Pitch Slam Entry 6: THE WAXLING, YA Contemporary Fantasy

Genre: YA Contemporary Fantasy

Title: THE WAXLING

Word count: 77,000

Pitch: To save his mother's life, Blake vows to steal the magic heart of a wax girl. But Sarah, the living Waxling, steals his heart instead. Now Blake must choose between breaking vows or breaking hearts.

First 250:
Before
Bartholomew Wilkes
1918
    
A fiddle screeched through the moon-blessed night. High and shrill, one long note danced through the trees before skidding down to a lower note, as the creature slid the bow over the strings. Her wax fingers were too frail to push down on the frets as she played, so no melody followed the sound or brought me comfort as I hid in the shadows.

The fire from the lantern beside her illuminated the gentle curve of her cheek and sparkled against the glass that made her eyes. She wore only white, a homespun dress that always smelled of vanilla and honey.

Like a spider, I crept behind a tree and clutched the white roses from Justice Barrus’s garden. Drying blood darkened the crease in my cuticles.

Gunfire ricocheted through the woods. The battle with the Singers should have been kept miles away from here. They were far too close for my liking. I ducked behind a branch to see her again as the fiddle stopped its two-note song.

She lowered the fiddle and searched the woods for danger. Watch your intent, I reminded myself as I silenced every emotion except my fear.

“Hello,” she whispered from her perch on the rickety porch steps. “Is there anyone out there?”

I took a step out of the shadows. “It’s just me, Miss Alice.” I pulled my hat from my head, my embarrassment tainting my smile.

Her face softened when she saw me. “Oh, Bartholomew. You frightened me.”



4 comments:

  1. Box Office Smash! This sounds fantastic. I can't wait to learn more about Sarah.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Stunning debut. Please send pages to kyra@aplusbworks.com. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Please, send full to Uwe Stender. uwe@triadaus.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd like to make an Instant Classic request for THE WAXLING. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete

Instagram

@kymburleevan