All Night Images Literary Agency, LLC
Dear Miss Jessup,
Thank you for submitting your manuscript. We found it enveloped the depths of despair and reservoirs of courage you clearly have some experience with. It is compelling and evocative, and a triumph of the human spirit under severe adversity.
The excitement and drama that comes with love and danger struggling against a dictatorship is clearly described in your attempt to flee to Mexico with your lover, whom you had only met in the underground after the execution of your spouse by what you call “the white nationalist militia”.
The characters, or people you describe, are brought to life in vivid descriptions. Loved the story of how Lydia and her two cousins hid you in the bodega for weeks as what you describe as “the Christian Taliban fashioned after a Chinese Communist Block Committee” swept the neighborhood. Gripping. Though have you considered changing your description of your assailants to “the gay, left-wing immigrant hoards”? It would make Lydia’s refusal to give you up even after her first cousin was taken that much more beautiful, tender, and brave.
Your account of the gang in the Ohio railyard – first their attack, then their tenuous alliance – followed by the drama of being kidnapped in a self-driving car, is filled with terror and pathos. Corky, the gang leader, was particularly well-drawn. You could see how his life might have been a more patriotic one under other circumstances. This story is another one among many that makes this book a page-turner.
Unfortunately, despite our effusive praise above, I’m afraid we will have to pass on the manuscript. While your stories are gripping, thought-provoking and ultimately inspiring, the simple truth is we’ve heard it all before. A thousand times. Perhaps a hundred thousand. We are now inundated with submissions like yours. The reading public can take, and the State will allow, only so much.
Too many manuscripts, it’s that simple. Although we are obliged to point out that you mistakenly submitted your story as a “memoir”, rather than “fiction”. It’s a common error.
Since the change in government and the implementation of Project Next Year, there have been so many evocative, compelling, life-changing books submitted. We understand the benefit of an inspirational story where human beings in extreme circumstances, facing horrific decisions, triumph over dark forces through sheer will and faith. Though it wasn’t ever mentioned in your text, we can surmise that faith carried you through all the death and brutality. God is good.
You clearly show a gift for writing, so continue to do so and give us another try. We’re looking for cookbooks, biographies of certain people, and Rapture-themed content.
For Our Future,
William S. Buckley
