08/26/2012
Kate Pawson Studer (katpaws on QT) has signed with agent Marlene Stringer of Stringer Literary Agency.
I first came up with the idea when I thinking about all the young adult novels with protagonists who think they're human but then discover they're something else. I really wanted to turn that concept on its head and explore a character who was raised knowing that she's a sorcerer, but for some reason, is unable to do any magic.
Dear Super Awesome Agent,
November "Ember" Edwards is not a witch. She can't successfully perform a single spell, which would be a total non-issue except that everybody else can. Ember is what The Ravendale Finishing School for Young Sorcerers labels a "dud", a weak link in the gene pool, and it's sink or swim when she and a group of fellow non-graduating students are led into the woods for the post-academic culling, an annual event that pits the duds against a series of so-called natural disasters, forcing them to either summon their latent magical abilities or die trying.
Thankfully, Ember is not alone. Her boyfriend Ren Hargrove is also a dud, and Ember thinks they have a good shot at surviving if they stick together. But first, she'll have to find a way to get Caden Rowley, the mysterious stranger who turns up in the woods, out of her mind, a task that's much easier said than done when he causes her to feel the first sparks of magic she's ever known—something she's learning she can't live without.
I’m seeking representation for my dystopian young adult novel, Unnatural Disaster, which is complete at 63,300 words. I graduated with an Honors Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric and Professional Writing from the University of [redacted]. I'm currently on maternity leave from my position as an editorial assistant for [redacted].
Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
Warm regards,
Kate Pawson Studer