smooth everything out?

For those that are full time authors, does sticking to a complete outline help? Do you even bother?