Query

Dear [Agent]:

I have completed a 140,071 word young adult fantasy novel entitled Cutlass, and I hope you might consider it 

for publication.

The last place Barren should be is in Maris (a port town with a government notoriously against pirates) the noose around his neck only solidifies that fact. As Barren awaits death at the hands of his brother, William Reed, the last thing on his mind is the afterlife. At this moment, Barren’s only concern is the map he doesn’t have, a map to his father’s lost treasure.

This treasure, however, is not what Barren expects. It is not gold or silver, jewels or pearls but a terrible weapon of dark magic forged in an attempt to kill Barren's father. However, years after his father's death, the device still lives and kills. Barren must find it and destroy it in order to save his wife and the entire Elvish race it is killing. But destroying a device of dark magic only proves to be more difficult for Barren, especially when a curse of death comes over any who succeed in destroying the device.

I won first place in the Eastern Oklahoma Writing Contest in 2005 and I attend the University of Oklahoma on a Gates Millennium Scholarship.

Please notify me if you are interested in reviewing my complete text for possible publishing considerations. Thank you for your time, and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Sincerely,

Ashley Nixon




Tell me what you think! It took me forever to get to this version...and I liked it a lot initially, and now I'm not sure it's working. :/