aspiring creative writer

[Blount, Patricia A]

Hi, Craig,

Yes, I, too am an aspiring creative writer. 

I've written two novels so far, am up to my eyebrows in a third. 

I've submitted query letters for the first two to various agents, many
of whom requested to see portions of the manuscript, but sadly, no deals
were offered.

I'd love to talk about this offlist, especially if you get more
responses. Writing is a solo activity and I find myself wishing for
sounding boards. 

The first story was written on a dare. My teenage son was told he needs
to read more on his progress report. We did the usual parent and child
dance...he finally admitted he hates to read fiction because he can't
identify with the main characters. We challenged each other: he promised
he'd read any books I could find that were about things important to
him, like hockey and NASCAR. 

I found a series of Matt Christopher books but he said they were too
babyish. He told me if I wrote it, he'd read it and so "Penalty Killer"
was born out of these discussions. It's a story about a teenage hockey
star whose father gets into a very loud, very public argument with
another dad over their sons' game. When the other dad is found dead in
the parking lot after the game, the boy's father is immediately
suspected of killing him. The boy then sets out to find out who really
committed the crime. 

The story made the rounds among so many of my son's friends in seventh
grade that the teacher asked for a copy so she could grade their book
reports. 

Sadly, it was returned full of red pen notes in the margins. :) 

I have much to learn about developing characters and plotting but for a
first attempt, it has potential. 



Patricia A. Blount