chasscot's profile

chasscot avatar
AGE: 40
LOC: Pocatello, ID
GEN: Male
LAST LOGIN: October 02

I write in the horror genre – not splatter/gore/slasher, but speculative fiction – supernatural, gothic, science thriller, magic realism, etc…  I will dabble in sci-fi and fantasy, although I prefer to center my plots and settings on earth.  I am also interested in historical fiction.

Item Stats
Reviewer Stats
Items
Query Letter / Nox query letter
Version 3
2 Reviews   15 Comments
Dear , Was she nothing more than a mad alchemist of the mind? Jen asks herself as she pits her scientific training against the real world. Nox is a completed 122,400 word breakneck thriller set in Romania. After an American employed by Castle Energy Group is killed by an unidentified creature in the Carpathians, the company gathers the countries’ brightest scientists. Dr. Jen Nunn, a Harvard evolutionary psychologist facing tenure, is called to join the team. Despite her misgivings, ...
Ratings & Rankings
Query Letter / Nox query letter
Version 2
3 Reviews   4 Comments
<date> <agent> <agency & address> Dear <agent>, Imagine you made the scientific discovery of a lifetime, but could not prove it. This is one conflict the heroine overcomes in my novel —Nox. Nox is a completed 122,400 word breakneck thriller set in Romania. The story engages the mystique and perpetual interest in vampires without becoming a vampire tale. Readers will follow a scientist who must best her personal struggles to meet the danger she faces in the fo...
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Short Story / Cobblestones and Fog
Version 3
5 Reviews   4 Comments
         Ipswich College has changed these seven decades, and so it’s hard to direct you properly. In my day there was only one dormitory. It was such a small school, and only provided to the minds of us young men. No women were allowed beyond its pompous gates. Not even to cook our food. Sexism was a divine right, even in the swelling of the Second World War.         I had a roommate; a squirrely nervous boy by ...
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Query Letter / Nox query letter
Version 1
4 Reviews   12 Comments
August 28th, 2009 Jennifer Jackson Donald Maass Literary Agency 121 West 27th Suite 801 New York, NY 10001 Dear Ms. Jackson, Somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains, a legend thrives… Nox is a completed 122,400 word contemporary science thriller/horror set in Romania. It blends superstition and science, and follows a scientist who must balance her personal struggles with the amazement and danger of the situation. Imagine you made the scientific discovery of a lifetime, but could not p...
Ratings & Rankings
Version 1
11 Reviews   9 Comments
        Another victory! Michael Horne was greeted by an enthusiastic party of staff and colleagues as he returned to the office. His back was slapped, and he nailed at least two high fives; the last from a senior partner. Being a defense attorney at Black & Cutter had brought him many rewards, and having successfully won so many cases gave him a high that was only seconded by his obscene income.         “Great jo...
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Reviews
Flash Fiction / The Last Mile
All caps... too glaring to read this. tick-tocking "It's time you rotten bastard" is more than two words. "gray drab stone" is used twice. Vary the adjectives. what is "black evil blood"? 'I hear the sound..." this sentences rambles and runs. It needs to be broken into smaller sentences or revised. "I taste the blood, coppery like a penny." Show them putting on the hood. Usually in executions they state the name of the convicted, and what they are being put to death for. They offered final wo...
Crime, Thrillers & Mystery / And He's Still So Creative
Locked
Horror / In the room
Not sure what is up with the title .IN the ROOM Standard Manuscript Format would suggest IN THE ROOM - although it isn't necessary for an Urbis review either way. Oh yes, I reviewed the original... thought it looked familiar. You still need to give us more on this curtain - it doesn't go with the garage and while it means something to you, and we can piece together what it is later in the story, you really don't want the reader working this hard this early on. He pulled back the curtain . You...
Humor/Satire / Very Like a Politician
I'm still laughing. Some observations - it might go better in chronological order. End with the tit for Tat, preferrably after the health care verse (it sort of follows in a poignant sort of way). So right... check the meter on a few verses... a little choppy. You spelled Ann Coulter "Anne" a couple of times. "till" is okay, but you might consider "quit until" or "'til" instead. Keeps the purists happy. Other than that... seemed structurally sound.
Crime, Thrillers & Mystery / Crossed roads (revision 4)
Locked