07/10/2017
Michelle Ruiz Keil (michelleruizkeil on QT) has signed with agent Hannah Fergesen of KT Literary.
Dear Ms. Fergesen,
Thanks to your blog, I am now familiar with the term "mythpunk" which is a great descriptor for my novel. Thank you, too, for introducing me to Catherynne M. Valente's work. I just finished “Radiance” and it was amazing
All of Us With Wings is adult literary fantasy complete at 93,000 words. A postpunk mashup of European fairytale, indigenous folklore and Mexican myth, All of Us With Wings would appeal to fans of Haruki Murakami, Helen Oyeyemi and Francesca Lia Block.
Seventeen-year-old Xochi is adrift in San Francisco, alone and grieving her grandmother's death. Everything changes when she meets tween genius Pallas and her pagan rockstar family. Two months into her job as Pallas's live-in companion, Xochi would do anything to preserve the fairytale she's fallen into. Then, on the night of the vernal equinox, a riot-grrl ritual summons the Waterbabies, a pair of ancient children bound to avenge the wrongs of Xochi's childhood. No one close to Xochi is safe.
Unaware of the Waterbabies' existence, Xochi struggles to balance Pallas's needs with her own desires, but her new housemates are hard to resist. She is especially drawn to Pallas's father. Kindred in his love of motorcycles and poetry, he also shares Xochi's half-Mexican heritage and troubled past. When Pallas finds out about Xochi and her dad and the Waterbabies' quest leads to Xochi's runaway stripper mom, her childhood and chosen families collide. To save the new life she's made, Xochi must rescue the mother who abandoned her, own her complicated feelings for Pallas's father, and find a way to send the Waterbabies home before the San Francisco fog quenches their fierce magic.
Like my protagonist, I am a mixed-race Chicana who left home at seventeen and fell in love with San Francisco. I have been a Member of the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley, attended Litquake's Litcamp, and Ruth Ozeki's Hedgebrook master class. My play, “Pure Gold Baby”, was produced twice in Portland, Oregon. I am also a member of Willamette Writers.
I was recently a finalist in the Pitch America contest for Latinx authors and a few other agents are reading the manuscript. I am excited and heartened by KT Literary's support of #ownvoices writers. Thank you so much for your consideration.
Best,
Michelle Ruiz Keil