05/25/2014
Olivia Hinebaugh (Olivia_H on QT) has signed with agent Carrie Howland of Howland Literary.
In terms of finding an agent: I signed with an agent for my last book and it ended up not being a good fit. It was hard to leave an agent who was representing a book you love and start from square one, but I listened to my gut. And I'm so happy now with where I am.
Previous books is sort of hard to figure out. I was querying my last book for a couple months before I signed with my previous agent. Then when we split, I queried that book for another month before moving onto Leaving Peacesylvania.
Also, something I found really helpful was making a website during my query search. I wanted to be easy to find (and easy to twitter-stalk). I set up a site that had links to samples of writing (I write parenting articles) but also had pitches for all my projects. When Carrie had read all those pitches and was excited about all my projects, I knew it was a good fit.
Lark is the perfect hippie, growing up on a picturesque commune, celebrating individuality, frolicking in peace and free love. Except she can’t stop thinking that there’s more to life than permissive parents and low expectations. She wants to experience the real world and challenge herself. No more of this Kumbaya, grow-your-own-food, down-with-the-man stuff.
She rebels in a big way: public school. Despite the skeptical eyes of her family and friends back on the commune, Lark finds she actually enjoys her classes, meeting new kids her age, and even football games. She's even more surprised when meets a boy she can be serious about. Jeremiah’s genuine and kind. And a Republican. They really click, though their philosophical differences drive a wedge between them. Thankfully Jeremiah accepts her as she is.
When Lark's brother and her childhood sweetheart make a catastrophic mistake, they throw the whole commune into jeopardy. Lark finds her loyalties tested and everything she thought she could count on crashing down around her. With the future uncertain, Lark must learn to accept help and to be herself no matter the outcome.