02/26/2017
Dan Lawton (dlawton on QT) has signed with agent Mark Gottlieb of Trident Media Group, LLC.
Dear Mr. Gottlieb,
PLUM SPRINGS is a literary suspense novel, complete at 71,000 words. It’s John Hart’s The Last Child meets Stephen King’s The Body.
Two adolescent brothers seek solace in a Kentucky forest after carrying out retribution against their abusive father.
Nine-year-old Rusty Travis’s hands are callused, his palate parched, his rationed portion of murky well water already gone. He spends his summers with his older brother in their father’s tobacco field, harvesting the crop that pays for the trailer they reluctantly call home. The years of abuse and neglect have worn them thin, and they’re pushed over the edge when their father–in another one of his drunken rages–goes after their baby sister for the first time. Their response: vengeance.
Learning to deal with what they’d done is only part of the internal struggle that ensues. The forest, while presenting its own problems, offers a canopy under which the brothers seek solace. But nothing comes easily in the wilderness, and when they stumble upon a mysterious runaway orphan, the truth about Rusty’s life begins to takes shape. Secrets are uncovered about himself and the people closest to him, leading Rusty to question everything he thought he knew.
Rusty comes of age in the forest of Plum Springs, Kentucky and beyond, where he learns what life is really about. He searches the towering oak trees for happiness, love, and acceptance, and finds what he seeks in the unlikeliest of places. And his brother is right by his side as they battle with the demons that shatter their world in the sleepy town of Plum Springs.
PLUM SPRINGS is my fourth novel. My third novel, Amber Alert, was published by Solstice Publishing, whereas my first two were self-published. I’m an active member of the International Thriller Writers Organization. By day, I work as a Technical Writer in New Hampshire, where I reside.
I wholeheartedly appreciate your consideration for representing PLUM SPRINGS, and I hope to hear back from you at your earliest convenience. If you're interested in seeing a partial or complete manuscript, Mr. Gottlieb, I'd be happy to send it along.
Best regards,
Dan Lawton