Thursday morning I leave for the American Christian Fiction Writer’s Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. I’m excited, and I have two books to pitch. I’d love to have feedback on improving my pitches.
The first novel, probably my first choice to pitch, is a historical with strong elements of romance, suspence, and adventure. It’s called Red Sky Over America. Here’s my elevator pitch.
In 1857, America is the daughter of a slave owner. But she’s also an abolitionist and a student at Oberlin College in Ohio, the only multiracial and co-educational college in the country before the Civil War. Oberlin is in the center of the abolitionist movement. America goes home to Kentucky during school break to confront her father about freeing his slaves. William, a friend and Oberlin student, goes to Kentucky to preach abolition to churches that condone slavery. America and William find themselves in the center of the approaching racial storm and may not live long enough to return to Oberlin.
My next novel is a historical western adventure I’m rewriting as a young adult novel. It’s called Forks In The Road. Here’s the pitch.
We all have forks in the road that affect our lives. For two brothers, Joshua and Jonathan Jackson, those junctions begin during the Civil War when their world crashes around them. Quantrill’s raiders murder their family and leave them orphaned and at the mercy of an abusive man. They escape and head West but find that life is hard when you’re young with nowhere to go. At every fork, they make the wrong choice, leading down the road, where by the time they become men, they will spurn their upbringing and end up as train robbers. But they will find God’s grace goes further than they ever thought possible.
So any comments or suggestions are appreciated.
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