PAPfest Entry - THE STONETALKER

TITLE: THE STONETALKER

GENRE: MG Fantasy

WORD COUNT: 57,000


QUERY:

Birthdays shouldn’t be this tough.

But ever since his dad died, Asher thinks they’d be a heck of a lot better with him around. On his 13th birthday his mom gives him a pretty unusual present. An old pin that belonged to his father.

And that’s when everything changes.

Strangers start showing up at his school. Objects begin moving around on their own. Mysterious creatures keep lurking around every corner.

And when Asher gets chased into a world called Eden Worn through his school’s boiler room, he finds out why. It’s because his dad’s not really dead. He’s being held prisoner by Lord Balor. A madman who wants something of Asher’s. Something Asher doesn’t even know he has: the key to using the magic from the ancient Stones in Eden Worn.

Asher has to make a decision. If he leaves Eden Worn, he’ll never see his dad again. But making a deal with Lord Balor could mean the end of both worlds as he knows it.

Nope. Birthdays shouldn’t be this tough.

I am an award winning screenwriter and a member of SCBWI. By night I’m an avid fiction reader and writer. By day I teach at a public school where I keep an eye on our own boiler room door. I haven’t discovered any worlds beyond the mass of old desks and tables that lie behind it.

Yet.


FIRST 200:

Asher ran his thumb across the blade.

It was sharp. Really sharp.

The light reflected off the edge and the steel sliced right through it. He smiled. Even the light didn’t stand a chance against the weapon in his hand.

His eyes narrowed and he leaned in for the attack. His heart pounded in his chest. He raised the blade and took a deep breath.

“This better work.”

And then he struck.

Asher dragged the razor blade down his cheek. A trail of freshly shaved skin appeared beneath the thick layer of shaving cream. This was way easier than he thought it was gonna be. He put the blade under the running water to knock off the bunched up foam and went in for round two. He pulled the blade down again. A white-hot pinch of pain seared his chin.

Asher sucked in a sharp breath and dropped the razor in the sink. A bead of blood welled up under his lower lip. The sting was a whole heck of a lot bigger than the tiny cut. He splashed water all over his face and watched the shaving cream swirl down the drain.

He looked at himself in the mirror.