Yeah, I know, I’ve got books out already, right? Well, what I don’t have, and never have had, is an agent. And this shiny new manuscript isn’t selling itself. So, I’m thrilled to have been chosen (well, by a bot) to enter The Writer’s Voice contest. Here is my entry for my YA Fantasy, THE PRINCE’S BROTHER:

Query:

One world believes fourteen-year-old Kas is a king, and the only one who can end the civil war that has raged for a decade.

An alternate world believes he’s a powerful magician, and the only one who can save them from an enemy they can’t fight.

Kas thinks he’s just a simple farmer, with a knack for growing the best apples in the region.

Kas’ brother is the only one who knows the truth, and these dangerous secrets are what forced him to kidnap Kas ten years ago and hide him on a farm in the shadow of the World’s End. But an unexpected attack leaves Kas trapped in the alternate world and his brother a hostage to an insane king who will stop at nothing to prevent Kas from learning how to wield the magic that will change the very nature of the worlds—and topple the king from his stolen throne.

Desperate to save his brother, Kas rushes to confront his enemy, wielding only his ignorance, with the help of a dubious ally. If he is to succeed, and survive, he’ll have to discover the truth about his magic, his heritage, and the ancient secret tying the two worlds together before millions of people, and the brother who sacrificed everything for him, are destroyed.

THE PRINCE’S BROTHER is the first in a planned trilogy and is complete at 65,000 words.

The novels of my first trilogy, FIGHTING GRAVITY, CASCADE EFFECT, and IMPACT VELOCITY were published by Dragon Moon Press in 2012, 2013, and 2014 respectively. I sold these novels directly to the publisher and have not worked with an agent yet.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

First 250 words:

Prologue

I started a war when I was four years old.

My memories of that night are fuzzy, quiet, warm except where the crisp autumn air nipped my nose. They smell like my brother, the nursery, and horses.

I woke to hushed voices and soft hands changing my sleeping shirt for warm breeches, thick socks and shirts, and the coat Ver had given me at the turn of the weather.

I came slowly to awareness that it was the nurse dressing me in the light only of the moon coming through the window. Her hair was the color of chestnuts during the day, warm and heavy it would fall over me like a blanket when she held me on her lap. In the moonlight it was washed in silver and her cheeks sparkled with liquid diamonds. I thought she must have turned into a moon spirit when I was asleep. I would ask Ver about it. But they were being so very quiet, and I was still too drowsy-content to wonder enough to break the waiting silence.

As she dressed me I watched Ver going round the room, pulling things from drawers and wardrobes, stuffing them into a travel sack, a frown I had never seen on my brother’s face before drawing shadows on his brow in the moonlight. The feel of him, normally steady and gentle was sharp-edged and sour. I thought he sounded like yelling, though he hadn’t said anything.

The nurse pushed my feet into my new pair of boots and picked me up.