In accordance with some people’s advice, I drill out the exhaust vents and gun barrels, added nails to the corpses, along with some fresh blood. The legion icon is just some transfers with highlights and shadows painted atop them (except for the wings - those are completely freehand).
Dear [AGENT NAME],
I’m writing to you today in search of representation for The Clan Below the Clouds, a young adult dark fantasy novel set in a prehistoric world.
Skeagan is the chieftain-to-be of the Culid Clan, a group of hunter-gatherers who have been trapped on an isolated island for many generations. The clan’s elders refuse to speak of the Above Clans, or their skylands - great living landmasses which fly far above the clouds. But the Culid Clan’s straits are dire. Decades of inbreeding are beginning to take their toll. Skeagan’s generation may well be the last.
The burden of leadership hangs heavy on Skeagan’s shoulders. She’s never quite filled the shoes of her older brother, who was exiled after failing in his coming-of-age hunt. Skeagan faces a similar fate, should she fail in hers.
But one bad call during the hunt ends in tragedy, and a terrible storm forces her and her scouts to seek shelter on a skyland just as it returns to the cloudline. Trapped on the flying island with no way home, Skeagan and her kin find themselves faced with the daunting challenge of surviving in a strange new world - one they’ve only ever heard of in the legends of their ancestors.
And worse, they’re not alone. Someone is hunting them - a man with a vendetta against Skeagan and her kin. As Skeagan leads the fight against this mysterious foe, she takes the first steps on a journey that threatens to reignite a war against her people’s most ancient enemies…and reveal the dark secret of her own clan’s past.
My own fascination with and studies of ancient civilizations inspired me to write this novel, as did my love of the fantasy and sword-and-sorcery genres*.* If I were to pitch the novel in TV/movie terms, I'd describe it as The Wilds meets Avatar, with a dash of The Northman and Yellowjackets. Some comparable titles include the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver (one of my own inspirations), Nahia by Emily Jones, and Ivory and Bone by Julie Esbaugh.
I hope that your dual interests in X and Y, as well as your appreciation for Z and Q (this part will be personalized based on the agent’s MSWL), might make The Clan Below the Clouds an appealing fit. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
Tasty James
Dear [Agent Name],
Sleepaway Vamp follows Russell and Susan Reed, a pair of headstrong and rebellious thirteen-year-old twins, spending their summer at Camp Ranger Hill where their recently-single father works as a nurse. Russell chafes against his dad’s overprotectiveness. Susan wants nothing more than to get her parents back together - before her mother’s upcoming wedding. While Russell fights to earn the respect of the other boys, and Susan concocts a scheme to escape the camp, their father dives headfirst into a passionate romance with Ranger Hill’s new doctor, Bo.
However, Bo is far from the nurturing caregiver she appears to be. Her fingers are cold as ice. No one’s ever seen her without her sunglasses. And the boys in Russell’s bunk keep coming down sick, with some sort of strange fever. Russell and Susan will need to rely on their wits and cunning to protect their fellow campers - and save their dad from joining the ranks of the undead.
Sleepaway Vamp is an upper MG horror novel of approximately 63,000 words. In film/TV terms, it could be described as The Parent Trap crossed with The Lost Boys. Some comparable titles which share similarities with Sleepaway Vamp include The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste, Whispering Pines by Heidi Lang, and Ghost Girl by Ally Malinenko. The novel would appeal to middle-grade readers of any gender, including children of parents going through a divorce, or any child struggling to find their place as they endure the awkward pains of growing up.
I hope that your dual interests in [X and Y - personalize base on manuscript wishlist], as well as your appreciation for [Q and Z - personalize base on manuscript wishlist], might make Sleepaway Vamp an appealing fit. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
Tasty James
Even in death, she doots. Whereas he clutches the blade of his red-hot sword just to feel something
This also means Arijani’s rebels never have reason to ever surrender, instead fighting every battle to the bloody end. I don’t think VGR’s Kalakeri lore spells this out explicitly, but the implications of this are incredibly grim. All I can picture is Ramya herself personally executing each and every enemy survivor to ensure as many rise to join her ranks as possible.
If your players have met Ramya and her wights but haven’t yet discovered her “recruitment tactic”, you could probably foreshadow it by giving loads of her wights the same lethal wound - a stab wound to the heart, or a slit throat, or something. And then later, after a battle where they’ve helped defeat Arijani’s rebels, they see Ramya going down the rows of survivors and just mechanically, factory-line-style executing them.
Image from Shadow of War, because Talion has pretty much the exact same powers. In fact, if you’re at all looking for inspiration as to story hooks regarding Ramya’s mind control and the implications/logistics of commanding a magically brainwashed army, SoW is a great place to start for inspiration.
First image feels very Tepest. We also get a closer look at some of Ivan's creepy critters (very Krampus). I wonder if the first house is meant to be Schloss Mordenheim, given the northern lights, lightning, and cabling across the house? We also get a view of Gryphon Hill behind Godefroy, and tarokka cards of Saidra, Lorinda, Viktra/Elise and possibly Azalin (or his undead half). And then some Innsmouth stuff!