#121 A critique of a query letter plus the first page of the manuscript from author Beth Miller

About the author:

I have been told that I write like a tall blonde, so that's how I'd like you to picture me.

I've published four novels. The most recent, 'The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright', came out in January 2020, and was a top forty Kindle bestseller. I've also published two non-fiction books. I work as a book coach and creative writing tutor.

Before writing books, I did a lot of different jobs. I worked in schools, shops, offices, hospitals, students' unions, basements, from home, in my car, and up a tree. OK, not up a tree. I've been a sexual health trainer, a journalist, a psychology lecturer, a PhD student, a lousy alcohol counsellor, and an inept audio-typist. I sold pens, bread, and condoms. Not in the same shop. I taught parents how to tell if their teenagers are taking drugs (clue: they act like teenagers), and taught teenagers how to put on condoms (clue: there won't really be a cucumber). I taught rabbis how to tell if their teenagers are druggedly putting condoms on cucumbers.

Throughout this, I always wrote, and always drank a lot of tea. I'm now pretty much unbeatable at drinking tea.