Firefighter, writer, father, husband, by day… and by night. Award-winning author of SciFi and Fantasy where the worlds are never what they seem.
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ALT Wild Abandon 57k upper mg contemporary Pax x Hoot x E.T.
ALT Pitch Three years: that’s how long it’s been since Garrett Lowe’s dad abandoned the family. Three days: that’s how long it’s been since his beat and only friend moved across the country. Three hours: that’s how long he’s been hiding a red panda in his bedroom. All 12 year old Garrett wants is a friend. Too bad he’s starting 7th grade as a loner with bullies on his back. When Garrett ditches the 1st day of school he finds something he shouldn’t - a den for exotic anima trafficking. He rescues an endangered red panda, determined to secretly protect it I. His bedroom, but his life is threatened by the traffickers who want the cub back. Garrett must decide who he can trust and what it actually means to do the right thing.
ALT Themes and Elements Abandonment and loneliness Bullying Friendship Enemies to friends Blended family Sibling relationships Rag tag team of kids Trust & betrayal Wildlife conservation Art (drawing and music) Animals (non-pov/non-speaking) Lying for the greater good vs self-preservation
ALT Opening lines Seventh grade wasn’t supposed to start like this. It was supposed to be an exciting new beginning, but it felt like a goodbye. Farewell, Santana Elementary. See ya, summer! Garrett Lowe hated goodbyes. He was no good at them. He hated mushy feelings and forced hugs. He hated awkward parting words and being left behind. He’d had enough goodbyes to last a lifetime and he wasn’t even a teenager yet.
ALT A pitch deck slide for Sleeping Dogs Lie, a Sapphic thriller by Ellie Rhymer The background sets the mood: a crescent moon rises over crowded conifer trees, as if we are deep in the forest somewhere. A handwriting font adds asides to the following pitch: Everyone in the group chat dies x The Hunting Wives. Maureen is a struggling journalist who got out of Hometown, USA. She never intended to return to the small town of dark pasts, but when the former “it” girl at her high school goes viral, Maureen finds herself becoming more and more obsessed with Lacey’s mommy vlog and the investigation into the disappearance of her teenage son. Lacey never let a little thing like the truth stop her from recording content for her followers, but when her son goes missing, she wields her platform like a cudgel through Hometown to uncover what really happened to him...or is her distress just another performance? #QuestPit Querying 2027. "Dark, moody mystery" "I'm obsessed with her (unhealthy)"
ALT Fantasy mood board for Kitsune Bound, divided into white and black halves. Pink text reads, “Magically bound… within feet of each other.” Nine images combine half-human and half-animal faces, including a cow, elf, horse, eagle, cat, dog, plant, squirrel, and goblin. At the center are an illustrated dark-haired girl and a white-haired, fox-eared boy with nine flowing tails against a pink background.
ALT Book cover for WAKE: Maelstrom Book 1 by Jessica DeLand. Against a swirling purple, star-speckled background, a red-haired ballerina in a black leotard and pink pointe shoes curls inside an intricate gold geometric teardrop symbol, her wrists bound behind her. A sweeping blue-and-rust feather curves along the left side. The title WAKE Maelstrom Book 1 appears in white lettering across the top with Jessica DeLand in white at the bottom.
ALT Book covers of similar fantasy novels, including The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, Legends & Lattes, House of Frank, and Can't Spell Treason Without Tea.
ALT list of tropes: Magic Mythical creatures Medical setting/Epic background setting Mental Health Awareness Self-discovery Found family Quirky characters Slow-burn friends-to-lovers LGBTQIA+ Betrayal Good conquers evil
ALT Publisher's Marketplace deal report for the novel.
ALT Suggestion to subscribe to substack for more exclusive content related to the book: https://substack.com/@authormichaelvalentour
ALT Cover illustration for The Father of Shadow and Death
