H8: YA Modern Fairy Tale: EVERY CINDERELLA HAS HER MIDNIGHT
TITLE: EVERY CINDERELLA HAS HER MIDNIGHT
AUTHOR: Amy Zinn
AGE CATEGORY: Young Adult
GENRE: Modern fairy tale
WORD COUNT: 83,000
PITCH:
Seventeen-year-old Hazel is the youngest godmother L.A. has seen in eons, but that’s no excuse to fall for her client’s ‘Charming’. After all, fairy godmothers don’t make their own dreams come true.
FIRST 250 WORDS:
Wedding cake toppers are as varied as couples are themselves. You’ve got the high fivers, the piggybackers, the couple at the altar each with an ear to their cell phones, and the couch potatoes. And then there are the lucky ones—those who really are in impeccable, unshakable love.
Two pairs of beady, unblinking eyes stare back at me from my nightstand. My mother’s been foraging again and found me an addition to my collection. I cup my hand around the woman’s chiseled gown and bring it in for a closer look.
She smells like 5th and Grand. Rubino’s Italian Bistro. No doubt this figurine was mixed up in the dregs of one of Rubino’s paninis earlier today. My mother is one of the elite dumpster divers of the world. Some people have a weakness for puppies in boxes out in front of grocery stores. My mother has a soft spot for inanimate objects, items left on sidewalks next to handmade cardboard signs that say, “I need a home,” or “Free junk.”
The figurine’s not bad though. The couple faces forward, with the bride leaning up against her groom. He has his arms around her waist and she reaches back to touch his cheek. I picture them watching their band play, swaying to the music together. They look like they’re in love. I know he’s glued to her, but it seems he would hold her just as tightly on his own.
Then again, how would I know? Being in love is not in my job description.