An Excerpt from my 2nd Novel

The following is an excerpt from the draft of my second manuscript. It’s not directly related to my the Prologue of my first novel, but it is set in the same world (although over 2,500 kilometres; 1,550 miles away). It’s a very different story to my first novel, in that it is based in a more urban setting and deals with politics rather than being an epic fantasy adventure. As a writer, I don’t want to retell the same old tales, nor for my stories to follow a set formula. For me, there is nothing worse than reading fantasy and feeling like I’ve read the story before but told by another author.

Also while the protagonist of my first novel is a young male, Jedoso, and there is only really one POV character, in my second manuscript there are multiple POV characters and most of them are female. I’ve yet to decide whether the characters from the two novels will come together later in the series. Personally, I would prefer only to have minor characters cross over with maybe a final novel tying everything together. But it really depends on the success (or failure) of the series.

The following excerpt follows a young woman, Lela Anasu, coming to terms with the sudden and unexplained disappearance of her sister, Hera. It’s a story of magic, mystery, tyranny, and love.

Novel Prologue (1st draft)

The following is a draft of my novel’s prologue.

I’m currently seeking beta readers to look at the first few chapters of my book. If you are interested please get in touch (comment on and/or review this prologue) and I will email you more chapters. I would also be more than happy to return the favour.

Photo by Robert von Garret, May 2011

Prologue

Leom’s body ached as he ascended the mountain pass. He and his hound, Auld, drove his herd of goats before them. Leom felt that he was getting too old for these treks, he was feeling the effects of age more with every passing day. Despite his body’s complaints, he little choice but to move his goats to new pastures. All summer he had kept his goats in the lower meadows and he had not brought them into the higher pastures above the tree line in over a year; he knew that the snows would cover them within the next few weeks. So he had decided to bring his goats up for the day. He was regretting that decision then as the hours drew out, one painful step after another.