My Query Letter for The Inn of the Star Crossed
I am writing this query to see whether you would be interested in The Inn of the Star Crossed, an 80,000 word Historical Fantasy Adventure taking place in the world of the Omniverse, a multiverse populated with Elves, Pixies, Dragons, Faeries, Humans and other mythical creatures including the mysterious Builders of the inn, the hub of the all creation.
Bill and Carey Impollonia, innkeepers extraordinaire, are in trouble. Their mystical, magical inn is dissolving around them; all the new furniture, technology and anything they brought with them from California is disappearing. And if that was not a big enough headache, both Carey and Bill have been cursed, turning them into a proper Victorian Lady and a proper Victorian Gentleman.
Thinking to consult with Goldemar, King of the Kobolds, they run to the Sideways Room, the room out of time, with their Pixy secretary Belle to seek refuge and find out how to fix the inn. Once there, the curse is temporarily lifted and they discover a murdered man from the Victorian Era, William S. Vanderbilt, staining the carpet with blood from a wound in his forehead caused by a Minié ball. The only problem is, with William dead, no one builds the inn. If the inn is not built, the universe softly and silently vanishes back into stardust. Bill and Carey have two choices, flee the Sideways Room through the French Doors to the ever changing and dangerously shifting lands beyond or go back and brave the inn and its dissolution.
Bill and Carey, deciding not to go out the French Doors, fly back into the inn and fight a losing battle with the curse. At the last minute, the Kobolds rescue Bill and Carey and transport them to 1861 Manhattan at the start of the Civil War. Their mission is to save William S. Vanderbilt, notorious womanizer, gambler, drunk from himself and the person trying to kill him, whoever that is.
William Vanderbilt falls in love with Carey, complicating their mission and straining their marriage. Bill and Carey take turns guarding William but to no avail. William is killed under suspicious circumstances while out hunting with Bill. Bill has to impersonate William Vanderbilt and Carey must now impersonate William’s second wife Mary Reed Chapman Vanderbilt. Founding an inn is never easy and founding a magical inn during the Civil War is almost impossible. Bill and Carey soon find out that they will have to give their all, including their marriage and their lives, for their inn and their universe.
The next book in the Omniverse Series is The Inn at Market Snodsbury, an 80,000 word historical Fantasy Adventure. Bill and Carey go on vacation to Highclere Castle, so Carey can visit her old stomping grounds and friends in England. Something goes horribly wrong and they land in the roaring twenties in the middle of Code of the Hasenpfeffers, an alien invasion, and zombies. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Carey cheats on Bill, gets pregnant and births a monster. Bill and Carey must contain the zombies and find out who or what is responsible for ruining their English Hampshire holiday and repair their marriage. A tall order in any universe.
I am an ex-Silicon Valley programmer and entrepreneur who now owns a Victorian inn, two art schools, and a chocolate factory. I write for two blogs, Life By Chocolate Blog and The Hudson River Valley Art Workshops Blog. I have also been a publisher and preferred contributor for Foodbuzz.com. I am a graduate of SUNY Stony Brook and have been a visiting professor at Harvard University. I have published non-fiction research papers in Linguistics, Computer Science, Psychology, Graphics, and Space Sciences. I have also published short stories and poems in magazines and small publications.
If you would like to see the complete manuscript of The Inn of the Star Crossed, I can be reached at 518-966-5219 or the email below. Thank you for your time and attention; I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Mark LaPolla
PO Box 659
Greenville, NY 12083
T 1-518-966-5219
F 1-581-966-8754
mark@markvincentlapolla.com
http://www.markvincentlapolla.com
or try http://www.twitter.com/MarkVLaPolla.