Q is for Query Letters

I told you about the Query Letter blog hop over at:
http://aliciagregoire.blogspot.com/2011/04/need-query-letter-help.html

Well, after much agonising... here is my attempt at a query letter for Dog Show Detective. I am actually sending this out soon (like this week), so I need criticism!

I'm not thin-skinned when it comes to feedback, I see my craft as something I'm constantly learning and am very open to improvement. Critiques were a life-saver during my edit stage. My query:

Dear...

I would like to introduce you to my middle-grade fiction, Dog Show Detective, in the mystery genre aimed at 9-12yr. old readers. It is complete at 30,000 words.

12yr old Kitty Walker decides to enter her Miniature Schnauzer in a dog show to impress her mum. Kitty expects it to be embarrassing, Spade is not the best-behaved dog, and Jessica Jones is sure to win, but she doesn’t expect it to be so dangerous!

At the show, Kitty finds a lost dog, but, when she returns it, the owner insists it's the wrong dog. Only Kitty believes the owner and sets out to uncover the mystery of the missing dog. There are clues along the way, but why is someone trying to dognap the little terrier she found? And would they really kill just to keep the identity of the little dog hidden?

This story stands alone, however, there is the potential for the characters to go on to solve more mysteries (I’ve outlined the plots for future Kitty and Spade mysteries).

My credentials include editing editorials of publications, Brisbane Business News and Gold Coast Living, and, working for a marketing agency. I have a degree in Professional and Creative Writing and have also studied for a Marketing Diploma. I currently teach English, Spanish and Media at my local High School and am passionate about providing opportunities for children to gain literacy skills. I've been building an online presence with my blog, Twitter, Facebook (see my header for links) and have my graphic artist designing my author website.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Charmaine Clancy

Writing a query letter has made me think of my favourite poem:

He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven by William Butler Yeats

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.