Truth Thursday: This Annoying Dilemma

Now that I've signed a contract and I have a publishing company backing my novel Second Chance, the natural thing to do after publishing book is to publish a second one. There's just one problem. I have a bunch of drafts lying around, and no idea which one I want to experiment with next.

So, since I have conveniently managed to write mock query letters for these projects, why don't you guys help me pick?





Project 1: Indelible

As an only child, Karise Tien is under constant watch by her parents. Her Asperger's Syndrome symptoms are mild enough that she can function in school, but she has a hard time connecting with others, especially other girls her age. Her inability to receive the love she craves and longs to understand as well as her parents' unrealistic expectations push her to cut as an unsatisfying coping mechanism that she knows can only work for so long.

As a high school senior, Karise is only months away from going to college, escaping her family, and a fresh start. But although her Asperger's is mild, she feels its heavy weight as she struggles to balance her desires with her need to please the people who have provided for her every need except warmth and love. Her mom and dad's authoritarian parenting style pushes her into depression and fuels her desperate search for a way out.

Although graduation is near, it can't come soon enough. But Karise isn't sure if she'll be able to make it until then, because the invisible walls that confine her squeeze her more tightly every day. The more she lives, the more she is marred by permanent scars beyond what the eye can see.

Pros: There is an Asian MC! This is needed in the world. My personal experience has shaped this novel and I believe there is a lot of eye-opening material in this novel. It is fairly edited, and pretty short at 12K.
Cons: It's hard to market a novel in verse. A lot of personal experience went into this novel, and it's going to be difficult prying it from my fingers and letting it float around in the public.

Project 2: Facades

Sixteen-year-old Max Prescott knows all too well the joys of cheating girlfriends and traitorous friends. He’s not eager to have his heart trampled again. But when Melly Hewson, a perky and enigmatic classmate, asks him to be her model for a year-long photography project for a scholarship, the promise of money and the threat of blackmail lead him to try something new. As long as he keeps his feelings off the market, he won’t make the same mistakes as last time.

Yet underneath Melly’s sweet smiles lies a different person, hidden behind the facades she puts up. The mystery draws Max to her. As the year goes on and the photos pile up, Max and Melly will find themselves developing through the negatives. But when their pasts catch up with them and collide, everything they've worked so hard to overcome may fall apart.

Pros: This is a very edited piece. It's the project that really let me make a breakthrough in my writing skills, and I love this project with all my heart. It's my baby, and my favorite characters are in it.

Cons: This might get rejected on account of its mature content. It's hard to sell this story, because it's very character-driven. Also, there are three other pieces, which have equally mature content in them, and I'd like them all to either be accepted or rejected from the same place.

Project 3: Solid Ground

Vivie Rivercreek thought the most difficult problem she’s had in her life was her father’s death less than a year before that turned her mother cold and made her even more distant from her younger sisters. But then a strange messenger shows up and tells her of an ancient string of weather curses that will plague their small town. Vivie, who has been gifted with premonitions of these natural disasters, is the only hope for everyone’s survival.

Knowing an earthquake is coming soon shakes Vivie’s world as she fights her own struggles and learns more about this mysterious curse. Soon she will find that the curse is much more complicated than what she was originally told. As she develops a relationship with the messenger, mends others, and makes a new one, Vivie has to sort through the chaos—her own and her city’s.

Whether she’s ready or not, the curses aren’t going to wait for her to get her act together. They’re going to come when the curse’s mastermind chooses to send them. As she prepares to face him, she’ll find that battles are not just fought physically, but also in the mind. And those are the most dangerous ones to fight.

Pros: This will be a series, which means I can build a reader base with it. It has elements of realistic fiction and supernatural bits, which will likely reach a larger audience than my usual realistic fiction only scope.

Cons: I'm rewriting this, and I finished the first draft longer ago than I care to admit. I'm horrible at writing physical injuries and there are many of them. It's very convoluted and I'm worried it has a lot of issues, especially since I don't usually write supernatural fiction.

Please help me make a decision! Knowing what people are likely to read will help me decide faster. Thanks!