More than halfway done...

This draft of APoS is halfway done. Made it through the attack at Burntollet Bridge and the police reprisals up to Brendan's family getting a new home on Clíodhna Place and his older sister, Mairead, getting married and having a baby.

I'm working up a query letter to agents in hopes of finding one that will help me set the book with a publishing house. Most of the ones I've looked up say 6-8 weeks before notification, which really puts it after the first of the year...so I've got time to still work it.

This is what I've got, so far. Any comments or suggestions?

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My novel, A Place of Safety, is the journey of Brendan Kinsella, a lad born and raised in Derry, Northern Ireland, who just wants to be left alone to live his life. But he is growing up during the time of The Troubles, and history keeps overwhelming his plans.

The story is told in three volumes, beginning in 1966, with the murder of his father, when Brendan is ten years of age. It sweeps through the 1968 Civil Rights demonstrations in Derry, the attack on peaceful marchers at Burntollet Bridge in early 1969, the lead-up to The Battle of Bogside in August of that year, the re-introduction of internment and Bloody Sunday, as well as witnessing a destructive bombing, to end in 1972. Woven through it is a budding relationship with a Protestant girl that has to be kept secret for fear of reprisals by both sides. This volume is in a fourth draft and currently undergoing revisions to clarify characters, events and moments.

Volume 2 is set between 1973 and 1980, in Houston, Texas, where Brendan is sent after a mental breakdown, while volume 3 is set during the hunger strikes of 1981. Those two are in second draft. As of now, all three volumes total more than 1400 pages and 320,000 words. And I should add, this is not based on my own life.

I have self-published 14 books in both print and ebook. Several are gay erotica, but I have also published a MF romantic-comedy, a MM murder mystery, a MM satire, and a MF erotic revenge thriller. However, I would like to situate A Place of Safety with a mainstream publisher to overcome the many obstacles that come with self-publishing...especially the need for sales and publicity (which I am very poor at), and getting copies of the book placed in brick & mortar stores.

I am open to sending you the first three chapters of volume one, or the first chapter of each volume, or whatever configuration you prefer. I could also send you a copy of The Alice '65, my MF romantic comedy, or The Vanishing of Owen Taylor, my gay murder mystery, to further show my abilities in writing.

Thank you for considering A Place of Safety. I believe it would be a great match with your agency's interests.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Seems a bit long, but this is a pretty massive book. I'd call it my Russian novel but right now I'm pissed at Russia. Maybe German, like Musil or Grass? French like Proust? Spanish, like Cervantes?