The query letter
Dear ________:
Do you know the family that lives in the two-story white house on the corner with the picket fence and the dog? You can’t tell from the outside that anything is wrong.
Under My Roof: A Mother’s Story of a Heinous Crime is a 53,000-word memoir that takes place in the Midwest in the 1970s, before Megan’s Law. This is a tragedy and a triumphant journey of a mother who is an RN, who comes home early from the night shift at the hospital and finds her naked husband in bed with their 9-year-old daughter. Not only how could this happen, but how did a mother let it happen?
The National Center for Victims of Crime cites the most common form of child abuse is incest. It is also the most underreported and least-discussed crime, concealed by the victims because of guilt, shame and fear. Every day the newscast reminds us of discovered cases of sexual molestation. The numbers are not shrinking. They are escalating. This week it's the Judds.
[Blank,] a registered nurse draws on her experience as a mother of a survivor. [Blank] published in the
[Blank] Journal of Nursing, was a contributor in a textbook,
[Blank] Aspects of Nursing, self-published two children’s books, and has won the [Blank] writing award twice. She has spoken in schools to grades 4, 5 and 6 about writing and volunteers at the Survivors [Blank] Center.
The foreword is written by a Catholic priest, endorsed by [Blank], co-author of
The [Blank] to Heal and a Ph.D. in psychology, [Blank]. This story may change the way victims, law enforcement, teachers, teenagers, clergy and counselors view the mother—who is also a victim. There is no list of character traits or checklists for the perpetrator. Their lure is seduction by affection after gaining trust. [Blank] offers a list of overlooked grooming behaviors used on her before they had children.
The completed manuscript is available upon request.
Sincerely,
[Name withheld]