The Skeptic- An Open Query Letter

See below for an open query letter for my novel The Skeptic. It should be obvious, but just in case: spoiler alerts ahead.

If you are an agent, or know an agent, please feel free to contact me at the e-mail below. I’d be thrilled to have a further discussion, even if it’s just advice for how to improve, or a hot tip on who might be interested.

I’m seeking a representative for my novel THE SKEPTIC, a work of science fiction, or perhaps urban fantasy, the distinction is deliberately left vague.

Maggie Montaigne, has built a strong career in a world she cannot fully experience or understand. When the vast majority of people started Believing decades ago, and cheap shelter, plentiful food, and work designed around mass entertainment became the global norm, life improved for all, even for that small group, the Skeptics as some called them, that could not shape this new world to their desires. Maggie tries not to define herself by her Skepticism, but instead by her skepticism, the lower-case condition of questioning everything, which has led her to a Directorship and a corner office in her engineering company.

Working at a multinational mega-corporation has its unique challenges, such as being confronted by the questionable mind-melting research her company performs downstairs, performed by her own best friend no less, that would make life even more awkward for doubters like herself. Maggie struggles with understanding her place in fixing such a big problem. She has a boyfriend that might propose, a father that is probably depressed, an absent mother, and so, so many books to read. Plus, jobs are hard to get if you are a Skeptic, and she knows her contributions are truly important and lifesaving. (Or so she tells herself, everyday.) Being asked to whistleblow on the company that’s given her a chance challenges her assumptions about what is right, or even what is real. All she wants is her friend talking to her again, and life to go back to normal, which she defines as about a decade before she was born. She is disappointed in this regard.

THE SKEPTIC, at 99,000 words, addresses themes of spiritual belief; the proper response of society to mental illness; science fiction/fantasy geek fandoms; emotional contagion; the philosophy of science and reason; self-referential humor; living in the South; the challenges of patriarchal work spaces; and broken families. While Maggie is the main voice (and eventually revealed as the book’s narrator as well), other speakers in this world appear, from the lawmakers that wrote laws enforcing mental illness treatment, to the fan girl that enters a contest, to the repair women that actually Believe buildings back into shape when everything crumbles around Maggie.

I have lived up and down the eastern side of the United States, from New York to Texas, and when not writing, finds myself working in a series of jobs, usually in the biological or pharmaceutical fields. I seem to have collected a few degrees along the way, despite my best intentions. I currently live in upstate New York with my wife, a few children, a dog that’s getting fat on the food the children drop, and more books and board games than shelf space.

Thank you for your consideration,

Bryan Eikwood

bryaneikwood@gmail.com