WIP IT GOOD

Today I offer for you my contribution as part of the blogfest inspired by the musical group Devo and their catchy song WHIP IT.  Elise Fallson and I are putting the song title…or rather a slightly altered version of it…to good use by encouraging participants to enlighten the blogosphere about their most recent [W]ork [I]n [P]rogress.  Guiding you through the process are a few prompts we came up with to answer in your own post, along with the opportunity to solicit CP’s (partners who exchange material for detail critique – usually chapter by chapter) or Beta Readers (test readers who read entire manuscripts and offer broad opinions)  if you’re looking for that.   

Without further ado, here are the details about my most recent project:

WIP Title:  Moving Fear (tentative)

Word Count (projected/actual so far): 62,500

Genre: YA Horror

How long have you been working on it?: Ten months. First draft complete, about to begin revisions.

Elevator Pitch (if you came across an agent in an elevator ride, what couple of lines would you use to summarize your book):  I have a book that has the look and feel of Kendare Blake’s ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD, the dread and intensity of Stephen King’s IT, and the mystery elements of THE HARDY BOYS.  In it, I pit my sixteen year loner protagonist against a demon who has been destroying families for centuries…specifically families who have just completed a move…by taking possession of a family member and terrorizing the household for a period before finally taking their lives.  Now it has found a victim in my hero’s family and he must figure out who it is, and a way to save them, before it’s too late.     

Brief Synopsis (300 words or less):  We are a planet on the move.  In the United States alone the average American moves 11.7 times in a lifetime.  The length of an average move approximates the distance from New York City to Des Moines, and involves 6,900 pounds of possessions.  It is one of those times when we are most vulnerable, and in people’s lives moving is the third most stressful event, behind only death and divorce.

That’s why IT chooses them.  That’s why IT has remained unnoticed for so long.

To hear other people tell it (including his own family), Chace Gidden is nothing but a sixteen year old military-brat...emphasis on brat. The constant uprooting and moving from state to state and school to school has left him withdrawn, bitter, with a tendency to act out following each of his father’s transfers.  But that was before, and as the saying goes…be careful what you wish for.  It appears his family is finally settling down, but only after losing his mother to cancer and a prank-gone-wrong tragically sentenced his younger brother to life in a wheelchair.  Now Chace finds himself in unfamiliar territory, attempting to make amends for past behavior and doing what little he can to help mend his broken family.

The move to Ox Bow was intended to be a fresh start, but unbeknownst to the Gidden’s something else has moved in with them.  The appearance of a mysterious black box in Chace’s room begins a chain of events that have repeated for centuries. Inside awaits an ancient evil, a demon that has chosen one of the Gidden’s as its next vessel to do its bidding.  It falls to Chace to do what no one has ever done before, figure out who that is and find a way to defeat the entity without killing its human host. His only help comes by way of the socially inept boy next door who’s desperate to make a friend and the girl who’s reluctant to let that happen.   But time is running out for the three of them as the malevolent force draws closer to obtaining the two things it hungers for most, mortal fear…and fresh souls.

Are you looking for a Critique Partner?  I already have a really good one, but the two of us might be interested in expanding.  Leave a note if you’re interested and we’ll see.

Are you looking for a Beta Reader? Definitely, after I finish my next round of revisions.

Please check out the other participant’s WIP’s from the list below.