KNOCKED OFF BALANCE - Pitcharama

Title: KNOCKED OFF BALANCE
Author: Connie MacElroy
Genre: Contemporary
Word count: 50,000
Synopsis:

Ever since a school shooting, security has been tight at Patrick Henry High School. When SARA QUINN (16) gets into trouble for her dress-code-breaking T-shirt, transfer student JAKE BARTELL, a gangly 16-year-old with mad juggling skills, comes to her rescue, only to be punished for breaking the rules. Jake is a free spirit who has just transferred into the school, but, Sara, having lost her brother to a school shooting, is obsessed with safety. Jake is fine with sensible rules, but believes fear has driven the high school to insane levels, making school life intolerable. He has suffered his own loss (his father) and thinks the town should “just get over it.”

He finds that his circus arts --juggling, parkour (a stuntman discipline with Jackie Chan-like moves), and tumbling -- is a good way to connect. Even Sara appreciates something fresh and new, especially the beauty of contact juggling. She pushes him to put together a troupe to perform at the annual school show, Illusion.

Despite the obstacles thrown up by Dean of Boys FRANK BRADY and the taunts of BOBO, (17) a leader of the school's risk takers -- who hates Illusion but loves circus arts -- Sara and Jake pull together enough people to perform. Holding them together is another matter. 

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KNOCKED OFF BALANCE (formerly REVERSE CASCADE)

Title: KNOCKED OFF BALANCE

Genre: YA, Contemporary

Word Count: 50,000

Pitch

Ever since a school shooting, security has been tight at Patrick Henry High School. When SARA QUINN (16) gets into trouble for her dress-code-breaking T-shirt, transfer student JAKE BARTELL, a gangly 16-year-old with mad juggling skills, comes to her rescue, only to be punished for breaking the rules. Jake is a free spirit who has just transferred into the school, but, Sara, having lost her brother to a school shooting, is obsessed with safety. Jake is fine with sensible rules, but believes fear has driven the high school to insane levels, making school life intolerable. He has suffered his own loss (his father) and thinks the town should “just get over it.”

He finds that his circus arts --juggling, parkour (a stuntman discipline with Jackie Chan-like moves), and tumbling -- is a good way to connect. Even Sara appreciates something fresh and new, especially the beauty of contact juggling. She pushes him to put together a troupe to perform at the annual school show, Illusion.

Despite the obstacles thrown up by Dean of Boys FRANK BRADY and the taunts of BOBO, (17) a leader of the school's risk takers -- who hates Illusion but loves circus arts -- Sara and Jake pull together enough people to perform. Holding them together is another matter. 

First 250 words

Unicycles make people laugh. They smile and clap their hands. They watch to see if you’ll fall.

That’s why I skipped the cheese wagon and pedaled off for my first day at Patrick Henry High School. I wanted to hear some cheers, and I wanted everyone to know when I arrived.

I needed the boost after the crappy way the day had started. For the first time since third grade, Mom made me pass wardrobe inspection. “It’s a new school, and they have guidelines.”

Yeah. We’re not in Baltimore anymore. Those Rocky Mountains? My first clue my friends were a millions of miles away. And guidelines? Strictures. Orders. Commandments. There had been a shooting at the school a year ago. National news. Now an inch-thick book of rules covered everything from “Jokes and Appropriate Humor” to “Manner of Dress.” Which is why I wore a plain red sweatshirt and jeans that had been ironed. This was a compromise from the button-down shirt and khakis she wanted. And marked me as a total loser.

So riding a unicycle was plain survival.

INGENIOUS DAUGHTER

Genre: YA Historical Romance

Title: Ingenious Daughter

Word Count: 50,000.

35-Word pitch: Ben Franklin dared to say it. Jane’s a better scientist than her father. Dad fights back, curtailing research and multiplying chores. Hungry for knowledge, she’s too wily for him. It’s time to marry her off.

JANE COLDEN (17) lives on the edge of civilization--pre-Revolutionary upstate New York, where natives still roam the lands. She’s hungry for knowledge, but her fate is domesticity. If her father didn’t need her to manage the household and bring in cash through her cheese business, he’d have already married her off to local widower. Since CADWALLADER COLDEN is eager to make his name as a botanist, he insists his daughter gather specimens in her “idle time.” With so many chores, she’s reluctant at first, but comes to love the work until it threatens her safety. 

BURKE (19), the nephew of a local landowner, saves her from a thief and begins to woo her. After having had a series of respectfully dull middle-aged suitors, Jane gets her first kiss from the man her father dismisses as “the landless scoundrel.” Jane, however, is more concerned by Burke’s belief that scientific work damages female minds. He makes it clear, were they ever to marry, such nonsense would be forbidden. Jane will need all her intelligence to change these two stubborn men’s minds.

First 250

The curd begins to bubble. I sing three verses of  “Milk and Butter,” and pull it off the fire. I’ll trade this batch for a tempering hook, and Poppa will never know.

Cheese fascinates me. There’s a universe to discover in texture, color, smell, and taste. And the profits from sales save me from household work.

I leave the curd and move to my test batch.

9 April 1742. The Thornton cheese has ripened three days.

I unfold a tea towel, set out my tools – a ladle, three knives, and two pike probes -- and tear the cheesecloth off the tun. I sniff.

The sour smell has sweeter notes. Accents of lilac.

I scoop up some of the soft cheese, and pour it onto a dish.

Kate clatters a pile of plates. “Miss Jane. Mr. Lewis? He told me to double the order.”

I hate interruptions, but I stop, look up, and force a smile. Kate means well. 

“Did he give you a note of payment?”

“No, Miss.”

Scoundrel. “I’ll speak to him when I’m in town.”

I select the smallest knife. As I slice the cheese, Kate places a tray next to me.

“Have you had any breakfast?” She is forever reminding me to eat. I’m not a baby. I’m almost seventeen.

“Later,” I say. Inside the cheese, a surprise. Tiny air bubbles. I pull my reading lens from my pocket to get a better look.

“And, Miss? Your father says he wants to see you. He says now.”

HOLLYWOOD REMAKE - #TheWVoice

Title: HOLLYWOOD REMAKE

Genre: Science Fiction (Adult, but PG)

Word Count: 70,000

Author: Connie MacElroy

MAGGIE SPEER, a junior exec at a consulting firm, must go back to the 30s and retrieve the creative journal of MGM's Irving Thalberg. Such tests are initiation rites for entering top management, and failure is not an option. But the timestream she enters has no theatrical films, no Hollywood as we know it.  She's stuck in the wrong 1930 and facing a Plan B assignment, entering Hitler’s inner circle and coming back with his management secrets.  Repelled by this, she pulls together the talent and creates her own Hollywood. But, once she gets things going, Spencer Tracy, Frank Capra, Joan Crawford, and other icons of the era have their own ideas. 

Maggie followed Henry into the meat locker. Chilled. She could see her breath. The amber light gave everything a buttercup look. The white tile walls had been hosed down after the accident. Maggie checked the drains. No signs of blood.

“You ready?”

She took a deep breath and shivered. She opened her bag and surrendered her keys and her phone. Digging into her wallet, she removed her drivers license and credit cards.

Henry claimed the wallet. It would pass. Vintage, with the image of an ocean liner pressed into the leather. He nodded and handed it back. Then he slowly began to circle her, scrutinizing every aspect of her appearance.

Maggie shifted her weight and felt the odd ways the clothes hung. They were custom-tailored and she’d worn 30s styles all week, but it still felt like Halloween.

“That pin has to go,” Henry said. He reached for it, and Maggie dodged away.

“It’s not authentic, Maggie.”

“This belonged to my great grandmother.”

Henry took out his smartphone and tapped. “I don’t have anything like it.”

“She lived in Germany. It will be okay.”

“Hmm.”  His face was noncommittal. “What about your stockings. Are they silk?”

“Pantyhose. But they have a faux seam in back. They should pass.”  Maggie had four pairs packed. She wasn’t going to mess with garters unless it became absolutely necessary.

“Don’t let anyone see you in your underwear.”

“I’m not planning to, Henry.”

He stepped back for one final review. Then he smiled. “You’re perfect.”

Getting to Know You

1. How do you remember your first kiss? 

At age six, I walked my heartthrob home. Suddenly, I was in a big hug. Lips touched mine. I broke loose and ran like hell. I told my older sister, and she teased me mercilessly.

2. What was your first favorite love song? 

Actually, the first song I ever bought on a record - "You'll Never Get to Heaven (if You Break My Heart)" sung by Dionne Warwick.

3. What’s the first thing you do when you begin writing for the day? 

Set a timer.

4. Who’s the first writer who truly inspired you to become a writer? 

Thanks to the encouragement of a teacher, I did Tolkienesque fantasy for my first few works, so probably JRRT should get the credit (or blame).

5. Did the final revision of your first book have the same first chapter it started with?

No, and that's despite meticulous planning before I wrote word one. That scene lingered for a while in a later chapter before hitting the cutting room floor. But I still love it. 

6. For your first book, which came first: major characters, plot or setting? 

The setting came into my brain with no warning. Soon characters started talking to me. But, when I picked up a pencil the first time, I was completely in plotting mode.

7. What’s the first word you want to roll off the tip of someone’s tongue when they think of your writing?

Wow!