This project is the latest incarnation of my old Dreamland Scrolls series. The first one went incredibly, unexpectedly well, and I went on to write a draft of the second for NaNoWriMo 2009. I'm currently plotting/drafting the third book, and I may possibly someday write the fourth and fifth... if I don't start hating myself before then.
First draft complete!
Leonato Galaway is a young knight-in-training in Trilia's prestigious Order of Knights. He's also a seventh son, which, according to his superstitious mother, means he's destined for something special. But Leo's only delusion of grandeur is his recurring daydream of ever having a chance with the lovely, unreachable, completely-not-interested Queen of Trilia.
When Leo's chosen to be a part of Queen Miranda's elite guard on her visit to Newcastle, home of her childhood friend Princess Clara and Clara's way-too-charming older brother Prince Rafael, he thinks it'll be just another chance to follow her around loving her from afar. But neither of them anticipate the dangerous web of courtly plots they're about to step into. When Clara and Rafael's ailing father dies, the kingdom's thrown into an uproar, and Miranda is caught in the middle of a power struggle. As Leo tries to protect his queen (and keep her from accepting that slimy Rafael's proposal of marriage), he comes face to face with the beliefs and superstitions of his childhood, which are suddenly very, very real.
Is it his destiny to save Miranda? Or is it the other way around?
First draft complete!
Leo Galaway has gone a-questing on the Goddess's command - an occupation which is only glamorous while a knight has money in his pockets. Flat broke, Leo wanders into a peaceful valley of vineyards and orchards to seek a job... only to run headlong into the girl he's been sent to search for.
Unfortunately, Saray Lake isn't interested in traveling to the Goddess's temple with only a lowly knight for company. Her upcoming wedding and exciting social life at the Syrenian royal court are much more important. But Leo, determined, takes this as a challenge rather than a defeat. As he persistently tries to get close to Miss Lake, befriending her kid brother and making enemies with her protective fiancé Simon Trixton, Leo slowly realizes that Saray Lake isn't all she seems. Has the Goddess made a mistake in choosing her?
When the Syrenian king's young son, Prince Martin, mysteriously goes missing, the stakes are unexpectedly raised. Leo must team up with the reluctant Miss Lake in order to save the boy from a tragic end - and to uncover a nefarious plot to overthrow the King of Syrenia.
Coming soon.
Undaunted by his first two adventures in service to the Goddess—well, maybe slightly daunted, but that’s not the point—Leonato Galaway is back on his horse, both metaphorically and literally. Leo and Idiot arrive in the capital city of Ashelon just in time to attend a play put on by the Laughing Masks, a visiting troupe of actors. The star of that night’s performance is a pretty teenage actress named Adalia Laramie, and Leo can’t take his eyes off her—mainly because she’s the third chosen Disciple he’s been looking for.
Lia’s sweet charm makes it hard for Leo to understand why she would reject the Goddess, but she’s carrying around some skeletons in her costume trunk that not even her best friends know about. Leo takes a job as a set builder and is soon accepted into the close circle of friendly (and not-so-friendly) actors. All appears to be going well until the King of Ashelon dies—murdered by his plotting sons, princes Devon and Damon. A rumor has been started that the youngest prince, Darin, is fated to be the new King of Ashelon… too bad he’s been missing for nine years.
The Goddess convinces Leo to help search for the runaway prince, but what Leo doesn’t expect to uncover are new clues to the King’s murder—clues that suggest that the princes were only pawns, framed to cover for the real criminal. And worse yet, that criminal has been hiding in the Laughing Masks’ ranks this whole time.
A little project my sister and I have been co-writing. We borrowed the idea from Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer's "Sorcery and Cecelia," which they wrote by playing the Letter Game - writing letters to each other in character, not discussing the plot beforehand. Julie and I cheated a *little* on discussing the plot, but otherwise we followed the rules and it has turned out pretty decently. It's by no means finished and will need lots of editing, but it's a part of the story nonetheless - weirdly enough, it helped me work out a bunch of plot kinks in "The Laughing Masks."
King Darin's cousin Daria has grown up in a manor house in Longtown and is unused to the glamorous life at the royal court. So she's horrified when her family decides to spend the entire summer there - and she's not even allowed to bring her best friend Briella, her fearless, outgoing half. And Briella's just as dissatisfied with staying at home in Longtown's boring social scene - Lena Laramie, another merchant heiress, is no substitute for Daria's company or the exciting court life she imagines.
Daria quickly befriends her cousin, who's not as regal as she thought he'd be - but he's the only friend she makes at court. The rest of it is a misery of piano-playing, embroidering, and gossiping, constantly enduring the company of people who wouldn't know a good book if it hit them in the face.
Then Lena's wayward sister Lia - an actress and the King's secret lover to boot - shows up at the castle, and things get interesting. The King vanishes with no explanation, and nobody except Daria is doing anything to get him back. She's sure he's been kidnapped, but her prime suspect turns out to be protecting her cousin - and he's just as worried as she is.
Back home, Briella's busy dealing with the pangs of unrequited love, a pregnancy scandal, and a new boy in town who may or may not be up to no good. The only solace the two girls have in all this summer drama is their weekly letters to each other, and the knowledge that however terrible my life gets, at least she's having fun.