Preparations...

Spent the day obsessing over how best to write this letter to send to agents and potential publishers and this is what I've got:

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I am nearing completion of my three volume novel, A Place of Safety. It is the story of Brendan Kinsella, a simple lad who just wants to live his life, but history refuses to let him.

Volume one, Derry, is set in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Told in first person, it begins in 1966 when Brendan has just turned ten. After his father's murder, he tries to forge his own path through a society that is deeply in thrall to both history and the Catholic church while keeping apart from the growing violence. He also falls in love with a Protestant girl, a relationship which must be kept secret from family and friends, for fear of reprisals...from both sides of the conflict.

The story uses true events to anchor it, much in the same way as James Clavell's Shogun, James Michener's Texas, and Leon Uris' Trinity. 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 arrival of British troops to separate the two warring sides
•  the re-introduction of internment without trial in 1971
•  Bloody Sunday in 1972 

This volume is undergoing a final proofing by a professional editor and will be available for your perusal by the beginning of October. 

Volume 2, New World for Old, is set between 1973 and 1981. Due to injuries sustained in a bombing, Brendan is hidden at his aunt's home in Houston, Texas. Once healed, he decides to build a life there but finds the city's politics, hates and prejudices are little different from Derry's. I just finished a fourth draft and will do a polish before having it also proofed and edited.

In volume 3, Home not Home, Brendan must return to Derry after his mother contracts cancer. This part takes place during the turmoil of the hunger strikes of 1981. He finds himself unwelcome and winds up arrested by the British army. Their interrogation about the bombing that injured him is brutal and convinces him to accept his destiny -- to join with the IRA. I am currently working on a third draft of this part, with another draft to follow.

While I have self-published 14 books in both print and e-book, both gay and straight, I would like to situate A Place of Safety with a mainstream publisher to avoid the limitations that come with self-publishing. I am hoping you can assist me with this.

Thank you for considering A Place of Safety. I believe it will align perfectly with your interests.

I look forward to hearing from you.