Kendra Highley recently signed with agent Shana Cohen at Stuart Krichevsky Literary Agency, Inc. Thank you Kendra for agreeing to this interview, and good luck with your book.

QueryTracker: Can you tell us a little bit about the book for which you’ve found representation? What inspired you to write it?

Kendra Highley: I've written an urban fantasy/adventure for young adults about a high-school freshman forced to hunt monsters for the military. I wrote it for my son and his friends, as something fun to encourage them to read.



QT: How long have you been writing?

KH: For fun, since elementary school. But I've been writing seriously, with an eye toward publication, for the past few years.



QT: How long have you been working on this book?

KH: It took ten months from start to finish.



QT: Was there ever a time you felt like giving up, and what helped you to stay on course?

KH: Every day. What helped me was my awesome online critique group. The friends I've made there are very supportive and we encourage each other to keep going.



QT: Is this your first book?

KH: That I've written? No. That I felt comfortable enough to query? Yes : )



QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

KH: I have a BA in English Literature from the University of Oklahoma



QT: Do you follow a writing "routine" or schedule?

KH: I try to write every day. It may just be my blog, or a short story, but I feel better if I write something each day.



QT: How many times did you re-write/edit your book?

KH: Three major writes/edits (including rests), two runs through my critique group and countless small polishes.



QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

KH: Yes, three teens and an adult who works with teens



QT: Did you outline your book, or do you write from the hip?

KH: A little of both. I tend to write the first three or four chapters organically, then write the ending. After that, I work through getting from point A to point B, but I'm flexible if the story takes me in a new direction.



QT: How long have you been querying for this book?

KH: I queried this book for four months.



QT: On what criteria did you select the agents you queried?

KH: I looked for agents that repped YA and Middle Grade, then I looked at their sales to see if my book would fit what they repped.



QT: Did you tailor each query to the specific agent, and if so, how?

KH: Yes. I tried to learn what I could about each agent, then included a small note that "I selected you because..."



QT: What advice would you give other writers seeking agents?

KH: Keep trying, and don't let the rejections get you down. All it takes is one yes, and it may take dozens of "no's" before you get to that one yes.



QT: Would you be willing to share your query with us?

KH:

When fourteen-year-old Matt Archer is forced to kill a strange beast in the woods to save his uncle, he discovers monsters are real, lethal, and living in Montana. But that's not the half of it. Turns out Uncle Mike hasn't told him everything about his time in Army Special Forces. By slaying the creature with a strange knife he finds in his uncle's backpack, Matt is accidentally marked as a monster-hunter. The military then recruits him to join a covert unit of Green Berets whose sole mission is to eliminate walking nightmares.

There's just one problem--his mom can't find out.

Worried about being discovered and forbidden to fight, Matt begins leading a double life. By day, he goes to school like any other freshman, crushing on the cutest girl in class, braving the school cafeteria, and learning algebra. By night, he sneaks out of the house to stalk eight-foot-tall beasts through the forest. All this insanity leaves him wondering which is harder...hunting monsters or asking Ella Mitchell for a date?