Query Letter for the "Hook Us" contest

Fact: In 1970, a man began writing a story about a bonsai tree that had traveled hand-to-hand, from 15th century Japan to modern day America.

Fact: that man died in 1999 with the story only half finished.

Fact: On his deathbed, he handed his grandson a notebook of typed pages, accompanied by the words: "Perhaps you'll be able to finish this."

Fact: I am that grandson

The story of the bonsai tree is actually "the story" and "the bonsai tree." Both have been shaped and sculpted by word of mouth and many hands. Both began on a bleak and windswept island cliff during the last years of the 15th century.
Both have traveled forward through time, influencing those whose lives they've touched, whose lives they've changed.
Although the ancient little bonsai is currently part of a private collection, the story belongs to each of us. It is our heritage. It is our legacy. And it is our future.


My name is Michael C. Humphrey and I published my first novel, All Living, in 2012. I would love to colloborate with my"late grandfather, Laurence G. Holfelder on a second book (his first), called The Bonsai Tree. It is the story of three different sets of fathers and sons who bond in extraordinary ways down through the centuries, by exploring the compelling beauty and thought-provoking nature of the Saikei, the miniature landscape of the bonsai.

Thank you for your consideration!
Novelmethod