My Query...

Hey there fellow freelance writers! Well, at least I hope a few of you are out there reading today. :) I'm actually excited because I've officially started sending out my query letter to literary agents about my book! I know it is going to be a long road and will be waiting weeks to hear back (hopefully!) but am happy that I got the first wave of them out. My goal is to just send a few out each day until I start hearing back and use that as motivation to really see this novel through. I really do love freelance writing jobs and writing articles, but creative writing is such an outlet for me and I've always aspired to be a published author. So in keeping with that, I've actually got my query letter below and would love any advice, tips, feedback, etc. So feel free to be brutal, be critical, or say what you like! :)

Kendra has always been mesmerized by the whimsy of lithe dancers on stage that tell their stories through movement. Even at the tender age of five, as she sat in the audience, entranced by the ballerinas of the New York City Ballet, she could feel them calling. While many would have assumed that dancing was simply in her blood, and expected the precocious child to follow in her mother's footsteps, that is not what attracted Kendra. She found that time stood still as she performed onstage; the troubles of her life seemed to slip away, and for those few precious moments she
was free of all burdens--weightless.

Abandoned by her mother in order to pursue her own career, Kendra is raised by her loving grandmother whose own health begins to fail. While the old woman is silently reluctant to let her granddaughter enter the very world that was the demise of her own daughter, she continues to be a pillar of support to Kendra. Amid the struggles of passing from adolescence into adulthood, Kendra must further cope with the cruelties of the dance subculture. With the ultimate dream of becoming the next great prima ballerina, Kendra is pegged as the girl to hate by her contemporaries. She is considered the bane of her jealous and retired mother's existence; a woman who finds it impossible to watch the illuminating career of her daughter ignite while only having dim memories left of her own. Kendra is now left to naively navigate the best she can.

As her career looks promising, she is taken under the wing of her coach and mentor, but inner demons of guilt, insecurity, and doubt continue to eat away at her. The doors of opportunity that begin to open up, may be shut inadvertently by her own hand.

DANCING IN THE DARK is a 57,000 word YA manuscript depicting a young dancer's journey to becoming a prima ballerina in her own right. She must step out from the shadows set by her mother's illustrious career, and find the confidence to stand on her own. Wrought with inner turmoil, fueled by passive-aggressive competitors, and pressed with the rigors of training, Kendra could fulfill the dream she is chasing or be left just outside the spotlight.

Thank you for your time and consideration.