In Which I Participate

So Today is the day for the Writer's Voice competition. I'm participating because it's different than any other contest I've seen on the blogosphere and it sounds like a lot of fun. Here's hoping I get picked.


Anyhoo, here's my entry (my query and my first 250 words) for my YA fantasy Break Free

Seventeen-year-old courier Kiel Reaux has one goal: pay off the debt chaining him to the Baron of Old Town and earn his freedom. After a failed delivery, the Baron reminds Kiel how bloody the consequences will be if he doesn’t agree to run one final package. When the job goes balls up and he stumbles into the hands of slavers, the Baron’s bloody promise drops to bottom of Kiel’s list of priorities.

Kiel is sold to Izzy, a young priestess naïve enough to trust him. On the run from her own problems, Izzy needs to travel through the Wild, a jungle of untamed magic. What’s more, she’s decided Kiel will be her guide. Only he’s not playing nice.

Assassins trail Izzy’s every step and in the Wild the trees can kill and flowers resurrect the dead. Even if Kiel’s forgotten about the Baron, the Baron hasn’t forgotten about him. But while Kiel manages to keep everything under control, he fails to guard himself against the most dangerous power yet: Izzy herself. Her beauty and kind nature chain Kiel so tightly he starts to forget about his dream of being free. Now Kiel has a choice: forget Izzy in an attempt to save face with the Baron, or trust in Izzy and her promise to free him if he helps her. But he’ll have to choose quickly, because unless Kiel can find a way to save them both, he won’t have to worry about his liberty. You can’t enjoy freedom if you’re dead.

250 words:

I lost the package.

It should’ve been the final job for the Baron. The last delivery, and then I’d be done with him forever. But I lost the package and here I found myself, back at the Baron’s, ready to beg forgiveness. To ask for a final chance to pay off my debt – a final chance to be free.

I hesitated in front of the wrought-iron gates and scratched the stubble on my jaw. The Baron’s white manor gleamed in the sun. It almost looked pretty. It always looked rich.

My stomach twisted and dropped into my groin. What was that feeling called? Dread? Yeah… definitely dread.

The setting sun turned the dust from the road red. Jal stepped beside me and stared at me out of the corner of his eye, brushing a lock of brown hair off his forehead. “Why’d we stop?”

I shook myself and contained my worry. “No reason. Just thought maybe you needed a rest.”

His face flushed and his eyes widened. “Shut up, Kiel! You’re just saying that to make me mad.”

 “Prove it, Kid.” I shrugged. “Now come on. I want to get through this as fast as possible.”

“You’re the one who stopped in the first place,” the kid mumbled. I ignored him. When Jal sulked, he looked even younger than his thirteen years. Too young and he’d attract the Baron’s attention, something I’d managed to prevent for a long time.

Bam! Good luck to everyone participating!!