Agent Pitch Finalist #43 - With a Shake of Her Hair

WITH A SHAKE OF HER HAIR
Women's Fiction/Contemporary Romance
81,000

QUERY

Ellie Donahue is drowning in Suburbia. She's driving a beige mini-van and wondering where the twenty-year-old version of herself disappeared to. The version that didn’t give a crap about high-fructose corn syrup and thought ramen noodles and beer was a balanced dinner.

Stuck in a predictable rut of routine Sunday night sex and Thursday night chicken, Ellie’s biggest concerns are running into meddlesome Sancti-mommies at the grocery store, or being forced by her nudist mother-in-law to listen to an AC/DC cover by her band, ‘The Noody Blues’ and trying to ignore the fact that they are indeed naked while singing it.

When confronted by her husband's infidelity with a coworker, Ellie is forced out of her rut and into a reality where she is torn between the temptation of an affair of her own with her daughter's delicious soccer coach or fighting for her rapidly crumbling marriage. With her life upside down, Ellie struggles to determine her next step, and finds herself longing for the predictability of Thursday night chicken.

FIRST 150 WORDS

Chapter 1

I am still picking crumbs out of my hair.

I cannot believe that just happened.

I had completely forgotten I was supposed to go into Abigail’s class this morning to pick up our “Summer Activities” packets. I mean, how many summer activities can a Kindergartener have that we need actual packets? Of course, as I had spaced this requirement, when Crystal Brubaker flagged me down as I was pulling away from the drop off, the image of a reminder printed on frighteningly bright green paper flashed into my brain.

Looking down at the stained sweatpants I had thrown on in a rush to get both kids to school on time, my first instinct was to pretend I hadn’t seen her and run like the coward I am. Just as I was about to lay some serious rubber, I heard the memory of Abby’s enthusiastic little voice squealing about soccer camp starting soon after the school year ended.