Hey everyone,
I'm looking for a beta reader(s) for my supernatural horror novel called Drusilla's Children. Here's the thing ... it's 120,000 words, which I know is long. Other beta readers have told me it didn't feel like it dragged at any place, so I'm wondering if it needs some cutting or not. I think I know where I can cut, but I want to know if doing so will affect the story or not.
Does that make sense?
If you're not willing to read all 120,000 words, would you be up to reading my first ... 30,000 words or so? Or if not that, would you at least take a look at my query?
Thanks so much. Oh, I'm open to swapping. I've read outside my genre before and I'll happily do so again. As for feedback, outside what I listed above, I have thick skin and need to be told what works and what doesn't.
Here is my query:
In August 1993, teenager Connor Guthrie stands at the threshold of hell—being a high school freshman. His greatest fears are being abandoned by his friends and rejected by his latest crush. The last weekend before school, Connor goes along with his friends to sneak into an abandoned house for a night of teenage fun. When they leave the house, they take with them more than memories. A shadow follows each of them, and that shadow has a name—Drusilla. At first, Drusilla’s presence gives Connor confidence and even helps him find love. But Drusilla’s assistance comes with a price, and murder is the only payment Drusilla will accept. Can Connor put a stop to the evil before it’s too late?
Thirty years later, Robert O’Rourke has written the definitive book on the “Drusilla Murders”, cutting through the myths and urban legends to get to the truth. Or so he thought. When a reclusive man comes forward claiming to be one of the few survivors of “Drusilla’s Children”, O’Rourke reluctantly agrees to interview him. But in so doing, will O’Rourke fall victim to the same evil that corrupted the teenagers in 1993?
Drusilla’s Children is a standalone supernatural horror novel complete at 115,000 words similar to Josh Malerman’s Daphne or Clay McLeod Chapman’s Ghost Eaters. This is my first novel, but I have published short stories in the anthologies “Halloween Horror: Volume 2” and “Horror USA – Texas.”
I'm looking for a beta reader(s) for my supernatural horror novel called Drusilla's Children. Here's the thing ... it's 120,000 words, which I know is long. Other beta readers have told me it didn't feel like it dragged at any place, so I'm wondering if it needs some cutting or not. I think I know where I can cut, but I want to know if doing so will affect the story or not.
Does that make sense?
If you're not willing to read all 120,000 words, would you be up to reading my first ... 30,000 words or so? Or if not that, would you at least take a look at my query?
Thanks so much. Oh, I'm open to swapping. I've read outside my genre before and I'll happily do so again. As for feedback, outside what I listed above, I have thick skin and need to be told what works and what doesn't.
Here is my query:
In August 1993, teenager Connor Guthrie stands at the threshold of hell—being a high school freshman. His greatest fears are being abandoned by his friends and rejected by his latest crush. The last weekend before school, Connor goes along with his friends to sneak into an abandoned house for a night of teenage fun. When they leave the house, they take with them more than memories. A shadow follows each of them, and that shadow has a name—Drusilla. At first, Drusilla’s presence gives Connor confidence and even helps him find love. But Drusilla’s assistance comes with a price, and murder is the only payment Drusilla will accept. Can Connor put a stop to the evil before it’s too late?
Thirty years later, Robert O’Rourke has written the definitive book on the “Drusilla Murders”, cutting through the myths and urban legends to get to the truth. Or so he thought. When a reclusive man comes forward claiming to be one of the few survivors of “Drusilla’s Children”, O’Rourke reluctantly agrees to interview him. But in so doing, will O’Rourke fall victim to the same evil that corrupted the teenagers in 1993?
Drusilla’s Children is a standalone supernatural horror novel complete at 115,000 words similar to Josh Malerman’s Daphne or Clay McLeod Chapman’s Ghost Eaters. This is my first novel, but I have published short stories in the anthologies “Halloween Horror: Volume 2” and “Horror USA – Texas.”
