Submission Bronwyn

Name: Bronwyn Scott-McCharen

Email: bscottmcc (at) gmail (dot) com

Title and genre: ALL THAT GLITTERS--YA Paranormal

Pitch: Belén never believed in spirits. Until she meets the ghost of a girl who wants to see justice for her killer, Belén's former neighbor.


1st 250 words:

Until now, I never knew that ‘peso devaluation’ was a code for ‘moving to the other side of the city’ or that ‘the crisis’ meant ‘switching schools and spending my last year as a high school student away from my best friends.’ I never paid attention to the news headlines that constantly spoke of the shaky and fickle Argentine economy. That wasn’t my world. I didn’t care. It didn’t affect me. It wouldn’t affect me.

Or so I thought.

“This place is quite…bohemian.” My mother remarks.

“It’s nice enough.” My father sighs and puts his hands on his hips. He glances around our tiny new living room, while my mother cuts open one of the many cardboard boxes that lay on the dusty, hardwood floor. “You shouldn’t complain when we could be homeless.”

My mother frowns. “Not like this is any better,” she mumbles.

“At least I don’t have to share a room with Belén!” my younger brother Facundo shouts as he runs into the hallway. He surges through the open door and plops down on his bed. “She snores!”

I roll my eyes. “Belén, your room is over there.” My mother points to an open door at the far end of the hallway. She turns to my brother. “Facundo, quit it.”

Why not? I shrug my shoulders and decide to explore my new surroundings, my own private oasis where I can sit alone and read, or listen to music, or just think. Solitude is a virtue.