The Marvelous Adventures of Gwendolyn Gray

As my new school year kicks off, I can't help but wander back to our last day in London, sitting under the Eye, listening to street performers. This mental image is my new happy place.

The ever-generous  Michelle has set up a blog-hop for those of us poor souls who did not make it into #NewAgent. Sigh. Always the bridesmaid. And that one time literally, which was embarrassing. But anyway, here we go! My query and first 250 words. Critique away! Carve me a new one, hopefully a better one. QUERY: Dear ____________, I saw __________________, and I hoped you might consider THE MARVELOUS ADVENTURES OF GWENDOLYN GRAY, an Upper MG Fantasy. Twelve-year-old misfit Gwendolyn Gray has an overactive imagination. It causes her no end of trouble in The City, where creativity is simply not allowed. Trouble turns to catastrophe when her ideas won’t stay inside of her head and: forests spring up in the middle of the road, furry orange creatures run amok in her bedroom, and she certainly didn't mean to make that girl in class grow a pair of rabbit ears. When the popular kids chase her all the way to the edge of The City, Gwendolyn runs afoul of the Faceless Gentle...

Here is the cover for the new book, THE DROWNING GAME by L.S. Hawker, sent me by my friends over at Inklings Literary! It looks great. It is now on my to-read list. The Drowning Game by LS Hawker Release date 9/22/15 Available for pre-order now They said she was armed. They said she was dangerous. They were right. Petty Moshen spent eighteen years of her life as a prisoner in her own home, training with military precision for everything, ready for anything. She can disarm, dismember, and kill—and now, for the first time ever, she is free. Her paranoid father is dead, his extreme dominance and rules a thing of the past, but his influence remains as strong as ever. When his final will reveals a future more terrible than her captive past, Petty knows she must escape—by whatever means necessary. But when Petty learns the truth behind her father’s madness—and her own family—the reality is worse than anything she could have imagined. On the road and in over her...

For our last day and a half, we had some more literature inspired spots to hit! First off, The London Zoo, home of Winnie the Bear, inspiration for Winnie the Pooh. A.A.Milne took his soon Christopher Robin here all the time. Born in Captivity Winnie! Otterly Adorable After the zoo, we booked it over to Westminster Abbey for our tour. The cathedral is amazing. I'll give some pics, but they aren't mine, since no photography is allowed. How does this connect to literature, you ask? Well, lets take a look at some of the graves and monuments in the Abbey. Some are buried here, some just commemorated.  Though you can't see it well, this is Chaucer's grave. This is the centerpiece of what is now called Poet's corner, full of graves and monuments to famous creative individuals. Also, some other notables... One of the most notable...

Ah, Day 6: Full of fun, random, literature-related tour stops. The first day we actually had some rain! Our first stop: Foyle's Bookshop.  This place is fantastic.  Our book purchases. I finally got the fourth Fairyland book! I convinced Kori to read El Deafo on the plane (she only brought ONE book. Silly goose. After she finished it, she didn't have much choice.) This is the first comic I've ever successfully gotten her to read! And then, much to my surprise (but not without a little prompting) she decides to actually BUY a comic! For herself! I was so proud. Now, I think The Marvelous Adventures of Gwendolyn Gray would look splendid right... here. In the W's. So we leave Foyles and venture off through the rainy streets to find the Great Ormand Street Hospital. This is a children's hospital that J.M.Barrie was particularly attached to, so much so that when he died, he left them the U.K. copyright to Peter Pan. The copyright has a spe...