I've been querying agents for my debut literary novel, MOTEL RITUALS, and I've been struggling to find good comparative titles within the literary genre. While the first half of my novel incorporates elements of horror and speculative fiction–a malevolent witch who may or may not be real–the second half of the novel reveals that our hero's mother made the witch up to manipulate her children. There is no actual horror or speculative fiction here. Rather, this is a coming-of-age story about a child who learns to question adults and the pain she feels from growing up too fast.
I've copied my query letter below, to provide a sense of how I'm pitching this thing.
Basically, I'm looking for books that sound like what I'm describing here. Your help would be greatly, greatly appreciated!
Dear Ms. Philips,
I’m excited to offer you MOTEL RITUALS, a literary novel about a family on the run. At 80,000 words, this novel combines the familial turbulence of _______________ with the suspense of ______________. Picture Emma Donoghue’s ROOM transposed over a series of cheap motels. I’m querying you because you’ve expressed an interest in gritty, voice-driven stories about family.
Eight-year-old Ruth has never questioned her mother’s stories. A witch is chasing them. That’s what her mother says, as the family flees across the American Southwest. However, between each motel and rest stop, her mother’s behavior becomes stranger and stranger. They drive past police cars, and her mother tells them to duck out of view. They check every room for listening devices and perform increasingly intricate rituals to make sure the place is “safe.”
The problem is, maybe nowhere is safe. As Ruth begins questioning her mother, she eventually realizes her mother's mental illness, that she made the witch up to manipulate and control her kids. She burned their house down to collect the insurance money, so they could start a new life away from her abusive ex-husband–a violent man who’s now hot on their trail. At the same time, if the police catch them, Ruth's mother could go to jail for her arson and lose custody of her kids. With nowhere to escape, Ruth begins to use the old stories to insulate her brother from the truth of their situation. She trains him for battle against the witch, with sticks for swords, magic spells–a façade that can only last so long as the real world closes in.
My short fiction has appeared in the literary journals Bartleby and The End of the World. I've twice won the Malcolm C. Braly Fiction Award and teach creative writing at the University of Maryland.
Thank you for your time. I hope you’ve been well.
Sincerely,
[MY NAME]
MFA, Bennington College – ‘16
(555) 555-5555
by JWORX_531