GENRE: STEM/STEAM, Lyrical, NF
WORDS: 677
Query:
Dear Judges, Agents and Editors,
Thank you for creating opportunities for writers and illustrators through PB Party. I’m excited to submit my 677-word lyrical nonfiction picture book manuscript SNOOZE: THE LOUD STORY OF ALARM CLOCKS AND NINE MORE MINUTES.
Even in a digital culture, kids often wake themselves up for school with a bedside alarm clock. And that alarm clock almost always has a 9 minute snooze button. Where did the nine minute-long snooze come from? Why is it still the standard “pause” time on morning wake-ups? SNOOZE: THE LOUD STORY OF ALARM CLOCKS AND NINE MORE MINUTES uses the numeric artifact of nine minutes to explore the history of time-keeping and alarm clocks. With a “Timeline of Time” embedded in the text and diagrams that explain clock engineering across centuries and civilizations, SNOOZE will appeal to readers of We Carry The Sun (Keller/Wada) and A History of Underwear with Professor Chicken (Holt/Briggs).
My debut picture book, The Hula Painted Frog (illustrated by Maya Gonen) is a 2026 PJ Library selection and earned me their Author Incentive Award. I’m a Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference attendee and a 2025 Writers League of Texas Manuscript Contest Finalist in the YA category. My memberships include 12×12, SCBWI’s Austin chapter, and several critique groups.
Thank you for taking the time to read my materials and for making PBParty 2026 a success! I have multiple picture book and young adult manuscripts ready to submit should you wish to see more of my work.
Excerpt:
Beep Beep
WAKE UP!
Ring Ring
GET OUT OF BED!
Buzz Buzz
START YOUR DAY!
Consistent.
Insistent.
Rhythmic and loud.
Alarm clocks are . . . Beep! . . . alarming.
Stretch to touch, tap . . . SMACK that button!
Snooze to the rescue.
Dreamily dozing. Drifting down.
Cuddling cozy in a quilted cloud.
Nine more minutes of sleep.
But . . . why nine?
Travel through the history of alarm clocks and discover why nine became a snoozy, sleep-in tradition.
What inspired you to write this story & what do you have in common with it:
My inspiration serves as a cautionary tale: I wrote SNOOZE: THE LOUD STORY OF ALARM CLOCKS AND NINE MORE MINUTES because I won a bet. My family members all guessed why the iPhone’s snooze is nine minutes, and my answer came the closest: it traces back to mechanical limitations in old-fashioned clocks. Of course, my kids and I wanted to know more, so the research on time-keeping inventions began in earnest. This is exactly the danger of gambling – you might discover something fascinating and write a picture book about it!
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