u/Itmekroolz

Dear [Agent],

Stef is losing her grip on reality. Easy to do when stuck outside of time, in her cabin with nothing to do but stand in the doorway looking out into the emptiness of her pocket realm where she has been exiled. Branded a terrorist and locked away by her own mother, Joanne, to stop her from usurping her rightful place as leader of the Weavers–magical beings who control all realms. Stef prefers the term revolutionary, though she does admit her ways could be a bit erratic.

No matter. Stef has a plan. A desperate spell, that she unleashes outside of her prison and that needs a host. A non-magical being that is so void of potential is might as well be a blank slate.

Kevin is wasting away his 30s at a dead-end accounting job by day, and scarfing McDonalds in his house alone by night. Divorced. Friendless. Resigned to never fulfill any of his life’s dreams. When Stef’s spell choses him as its host, Kevin begins to see the threads of magic that separate the human realm from the magical, and must figure out why he suddenly has powers, and access to the Snapshot, a seemingly lifeless version of earth where time stands still. This newfound purpose propels Kevin on a crash course with Michael, whose magic the spell had entangled with Kevin, and who is Joanne's right hand Weaver, and the one who holds the key to Stef’s prison realm.

When Kevin kills Michael, shattering the wards that bind Stef, they must each make choices on how to deal with the consequences of their actions. Stef begins phase two by recruiting Kevin directly into her sprawling schemes. Their partnership is a fraught one as Kevin has no idea Stef is responsible for his descent into the magical world that is slowly eating away at his human psyche which was never meant to intertwine with magic. Their fraught and magic tainted relationship is at the center of this fantasy tale that delves into what it means to take control of your own life. By any means necessary.

For fans of fantasy narratives that explore the interplay of our own world and the magical like The Magicians by Lev Grossman and the surreal and descriptive writing style of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, THE WEAVE is an adult fantasy novel complete at 87,000 words. It features a dual POV narrative that intertwines the lives of Stef and Kevin as they tear through borders of the human and magic realms looking to seal their futures.

My name is Kyle Kammerer, I’m 38 and live in Chicopee, Massachusetts. I have previously published poetry in The Helix literary magazine; THE WEAVE is my first novel. It started as a daydream to escape the mundanity of an office job and ended up an exploration of how someone may take control of their future, whether through brute force, or serendipity.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Kyle Kammerer (He/Him)

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FIRST 300 Words:

FANTASY The Weave

There was a tear between realities no bigger than an oak leaf. Its edges writhed as the small gap stitched its seams back together. In forty seconds, it would be sealed. On one side, between the thick wooden logs of a cabin's walls, there was a woman. Stef’s bare feet collected splinters as she paced, feral, spitting out words in a fiery cadence. Torn papers twisted circles in the wind rising from her words. This had to work. One last attempt to rid herself of this prison. On the other side of the gap—trees, a road, a car, a man, his head resting in his palm, eyes focused on a trio of bushes far off in the field in front of him.

While he was oblivious, she was frantic, but purposeful, racing words toward the end of her incantation. Racing against the steady stitch of The Weave’s fibers as it repaired the wound she had torn through it. Her voice rose to a shout as her window of opportunity waned. Only seconds left now. The table, the chairs, the burning logs ripped from the fireplace, all whipped around her as she hit the last syllable, and everything slammed to the floor. Stef’s eyes went white, and her nose filled with the scent of burning lilac.

The spell untethered from her fingertips in a flash, flinging itself through the pebble sized hole just as it closed behind her swallowed words. Stef heaved breaths, trying to stave off the wobbles in her knees. She was alone again in her cabin, floating out in the dark beyond the bounds of reality. Her cage closed off once again.

She remained trapped, but her spell was liberated, soaring through the tangle of trees, out past the road, and through an open car window. The spell found its target there, and buried itself into the man, past the skin and bone and deep into the bundle of nerves at the apex of his spine. Kevin was too preoccupied to notice.

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