Lord-willing I’ll have a complete manuscript by the end of the week.

Any applicants for a 87,000-word folktale-based fantasy?

I will expect to know you before I release it, but I’m keen for input on this version, as this is the one I expect to query before the end of summer.

If you’re new to this project, here’s my best-effort to fill you in:

The story is about a teenage mother who decides a dragon would be easier to live with than her stepmother, and ends up disenchanting a prince only his parents knew was missing.

Unlike most YA novels the main characters are married (part of the disenchantment).

I’m still working on a coherent “blurb” (a challenge for most writers), but here’s what I have so far:

When Linnea faces the grey-skinned man unearthing her father’s coffin, she has no idea it is about a knife. When Tykone uses that knife to attack a dragon-like snake, the lindorm, he has no idea he’s wounding a missing prince. And the perfect Prince Torbjorn, who believes he is to inherit the throne, has no idea when he dutifully goes off to wed his arranged bride that she might have to train Linnea to be queen in her place. The grey-skinned stranger guesses, only he has come North to leave behind the world of magic in the hot lands.

But evil magic has followed him—and under the unsetting sun of summer it will seek new entertainment.

If you have any questions feel free to ask them here, or e-mail me. I’m especially interested in readers 14-17 years old, since that (in theory) is my target audience.  If you can share this info with friends that will be a help. Thanks!