u/Pristine-Kale6558

Sorry for the last post. I thought five days had already gone by 😬Here's my latest attempt. Thanks for looking through it again!

Dear [AGENT]

I am pleased to present ECHOES OF THE IRON HEART, a dual POV romance with an action twist set in the Victorian Era, complete at 100k words. It is a standalone novel with sequel potential and it will appeal to fans of the intrigue and mystery of Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman as well as the strong, independent heroine and the adventure and romance in What The River Knows and What The Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez.

Gwaelyn Ellis resents her wealthy father giving her inheritance to the library where she works, all because she has dreams of exploring the world in a society that undervalues women. That doesn’t stop Gwaelyn from studying ancient languages and cultures, even though she’d prefer to be out in the world discovering artifacts that have been long lost to time. When a notoriously curt Croatian archeologist walks through the library doors, Gwaelyn leaps at the chance he brings with him.

Miško Jurić has dedicated his life to uncovering a lost city off the coast of Pag and when Gwaelyn learns of his research, she uses her father’s connections to join his dig. Miško has no patience for distractions, especially not from an ambitious librarian who breaks all the codes of Victorian society. He passes her to his best friend, Ivan Babić, the dig foreman. But Miško is displeased when Ivan sees potential and becomes Gwaelyn’s unlikely ally, worried she will hinder their explorations.

When Miško and Gwaelyn uncover ancient Roman tablets, Gwaelyn pushes Miško to let her translate, convinced it will allow her the life she’s always imagined. But working together intensifies an attraction Miško refuses to acknowledge. When they return to London, Miško publishes a paper appropriating Gwaelyn’s translations without attribution. Furious, Gwaelyn decides to independently follow leads hidden in the tablet’s writings to the lost treasure of King Alaric. (should I be more specific about the legend, or is this enough?)

But Gwaelyn isn't the only one looking and is kidnapped by Randall Bowman, a ruthless antiquities dealer who will stop at nothing to get the treasure, including torture. Miško rescues Gwaelyn from Bowman and they escape back to Athens where they reunite with Ivan, but Bowman’s men force them to flee. Attracted to the intellect and the cleverness of the other, Gwaelyn and Miško can no longer deny their feelings, but if they don’t find the treasure soon, their dreams of success will die. Now the pursuit that brought them together threatens to take everything each of them holds dear, and they must decide what they're willing to sacrifice, and what they simply cannot lose.

[AUTHOR BIO]
Thank you for your time and consideration.
All the best,
[NAME], writing as [PEN NAME]

Dear [AGENT]

I am pleased to present ECHOES OF THE IRON HEART, a dual POV romance with an action twist set in the Victorian Era, complete at 100k words. It is a standalone novel with sequel potential and it will appeal to fans of the intrigue and mystery of Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman as well as the strong, independent heroine and the adventure and romance in What The River Knows and What The Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez.

Gwaelyn Ellis resents her wealthy father giving her inheritance to the library where she works, all because she has dreams of exploring the world in a society that undervalues women. That doesn’t stop Gwaelyn from studying ancient languages and cultures, even though she’d prefer to be out in the world discovering artefacts that have been long lost to time. When a notoriously curt Croatian archeologist walks through the library doors, Gwaelyn leaps at the chance he brings with him.

Miško Jurić has dedicated his life to uncovering a lost city off the coast of Pag and when Gwaelyn learns of his research, she uses her father’s connections to get on his dig. Miško has no patience for distractions, especially not from an ambitious librarian who breaks all the codes of Victorian society. He passes her to his best friend, Ivan Babić, the dig foreman. But Miško is displeased when Ivan sees potential and becomes Gwaelyn’s unlikely ally, convinced she will hinder their explorations.

When Miško and Gwaelyn uncover ancient Roman tablets, Gwaelyn pushes Miško to let her translate, convinced it will allow her the life she’s always imagined. But working together intensifies an attraction Miško refuses to acknowledge. When they return to London, Miško publishes a paper appropriating Gwaelyn’s translations without attribution. Furious, Gwaelyn decides to independently follow leads hidden in the tablet’s writings to the lost treasure of King Alaric. (should I be more specific about the legend, or is this enough?)

But Gwaelyn isn't the only one looking and is kidnapped by Randall Bowman, a ruthless antiquities dealer who will stop at nothing to get the treasure, including torture. Miško rescues Gwaelyn from Bowman and they escape back to Athens where they reunite with Ivan, but Bowman’s men force them to flee. Attracted to the intellect and the cleverness of the other, Gwaelyn and Miško can no longer deny their feelings, but if they don’t find the treasure soon, their dreams of success will die. Now the pursuit that brought them together threatens to take everything each of them holds dear, and they must decide what they're willing to sacrifice, and what they simply cannot lose.

[AUTHOR BIO]
Thank you for your time and consideration.
All the best,
[NAME], writing as [PEN NAME]

Dear [AGENT]

I am pleased to present ECHOES OF THE IRON HEART, a dual POV romance with an action twist set in the Victorian Era, complete at 100k words. It is a standalone novel with sequel potential and it will appeal to readers who liked the intrigue and mystery of Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman as well as the strong, independent feminine character, adventure and romance in What The River Knows and What The Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez.

Gwaelyn Ellis resents her wealthy father giving her inheritance to the library where she works, all because she’s a woman with unattainable dreams in a society that undervalues her sex. So she studies ancient languages and cultures, stuck with dusty old books when she’d prefer to be out in the world making discoveries of her own. That is, until a notoriously curt Croatian archeologist walks through the library doors.

Miško Jurić has dedicated his life to uncovering a lost city off the coast of Pag and when Gwaelyn learns of his research, she uses her father’s connections to get on his dig. Miško has no patience for distractions, especially not from an ambitious librarian who breaks all the codes of Victorian society. He hands her off to Ivan Babić, best friend and dig foreman. Where Miško sees liability, Ivan sees potential and becomes Gwaelyn’s unlikely ally.

When mysterious tablets are found, Gwaelyn pushes Miško to let her translate, convinced it will allow her the life she’s always imagined. Working together, feelings surface that Miško isn’t ready to accept. Back in London, Miško publishes a paper appropriating Gwaelyn’s translations without her acknowledgement and Gwaelyn decides to follow clues alone to a legendary treasure hidden in the tablet’s writings.

But Gwaelyn is not alone in her search for the treasure and finds her rival in Randall Bowman. Gwaelyn kidnapped, Bowman doesn’t refrain from using physical violence to find the information he wants. Miško helps Gwaelyn escape back to Athens where they reunite with Ivan, but only until Bowman’s men force them to flee. The attraction building between Gwaelyn and Miško is undeniable, but if they don’t find the treasure soon, their dreams of success will die. Now they must decide if the pursuit is worth the risk of their lives and the lives of their friend, as well as the dreams each of them has fought so fiercely to attain.

[AUTHOR BIO]

Thank you for your time and consideration.

All the best,
[NAME], writing as [PEN NAME]

Hey all! I was wondering about your thoughts concerning dialogue in different languages. I've read very few books with translated dialogue and those that I've read have had very limited foreign language dialogue. In these cases, the dialogue is usually translated in the footnotes. If most of the dialogue was in a foreign language and translated somewhere would it be bothersome if you didn't understand the language? Would it be better just to write the dialogue in English and have some formatting (italics, font...) to let readers know it's supposed to be in a different language? I feel like in this scenario, footnotes would ultimatly become ridiculously long and take the reader out of the story. All thoughts welcome!

Dear [AGENT]

I am pleased to present ECHOES OF THE IRON HEART, a dual POV romance with an action twist set in the Victorian Era, complete at 100k words. It is a standalone novel with sequel potential and it will appeal to readers who liked the intrigue and romance of Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman as well as the strong, independent feminine character and adventure  in What The River Knows by Isabel Ibañez.

After her influential father’s death, Gwaelyn Ellis should have been given a hefty inheritance. She would have used it to travel the world, put her proficiency in ancient languages to good use, and follow the dreams she has always envisioned for herself. Instead, the inheritance went to the library where she is now stuck working, her dreams confined to books of far off places and lost treasures. In a society that undervalues women, she knows her chances of getting out of that dusty library and out into the real world are very slim. That is, until a notoriously curt Croatian archeologist walks through the library doors.

Miško Jurić has dedicated his life to uncovering a lost city off the coast of Pag. He has no patience for distractions, no interest in proving himself to anyone, and absolutely no use for an ambitious librarian who thinks she belongs on his dig. Especially when she uses her connections to get there. (I looked into it, and it seems like Victorian archeologists were more enthusiasts than specialists, but I can still try to change this around if it’s a problem)  So he hands her off to Ivan Babić, his best friend and the dig’s foreman. Ivan is everything Miško isn't, and where Miško sees a liability, Ivan sees potential. He becomes Gwaelyn's unlikely ally on the dig. 

When mysterious tablets with Latin inscriptions are found, Gwaelyn pushes Miško to let her translate them, allowing her to use her ancient language skills, convinced it will allow her a way into the life she has always longed for. In working with Miško, she reveals a new side of herself to him and feelings surface that Miško is unequipped to handle. However, when they return to London and he appropriates her translations without acknowledgement, Gwaelyn decides to act alone, following clues to a legendary treasure hidden in the tablets writings.
Realizing she's gone, Miško chases her, but not before Gwaelyn falls into the hands of the ruthless Randall Bowman. Also in search of the treasure, Bowman turns to physical violence to try and get the information he wants. After saving Gwaelyn from Bowman’s clutches, Miško, Gwaelyn and Ivan reunite in Athens until Bowman’s men force them to flee. Hatching a plan to get the men off their trail, Miško sends Ivan back to London while he escapes to Rome with Gwaelyn. 

With the treasure finally within reach, an intimacy has quietly grown into something neither Gwaelyn nor Miško can ignore. Miško, who has always found his feelings easier to bury than to face, is finally succumbing to his emotions. Then Bowman pushes too far and forces their hand. Now burdened by the guilt over what his choices have cost Ivan, will Miško let guilt and what he believes are unrequited feelings push him away, or will he find the courage to admit what he feels? Gwaelyn must decide if Miško is worth giving up the dream she's chased her whole life. Will loving him finally mean being seen? Or will it be the end of the hard-won independence she’s fought so fiercely to attain?

[AUTHOR BIO]
Thank you for your time and consideration.
All the best,
[NAME], writing as [PEN NAME]

Dear [AGENT]

I am pleased to present my debut novel ECHOES OF THE IRON HEART, a double POV romance with an action twist set in the Victorian Era, complete at 100k words. I envision it as a standalone novel, but have already written a second novel involving one of the major side characters. It will appeal to readers who liked the intrigue and romance of Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman or the strong feminine character in Lessons in Chemistry by Bonny Garmus.

Gwaelyn Ellis has spent five years working in a London university library, her intelligence and dreams confined to books about the adventures she longs to have. In a world which undervalues women, she knows her chances of living her dreams will probably never come true.

When Miško Juric, a notoriously curt Croatian archaeologist, arrives to research the lost city of Pag, Gwaelyn seizes her chance to prove she’s capable, finding a way onto the dig, but Miško wants nothing to do with her. Convinced she'll jeopardize his life's work, he hands her off to Ivan Babić, his best friend and dig foreman. Gwaelyn finds Miško’s dismissiveness just as insufferable as he finds her determination.

Everything shifts when mysterious tablets with Latin inscriptions are pulled from the sea floor. Miško gives Gwaelyn the task of translating them, and as she reveals a new side to herself, feelings surface that Miško has no idea how to handle. However, when they return to London and he appropriates her translations without acknowledgement, Gwaelyn decides to act alone, running off to track down clues towards a legendary treasure hidden in the tablets’ writings. 

When he realizes she's gone, Miško runs off to find her, but not before Randall Bowman, a ruthless rival who will stop at nothing to claim the treasure, finds her first. Saving her from Bowman’s clutches, Gwaelyn and Miško reunite with Ivan in Athens where Gwaelyn works to further decipher the clues. Gwaelyn and Miško’s feelings for one another deepen until Bowman's men force them to flee, splitting with Ivan in the process. 

In Italy, Gwaelyn and Miško finally close in on the treasure, only to discover Ivan has been taken by Bowman. They abandon the search to rescue him, giving Bowman precious clues in the process. In the aftermath, Gwaelyn's care for Ivan is misread by Miško as something romantic, and he runs off, only to return and finally confess his feelings, which are returned by Gwaelyn.

The three set out once again on the path to the treasure and are in the midst of taking it from its hiding spot when Bowman arrives, threatening to rip it away from them. In the end, Bowman’s greed is his undoing. The three heroes walk away with the treasure and Gwaelyn finds the recognition of her talents she’s been looking for.

[AUTHOR BIO]
I thank you for taking the time to read my excerpt and hope to hear from you. 

All the best,
[NAME], writing as [PEN NAME]