Clash of the Query Letters 2022—2nd Place

Congrats to Jena Brown on winning second place in our first-ever Clash of the Query Letters contest.

Dear Agent:

I’m excited to submit my debut, WHAT DIES IN VEGAS, an adult science fantasy novel complete at 97,000 words. It will appeal to fans of CLERKS mixed with the dark humor in SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB’S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES by Grady Hendrix and the gritty mystery of CERTAIN DARK THINGS by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Three hundred years ago, Lola Monroe climbed out of a plague pit tired of everyone’s shit. Her attitude served her well in the vampire world. Until she killed the wrong bloodsucker. Betrayed by her power-hungry girlfriend, Lola is exiled from vampire life and sentenced to work 100 years of customer service.

Halfway through her sentence her ex finds her working graveyard in a Las Vegas 7-Eleven with a deal that’s too good to be true: hunt down a rogue vamp scientist in exchange for freedom. There’s just one catch. She’s kidnapped the one human Lola cares about as collateral.

Lola is quickly thrown back into the world of lies, secrets, and vampire politics. When she discovers an underground blood club tied to missing homeless persons, she has to make a choice: allow humans to become zombie blood bags, or start a war with the most powerful vampires in the world. She should have called in dead.

For nearly fifteen years, I worked as a management consultant for a global convenience store chain. All of the scenes inside the stores are true. The vampires are not.

When slinging Slurpee’s became too glamourous, I turned to writing. Currently, I write for The Lineup, The Portalist, Murder & Mayhem, Dark Matter Magazine, The Nerd Daily, Truity, Insider, and Kwik Learning. My short stories can be found in the anthologies WHAT ONE WOULDN’T DO and BEACH BODIES. When I’m not writing, I’m being bossed around the Las Vegas desert by my two chihuahuas.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Warmest Regards,

Jena Brown grew up playing make-believe in the Nevada desert, where her love for skeletons and harsh landscapes solidified. A freelance writer, she currently contributes to Kwik Learning, The Nerd Daily, The Portalist, Murder & Mayhem, The Line-Up, Insider, Truity, and Dark Matter Magazine. You can find her short stories in the anthologies, What One Wouldn’t Do and Beach Bodies. In addition to writing, Jena blogs at JenaBrownWrites.com and is active on bookstagram as @jenabrownwrites. When she isn’t writing, she and her husband are being bossed around the Las Vegas desert by their two chihuahuas.