Sunday, January 17, 2010

Please critique my pitch!

Blasted thing has to be not more than 300 words and you have to say soooooo much. Oh well, here's my first go at a pitch for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Please give me your thoughts and advice etc etc.   The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award has a first prize of $15 000.  So, this pitch has to hook the judges and grab their attention.  Basically, it has to be extra-special.  Ta muchly!


"Tethered to the cave wall like a dog chained to a tree, I am becoming fearful. Scared of being swallowed up by the dark, scared of being restrained, scared of never leaving my solitary confinement. But most of all, scared that when I leave the dark and enter the light, I won't be loved."

Born with a cleft lip to a mother who didn't want him and abandoned him when he was six months old, it seems that the odds were against Billy from the start. His father, Chris, a soldier in the US Army is forced to quit the army and take care of the small baby. From the beginning, Chris and his son Billy, lack the support of family and State Departments. Forced to go it alone, Chris struggles to balance single parenthood with his social life. He makes some wrong choices and poor decisions which impact on the young Billy's life.

Chris develops a relationship with Billy's caregiver, Stella, who turns out to be mentally unstable. He catches her abusing Billy and moves out of her home. Stella starts to stalk Chris and harass him at both work and home. Things go from bad to worse for Chris and Billy. Chris begins to fear that their lives might be in danger. With nobody in authority to turn to, Chris is forced to come up with a plan for Billy and him to escape Stella for good.

In THE CASE OF BILLY B, each chapter is written from a different point of view, and falls into the same genre as the novels of Jodi Picoult and Anita Sheve. THE CASE OF BILLY B looks at our need for love and acceptance. The author escaped from an abusive situation and survived to write a self-help book on abuse.

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