T.C. Kemper (MG Fantasy)
Author: T.C. Kemper (@Taylortac)
Age Range: MG
Genre: Contemporary Fantasy
Agent: Amy Giuffrida, Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
The Query Letter:
Dear Amy Giuffrida:
I’m excited to provide the full manuscript you requested following our meeting today (Query101 note: this manuscript was requested during a pitch session), and it was lovely speaking with you! I hope you enjoy my Upper MG Contemporary Fantasy, CLEMENTINE & THE CLOCK.
When thirteen-year-old Clementine said she just wanted her summer to slow down, she didn’t mean it literally. But when time stops following an unexpected visit from her elusive grandmother, she's faced with a frozen, lifeless world, void of her parents’ bickering, the thuds of her dog’s paws, and the rise and fall of the broiling Kentucky sun. Now, she must follow her vanished grandmother's instructions if she ever hopes to get the Earth turning again— starting with the ancient symbol carved into the family fishing boat.
Her grandmother’s clues guide Clementine out of the time freeze and into Tempus: Earth’s Isle of Time. With the outside world frozen, the island’s in an uproar. Its inhabitants are supposed to protect the entire past, present, and future of Earth, and their magic allows them to manipulate timelines. Being a foreigner on an island that shouldn’t exist is difficult enough, but Clementine’s arrival on the same day as the most explosive assassination in the island’s history—the murder that stopped the world from turning— suddenly paints her as the lead suspect. As an accused assassin, Clementine becomes hunted by the Tempus High Council and their army of creepy clockwork crows.
Working with a rugged fisherman, a snarky engineer, a magical steamship captain and Mother Nature herself, Clementine must outrun a manhunt and find the real killer if she ever stands a chance at returning home in a reanimated world.
CLEMENTINE AND THE CLOCK is an upper middle grade contemporary fantasy with science and climate change elements, complete at 73,000 words. It’s Salerni’s THE EIGHTH DAY meets Chokshi’s ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME with a dash of Disney’s TOMORROWLAND. I had previously queried you with a YA version of this manuscript, but CLEMENTINE has since received a full overhaul and I feel it has found its true place in MG. I hope you enjoy the read!
My writing has been published in the Journal of Conflict Management (research), The Black Sheep (satire), A Celebration of Young Poets (poetry), and various local news sources. I’m a deadline-driven daydreamer, a rescue dog mom, and an active member of the #WritingCommunity. This is my first novel, with series potential.
Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.
T.C. Kemper