Query Tracker: How long have you been writing?

Lisa & Laura: We started writing together in July 2008. Before that we were just sisters who loved to read.



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

L&L: There are loads of times when one of us feels like giving up, but the beauty of being part of a writing team is that usually one of us is feeling confident. We fell in love with writing after we finished our first book and we made a pact that we wouldn't give up until we're published. Bottom line, we're in it for the long haul.

QT: Is this your first book?

L&L: No, this is our second book. We shelved the first after racking up an impressive number of rejections.



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

L&L: We started outlining and plotting the book early January and got our first offer of representation the first week in March.

QT: Do you have any formal writing training?

L&L: No.

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

L&L: Not really. When we're writing a first draft typically we shoot for one chapter a day. For example, Laura will write a chapter and send it over to me. I'll edit the chapter that she wrote and then write the next chapter and send it back to her. We just keep going back and forth like that until the book is done.



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

L&L: We sort of edit as we go and then we each did one extensive round of revisions after we finished the first draft, incorporating feedback from beta readers as we went. We submitted that draft to agents. And now we're just wrapping up our first round of revisions with our agent.



QT: Did you have beta readers for your book?

L&L: Yes, we had 3 beta readers. One reader is a good friend of ours, who doesn't write and reads purely to make sure the plot works and to ensure that we haven't made any major mistakes. We also had two writing friends who gave us more detailed feedback. In addition to that, we entered Miss Snark's First Victim's Secret Agent contest. The feedback we got on our first 250 words was priceless.



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

L&L: We live and die by our outline, but we outlined the book in acts. We started off by outlining Act 1, then we wrote all the chapters. And then we oultined Act 2 and wrote those chapters and so on.


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

L&L: We sent our first query out September 23rd and we're still getting rejections on our first book! For our second book we sent out our first query February 23rd and had our first offer of representation on March 4th.

QT: About how many query letters did you send out for this book?

L&L: We sent out 16 queries total.

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

L&L: We were very selective about the agents we queried for the second book. Many of them had requested fulls or partials of the first book and had asked to see future work. The others were agents with solid reputations and good sales.



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

L&L: No, we didn't tailor queries except to note if the agent had asked us to send future work.



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

L&L: Don't give up! Keep writing, keep getting your work out there and most importantly listen to all of the feedback that you get from agents and fellow writers. Not to say that you have to make every edit that's suggested, but usually there's a grain of truth in any criticism. Find it and address it.



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

L&L:

Kate Lowry didn't think dead best friends could send e-mails. Not even on the anniversary of their disappearance. Of course, that was before this message from Grace appeared in her inbox:

Kate,
I'm here…
sort of.
Find Christian.
He knows.
I shouldn't be writing.
Don't tell.
They'll hurt you.

Most girls would ignore the warning and go straight to the police.

But Kate isn’t most girls.

Instead, she decides to channel Nancy Drew, pearls and all. Of course, Kate’s pearls are faux, her skirts are way shorter and she’d take everyone's favorite teen detective in a girl fight, but you get the idea.

The e-mails continue and Kate’s quest to solve the mystery takes a dangerous turn when her confrontation with Christian, Grace’s addict brother, almost gets her killed. Good thing she finds a couple of knights-in-(not so)-shining armor in sexy bad boy, Liam, and her awkward neighbor, Seth. Armed with her newfound sidekicks, the investigation continues, uncovering a secret lurking in the halls of their elite private school that threatens to destroy them all.

Kate knew finding Grace wasn’t going to be easy, but figuring out who to trust is more difficult than she ever could have imagined.

After all, everyone’s a suspect.

FINDING GRACE is a 53,000 word YA Mystery. Upon your request, we are prepared to submit the complete manuscript. We look forward to hearing from you.