The query letter

Dear ________:

Ref: Query letter for The Ugandan Affair

“An adult Ugandan ex-child soldier is manipulated into facing the target of his juvenile combat heroics while working as a diplomat in London.”

In the aftermath of an attack on Idi Amin at a school, 13-year-old Fene is rescued by Nyanzi, a rebel commander, from the wrath of Baridi, the presidential bodyguard. Nyanzi molds Fene into a child soldier who gains hero status on the eve of the war’s end when he almost captures a fleeing Amin. As an adult, Fene yearns to escape the attention of his hero status and lobbies Nyanzi, who is now a diplomat in London, for a posting away from the limelight. Nyanzi agrees because he secretly wants Fene to play a part in assassinating Baridi, who has reinvented himself as a security consultant in London. When Baridi finds out that Fene is in London, he plots to kill him. Baridi’s fourth failed attempt attracts the interest of the Scotland Yard, which institutes surveillance on Fene. After an epic confrontation with Fene, Baridi is declared dead. The Yard then secretly pressurizes the Uganda Mission to post Fene elsewhere in order to suffocate the media interest in the matter that could expose their illegal investigative methods and strain UK/Uganda relations. Fene is then posted to the Uganda Mission in Canada, where he is unknowingly closer than ever to a supposedly deceased Baridi.

I am a first-time author whose idea came from my youth in Uganda coupled with questions asked of me by foreign colleagues while I was studying and working in Canada, the UK and the USA. Unlike other works featuring Idi Amin, this one addresses the impact of his regime after his ouster. As for comparisons with The Last King of Scotland, which was about a foreign adult who should have known better, this one is about a Ugandan child who had no choice. I can provide you with the completed script for your perusal if need be.

Sincerely,

[Name withheld]