Sushi and Sea Lions
BY rachel corsinicreative james media2023Query Letter
I am submitting my novel, SUSHI AND SEA LIONS (82,000 words) based on your interest in women’s fiction with a heavy romance plot.
Daniela Verdi has accumulated a host of broken things; toes, dreams, and her heart. After a career-ending injury, prima ballerina Daniela fills her time with meaningless sex and pinot grigios. From the “Billys” trip trapping into her bed and out of her life, to the nice guy bartender Chad, they’re all distractions; like the romances she reads and video games she plays. Each one a Band-Aid over the wound that is the end of her ballet stardom and the broken heart left by her situationship with financier Nate.
It isn't until she runs into Vincent LaBate at her brother's birthday party, that she remembers who she was before the glittering stage lights and glitzy distractions of the Upper West Side. A divorced dad scarred by his wife’s affair, Vincent is reluctant to love. The serendipity of their situation isn’t lost on Daniela, both having their lives upended beyond their control, and having moved back to Queens.
The ghost of Vincent’s ex-wife haunts their relationship, leading Vincent to think people aren’t like sea lions, mating for life. Daniela believes in soulmates, just like all of her books say. Falling for him was easy, but when she realizes she wants him to be her sea lion, and he expresses his doubts about true love, she isn’t sure anymore. When Vincent misses the event of her lifetime, the fairy-tale spell is broken.
SUSHI AND SEA LIONS would appeal to fans of the fast-paced bold voice of Abby Jimenez in The Friend Zone combined with the slow burn and spice of Rosie Danan’s, The Roommate.
In 2009 I graduated with a B.F.A. in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago. I’ve had my work published in The Columbia Chronicle’s Literary Supplement. While working for The Queens Ledger Brooklyn Star Newspaper Group, LLC, my journalism was published across their five newspapers.
Former ballerina, Queens native, and cat mom, SUSHI AND SEA LIONS is my first novel.
Manuscript available upon request.
Query Stats
Number of Queries Sent
100+
Number of Full Requests Received
20
Number of Offers of Representation
0
Number of Months Spent Querying This Novel
8-9 months
Years Spent Writing Before Getting an Offer
20
Number of Manuscripts Queried Before This One
0
Publication Status of The Book Queried
Published (Independent /Boutique / Indy Publisher)
Years Spent Writing Before This Book was Published
20