Trick or Treat #B13 – GOLDILOCKS

Title: GOLDILOCKS
Category: YA
Genre: Fantasy
Word Count: 65,000

Pitch:

Why did Goldilocks go into the forest? To kill the three bears. Four years after the bears killed her parents and friend, Orin, sixteen-year-old Goldilocks searches for a way to kill the three bears that continually attack her village.

Question 1: In your MC’s voice, what costumed character do you relate most to and why?

Not only did Batman and I both lose our parents at a young age, but now we both fight the terrors of the night that threaten those we love. Like him, I’m not afraid to break the rules in the name of justice, even if that means I must enter the forbidden forest to avenge the deaths of my parents and best friend.

Question 2: As an author, what makes your manuscript a tasty treat (aka unique/marketable)?

Fairy tales are often among the first books children read, and they’re continually brought to life on the big screen. My manuscript presents a unique twist on an old fairy tale that will draw upon the expectations readers have from their early experience with the genre while also tempting them with a more modern approach and a strong, complex main character that girls can look up to.

First 250 words:

I gripped my staff and waited for the attack to come. The grass under my feet was still slick from the season’s first frost. My breath came out in puffs that drifted off toward gray, low-hanging clouds. The sun had barely crested the horizon, signaling the start of another day. For those of us who survived the night, there was always a certain joy in seeing the sun float into the sky.

And today was going to be one of the most important of my life.

“Begin,” a voice called. It sounded far away, as though it was coming from the enchanted forest instead of from across the practice field.

I raised my staff to fend off the blow, but I was a second too slow. My muscles had tightened after standing around in the morning cold. The blade skimmed off the metal cuff wrapped around the end of my staff before biting into the wood, cutting out a chunk, and forcing me to stumble backward to stay on my feet.

“You’ll have to do better than that if you want to beat me, Goldilocks,” Rhys said. He readied his sword for another blow, displaying hints of the dark green and black uniform of the Night Watch under his protective leather vest. A thin cord bound his hair at the nape of his neck. His otherwise handsome face was marred by his crooked nose. It’d been broken during a training session a year ago. Despite the injury, he’d gone on to win the fight.