My current WIP is Sailor Moon meets The Wheel of Time, a YA manuscript. It features a brown-skinned 16-year-old island girl who is a bit of a goofball, a hopeless romantic, and a certified scaredy cat. She’s also a loyal friend and an unfaltering optimist who cannot tolerate the rudeness of bullies.
inspiration
Some of my inspiration for this story includes West African and African-Caribbean folklore, which I’m currently researching and devouring story by story. I’m also drawn to the diversity of the Caribbean islands and the interesting ways various diaspora intersect there. My WIP’s cast is multicultural. Their differences are visible and celebrated and mirror how I envision a blended society might function without racial tension.
story
I don’t want to say too much at this stage, but here’s the working logline: Exiled as an infant, a magically-bound teenaged royal guardian returns to defend the princess against ominous forces, uncovering secrets about her own true identity and the empire’s dark history along the way.
This story has everything. Dragons, water spirts, soucouyants, faceless children with backwards feet who call you into the forests. As creepy as that may sound, it’s all in good fun. My protagonist is a relentlessly joyful black girl and I’m taking a break from writing about trauma.
progress
I’ve written a full synopsis for this story and am following a loose outline, researching and revising as I go. Currently, I’m 6 chapters and 19,000 words in, with a goal of 25 chapters and 80,000 words. I hope to have the first draft finished by July 20th and plan to participate in the pitch wars this year. I’ve also got some ideas for merch surrounding this project, but that’s for another post.