Friday, October 23, 2015

Pitch Slam Entry 8: A Taste Of Darkness, YA Mystery






Title: A TASTE OF DARKNESS

Genre: YA mystery

Word Count: 74,000


Hogwarts House: Our main character would belong to Gryffindor because she constantly stays brave, even in harsh situations!


PITCH: Seventeen-year-old Tessa Gill and seven other teens are picked to compete in a high-stakes international culinary competition; but the elusive host, the Chocolatier, might be holding secrets from the competitors. Willy Wonka’s whimsy meets Chopped.


First 250:

Tessa Gill stood on the brink of a human stampede, furiously scouring through her frayed coin purse. The merchant before her looked dull, his apron and shoes speckled with corn flour. He huffed, as if tired of his own business, and crossed his arms over his broad chest.


“Look, lady, I can’t keep waiting for ya. Either gimme the money, or scram.” Before Tessa could respond, he gestured for the next person in line to come forward.


“No, wait, I have it,” Tessa said, scrambling through her purse still. Behind her she heard pellets of shouts and swearing, bodies pressing in on her. She was at the front of the crowd, just in front of the merchant’s booth. The merchant, an old man nicknamed Pot because of his full belly, sold spare vegetables, herbs, and any other food he could get his hands on. Tessa looked back, seeing a rattled throng of Harkwood residents, each face as angry as the one before it. Because it was approaching Saturday evening, the square was overflowing with people. If she’d come an hour earlier, she might have missed the rush.


“What’s the hold up? Come on!” someone shouted. Tessa turned back around, her hands trembling in her purse, and fished out the rusted coins.


Discounts were few in Harkwood. The lights of New York City dwindled from afar, yet Harkwood remained a poor, pitiable town. It was as if all the dust and hopelessness of New York had condensed into one solid town that had become Tessa’s home.





Team Slytherin  Points and Spells

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