Synopsis

Today's post will be a synopsis of my manuscript. I got the idea from my friend Sherrie. It's just a rough summary of the main points in the story. It's entitled QuestSeekers. Here's the rundown:

The day begins in Pleasant Hills as three villagers Xanith, Chartreuse and Wilhelm enter the Town Square where they anger a giantess. Meanwhile in the Lindor kingdom preparations are underway for Princess Trulie’s birthday ball. When she throws a tantrum her brother, Prince Emmon flees the castle grounds. He soon meets the three villagers on their way to the Hillshire Forest. Prince Emmon joins them in the forest where they meet the porcelain skin woman, Dia, who drugs them and leaves them as food for her wolves. The wolves scatter when the village elder, Wessley and his staff enter the fray. The old man takes one look at Prince Emmon and tells him someone near him will die. The night ends with the murder of King Aquarius.
Prince Emmon witnesses his step-mother murder his father. But it is he that is accused as Queen Thessily screams regicide. Prince Emmon flees the castle grounds. He seeks help from the three villagers he met earlier. Wilhelm is reluctant to help the prince until the Lindor knights burn parts of the Town Square. Now it’s personal. They evade the knights by heading to the outskirts of the village.
On the outskirts of the village they come across the home of the village elder, Wessley. Prince Emmon tells him how the queen murdered his father. And how he’s the one taking the blame. The village elder tells them about the truth stone that lies in the fountain of truth. “It can reveal any truth asked of it,“ the old man says. But it’s well guarded. He tells them they will find their clue from Lady Kelendria in the land of Misnor, home of the giants. The dangerous quest for truth begins.
Wilhelm, Xanith and Chartreuse find out Lady Kelendria is the giantess from the Town Square. And she’s mad as hell. Pursued by Lindor knights and stomp happy giants they barely escape with their lives on a boat named the Quinta. Unbeknownst to them Queen Thessily is watching them from her third eye.
After escaping the clutches of a boy crazy mermaid Prince Emmon and company land on the island of pygmies but before they can proceed with their quest for the truth stone they have to rescue Wilhelm from the volcano worshipping pygmies. Once away from the pygmies Prince Emmon and company head to the city of Valdaron.
Inside the city of Valdaron Queen Thessily, the court council and the knights await them. Xanith and Chartreuse create a diversion allowing them to flee toward the green mountains of Illera, where the fountain of truth lies.
Prince Emmon and company make it to the fountain of truth. Queen Thessily close at their heels. The guardian of the truth stone allows Prince Emmon to fetch the stone. Queen Thessily kills the guardian with a fireball. The three villagers wrestle with the queen while just as the court council enters the mountain. Queen Thessily tries to lie but Prince Emmon with truth stone in hand asks for the truth to be reveal.
The queen is revealed to be an old hag with years of stolen youth

Writing in Color

The other night sleep prove evasive, so I had the TV on and I serendipitously came across a discussion panel on diversity in children's & young adult books. It was part of the 12th annual Harlem book fair. Listening to the discussion it seems there isn't much diversity in children literature. Around 5,000 books for children are published a year. Out of that number only 83 are written by African-Americans. That's quite a small number. At least two of the authors on the panel (Jerry Craft and Zetta Elliot) had to self-publish their books to break into publishing. Most of the authors talked about the publishing industry having this misconception that books with African-American kids are only for those kids. And there's the presumption that white writers write for everyone.
I believe books just like music have an universal appeal. The Harry Potter series was read by people of all races and ages. It really shouldn't matter rather the protagonist is white or black because books contain themes like sibling rivalry, friendship, growing up that all kids can relate to. Once upon a time every child believed in the
tooth fairy. If there was a story where a black girl wanted to prove the existence of the tooth fairy, couldn't that appeal to every child? As I listen to the discussion it made me think about my 20x rejected manuscript. Often they would say sorry we can't market your story at this time. I wonder if
it is because the protagonist isn't ivory skinned. I would like to hope that isn't the case in 2010. I write in the fantasy genre. I have read several fantasy books and most that contain charactors of color they're usually in secondary roles. I think it's time for a change.

This Road

Traveling down this road
mapless
hapless
useless
compass
left, right
no direction
broken concentration
need some assertion
to take way this emotion
dreams disappearing in the rear view mirror
they are close but I'm no nearer
the future is a blur, can't see no clearer
the laid out destiny
that's before me
as I travel down this road.

The Saffron Moon Project

Well, it's been a long while since I blogged. It's not like I have a bunch of readers waiting to read my words. I'm currently working on a middle-grade manuscript. Well I've only written the first chapter. I'm not quite sure what direction I'm going with it. It's called the Fantasy Life of Saffron Moon it's a coming of age story with hints of magical realism. At first it was going to be about a lonely girl with a crowded imagination, but then...I decided to make it a bit more fantastical. So Saffron Moon is a lonely girl with two different colored eyes. And she can see hidden truths with her right eye.
So the first hidden truth she sees with her eye is a fellow classmate's home life isn't so sweet. So Saffron is faced with keeping quiet or trying to find a way to help. Along the way she'll deal with dodging gym class, a rival student, unrequited crush and a bully of a big sister. I suppose it sounds ok. The Fantasy Life of Saffron Moon, her eyes sees your truth. I might change the title. Maybe to Saffron Moon.