Karen, Her story has appeared on Lou Dobbs, Univision, CNN, Paula Zahn, NPR and motion picture executives from every major studio have approached her to tell her story. The New York Times and the biggest media in the world have been begging for an interview with her for an inside look into the life she lives. This life that has left her under the care of the U.S. government, running for her life and living in hiding.
Her name is Paca Rodriguez and she is the 22-year-old daughter of the biggest Mexican mafia family in the world. Their $300 million a year organization has been secretly operating in the United States for over 17 years. It has provided what is known as paper weapons used in aiding terrorists who wish to cause havoc.
Growing up in an environment where killing your closest friend or relative to protect your business was the norm, 22-year-old Paca always dreamed of a better life Karen. A life where she could live freely and with good heart and good conscience. It was that good heart and conscience that gave her the strength to step forward and work with U.S. intelligence agents to not only identify key family members that were part of the organization but to go on trial and face them once again.
She has been spilling secrets only she knows first-hand in order to end the killing and hopefully assist Homeland Security in cracking down on the terrorism threat her family poses. This year when the government trials begin there will be an onslaught of more media attention surrounding Paca's story.
Only until now has she decided to step forward and tell her true story in her own words in book form. Karen I am her husband, and we are looking for literary representation. ____________________________________________________________ |
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
GumboWriters: Sample Query Letter that Worked #31
GumboWriters: Sample Query Letter that Worked #32
| Dear Doris:
I was in mid-life crisis. My children had left the nest, my Bail Bonds business partner had just died in a freak helicopter crash and every female relative that ever meant anything to me had died long before her time. I was unhappy, confused and despondent and knew I needed a change. The field of Private Investigation was a men's only club filled with gumshoes, ex-cops, and cigar-smoking chauvinists and it had been that way for decades. My friends called me crazy. But within weeks, I had enrolled in Criminology 101and added 'middle-aged' P.I. to the role of wife and mother. For more than 25 years, I have not only beaten the odds of working in a male-dominated field, but have somehow become one of the most successful and sought after female undercover private investigators in the United States.
In my book proposal for Sexy P.I. I reveal how I single-handedly solved the most baffling cases, repeatedly putting both my family and me in danger. The most extreme cases include being held hostage in a remote cabin, investigating a successful businessman in Miami , who was believed to be a child molester, and preventing a former Nazi from swindling a wealthy, but vulnerable woman. And yet with all of the excitement of a cops-and-robbers movie, I still maintained my role as wife and mother.
Today, although there are those who consider me a "senior," I still manage to jet-set around the world on assignments. Undercover work, both fascinating and dangerous, allowed me to infiltrate billion-dollar organizations, chase down million-dollar thieves, lock-up child-molesters, investigate terrorist suspects and still make it home on time to bake cookies for my grandkids.
In addition to being a private investigator, I also write for the United Newspaper. If you would like to take a look at my proposal for Sexy P.I. feel free to contact me at: xxx@yahoo.com or call: 212-555-5555.
Sincerely, Paula Peters ____________________________________________________________ |
GumboWriters: Sample Query Letter that Worked #30
| Dear Jeff: I remember that day vividly, Jeff. The doctor said he didn't know what hit him. He died immediately, to think I had just spoken to my father that morning and was planning to visit them.
My first book, The Apple a Day tells the story of a cornucopia of odd creatures that combine forces to save a walking, talking well ...pear from the clutches of a ghoulish baker and her evil henchmen. Midwest Review called my book, "Imaginative and one that will hold your attention from beginning to end." Book Shelf Reviews called said it was, "An ideal quick read." While Stories for Kids Magazine called it, "extremely imaginative and suspenseful." Like a modern whimsical journey through Alice and Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz, The Apple a Day is a chapter book written for today's children and adults alike. It is entertaining without the use of magic or spells which is ideal for parents and teachers that prefer the stories their children read not to involve any witchery.
Best Regards, |
GumboWriters: Sample Query Letter that Worked #29
Even in these changing times, you'll never see a black woman in a Robin Hood movie because (a) she'd probably be more concerned about keeping her hair from getting wet than being rescued and (b) she sure as hell wouldn't have anybody calling her "Maid," whether her name was Marion or not.
Flashing Lights cribs Robin Hood's vibe except she's not so much giving to the poor as to herself. It's a tongue-in-cheek tale of a young Black-American woman who impulsively steals a bag of drug money from a dealer. The question is not how can she return it before he finds out, but rather how to put the blame on someone else before her Robin Hood plans for escape fall flat.
Imagine Flashing Lights as a hybrid of Thelma and Louise and Waiting to Exhale as if narrated by Chris Rock.
Not long ago, when I was a handsome black man working at a bookstore, I worked right by the "URBAN TABLE" (home of Bootie Bang, Slap a Hoe and Slut It Up). The expected black girls flocked, but I'd even see white ladies checking the table out to see what the fuss was about. And, when they thought no one was looking, they'd slip a copy of Oh No Yu Didn't, Part 6 or Chanel My Ass under their copy of Jennifer Weiner's Good in Bed.
I decided then and there it was my mission to shamelessly bridge the divide and offer something gonzo enough everybody could love. Is that change we can believe in? You betcha!
That's Flashing Lights.
I've written for Publicity Magazine, Hill Review, Snap, The O-Town Writers Network, and the Island anthology. Having worked at several major radio and television outlets and one of the nation's largest advertising clubs, I have tremendous access to low to no-cost advertising for my books.
Flashing Lights will not teach Martha Stewart to do the "whassup" nod…but she would likely swipe this book from Oprah's coffee table. If you would like to take a look at Flashing Lights please feel free to contact me.
Best Wishes, Clarence Young
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GumboWriters: Sample Query Letter that Worked #28
| Dear Fanny: I was only a child when it happened. I can still remember my mother covering my eyes in the cinema, so I wouldn't see the horrific pictures of our people, skin and bones in the death camps of the Holocaust. My mother did that often, shielded me as much as she could, but no mother's love was strong enough to protect me from what was happening in the world, dear friends and relatives taken from their homes, disappearing in the night, never to be seen again. But it was my mother's stories, as she lay in the bed whispering them to me; her gentle voice whisked us away, if but only for a moment, from the pain. Her stories, her dear and tender poetry stayed with me. That love of poetry inspired me to write my own poems of thoughtfulness and hope for children, entitled A Mother's Moments. It is what moved me to go on to win prizes in 17 writing competitions. Words meant, in some way, to take children away from their little frights and introduce them to the enchanting world of verse. It was my mother's stories and inspiration that motivated me to survive my family's horrors of the Holocaust. I went on to study English at Princeton and become attorney and head of Litigation in the Office of the Supreme Court. I have also written for Snobbery, Kitty Magazine, Local Stateside Review, High Tea, Difficult Magazine, Comprehension Chronicle, Foresight and The High Fall Times. If you would like to take a look at A Mother's Moments, please feel free to contact me. Best Regards, Buck Robertson |
GumboWriters: Sample Query Letter that Worked #27
| Dear Heather, Mama told me not to tell stories, that they're just a bunch of lies. I don't agree. Life is the lie, and stories are all I have. I remember when CNN interviewed me; I couldn't believe I was sitting in that chair. I had come so far from being born to a schizophrenic birth mother where I witnessed at an early age drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness and abandonment; to being adopted by a domineering mother who was also a Pentecostal preacher and who finally died in my arms. I was on national TV promoting my first book and suddenly all that I had been through was worth it because I was finally put in a position where I could help so many people with my story. Since appearing on CNN, I have sold over 7500 copies of my hardcover book called Who's the Mama: A Daughter's Memoir in just one year. It even shot to #1 on Amazon.com in the Alzheimer's and Aging Parents Categories. I became my publisher's #1 author and they anticipate the paperback to do quite well. I am now a full-time author and speaker. I speak to Alzheimer's organizations, churches, adoption and care giving groups around the country and several local and regional at-risk youth organizations. I also travel nationwide doing sell-out shows promoting my first book and I've already generated more ideas about how I can promote the prequel as well. With passion, purpose and hard work Heather, I did it all on my own without a publicist. I'm hoping by working with the right agent, I will be able to connect with a larger publisher who will become an active partner publishing and co-promoting the prequel for this book. It is called WHAT DID I SAY Like Jeanette Walls' The Glass Castle or a non-fiction version of the Secret Life of Bees, WHAT DID I SAY, offers insights and explores adoption in ways that haven't been fully explored, and yet it's for all families—how we pull away from those we love, how we remember and how those memories change over time. It reveals just how complex the mother-daughter relationship is—and how fierce and tangled love is. Since those heartbreaking years as a child, I've been published in many magazines including Asian Lady's Journal, Classy Digest, Fishing Review, Southern Bell Magazine, and Chicken Soup for the Daughter's Soul. I'm a family adviser at Caretaker.com and have a syndicated blog at All I Can Give Foundation, both have thousands of subscribers. If you would like to take a look at my prequel, WHAT DID I SAY, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, Eunice Apple |
GumboWriters: Sample Query Letter that Worked #26
| Dear Bob,
My head was on throbbing headache number 150 — as in 150 proof powerful. My brain was on overload and I was trying my best to maintain my cool. But how could I maintain my cool when someone had just tried to murder my baby girl?
Bob, my name is Major Woody Davidson. I spent 21 years in the military where I worked on top secret missions for many state and government agencies including the FBI & CIA. I write suspense thrillers and my writing has been compared with Walter Mosley & Robert Ludlum's styles.
Forget It is my latest novel. In it, for the first time in 30 years, FBI agents are the victims of random killings. It's up to Special Agent Kenny "KC" Carson to capture the killers when they find out that every hate group in America has banded together against them. What's worse, the killers may very well be FBI agents themselves.
Bob, I was also the managing editor of Classy Lady Magazine and have written many articles for Navy Patrol Magazine and Looker Magazine. Coupled with the fact that I also earned a Masters Degree in Human Resources and a Bachelor's of Science in Technical Aeronautics, this has created a wealth of inside knowledge that is fertile ground for my novels.
I have written 3 novels so far but this is the first time I've ever approached a literary agency. So I figured I might as well start with the best, right? That's why I approached you.
If you would like to take a look at Forget It, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely, Woody Davidson Major (Ret), USAF ____________________________________________________________ |
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