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I am seeking representation for my upmarket women’s fiction manuscript, FISH BOWL, (62,000 words).
Nelle spends much of her time worshiping women on the internet, including a MILF porn actress who Nelle relies on for maternal comfort, a blonde, bubbly Norwegian streamer, and the elegant film stars of her graduate course. Maybe a little bit more here about her course? Is she a film student? When watching no longer feels like enough, Nelle drinks a bottle of red wine to quiet her insecurities and turns the spotlight on herself, creating a streaming account on the “Just Chatting” section of the Twitch platform.
Soon Nelle is discovered by self-proclaimed “Twitch talent-scout,” SLIMTIM12, and appears to become the perfect streamer, happily leaping into digital fashion shows and hours-long Q&A sessions. She relishes in the attention of her audience: painting her face, injecting her lips with hyaluronic acid, and playing into the lustful roles begged of her. Donations flood her once empty bank account, compliments fill her chatbox, and Nelle feels as though she may never have to suffer the sticky pain of solitude again. But as she drifts further into the alternate reality of Twitch, Nelle realizes that while her audience members could detail every square inch of her face, she couldn't recognize one of them on the street. She finds herself drinking heaviermore heavily? in order to perform for them, and recoiling from their sometimes degrading exploitations.
Nelle’s discovered sense of self slips as she falls into paranoia—not knowing who in her audience she can trust, or who may be out to hurt her. When she is roped into doing a 72-hour “stream-a-thon,” a non-stop streaming event used to show gratitude to her audience, will Nelle flourish beneath the unending light of adoration she sought, or will the platform and her vices consume her? Everything you have here is great, but there needs to be a little more detail in terms of what's at stake - mental health? Emotional health? Physical health? What about the 72 hour event could be a breaking point? What specifically is at stake here? You mentioned someone might be out to hurt her, but most of the focus here seems to be on damage to her self-worth / identity. Some clarity on these points would be good, and don't end with a theoroetical question.
FISH BOWL combines the manipulative allure in Emma Cline’s The Guest with the search for self and the pitfalls of obsession found in Jean Kyoung Frazier’s Pizza Girl.