Book Info

This is page where I post information about my writings, since, you know, I have that writer kept as a hostage inside me. After all, she is trapped inside a ginger. My lack of soul keeps me from releasing her, but I know enough about "empathy" *shudders* to write for her...as long as my name ends under the title.

Withering and Wakening

This, my dear web-friends, is my baby. After nearly two years, I finished this bad boy and am currently looking for an agent. I only have rejection letters so far...oh well! More time to edit!

The World

Before I can even give a slight plot description, it helps greatly to know what sort of world this is. So then, we have the world divided into five classes: Vates, Eris, Wealthy, Talented, and Lower.

The Vates are 400 individuals who are in a constant battle to be ranked higher than one another in popularity. They are literally ranked from 1st to 400th, and are at the top of society's pyramid. The other classes revolve completely around the lives of the Vates, and it is these individuals who control what happens in the world. They hold all of the influence.

Being so very important, the Vates need people to protect them. Enter the Eris. The battle of popularity between Vates extended to actual combat, but instead of fighting themselves, the Eris are there to defend and take out anyone their Vates does not particularly like. Eris are owned for their entire life by their respective Vates and are trained to fight, protect, and ultimately give their lives up for their owners.

The Wealthy are the very lucky members of society who are not forced to slave away at a skill. They are the party-goers, the spenders, the educated, and the most loyal followers of the Vates.

The Talented class is educated, but only in one skill. They learn a trade/art in order to entertain the Vates.

The Lower class makes up the bulk of the population. The are not educated, except in whatever work they do to survive. These are the people who work with their hands and in the lowest jobs. They look to the Vates for entertainment, and follow blindly because the have not been taught anything else.

The Story

Our main character is Viola. Why is she special? She is what is called a Gemini.
A Gemini?
Yes, a being who can control an element! Only water or heat though, water in her case. She keeps this a secret. The other girls would be, like, so totally jealous of her. Gosh, they would just, like, hate her! No, seriously, she is a member of the Talented class and very much enjoys learning music as a skill. If it was revealed that she was a rare Gemini, she would be forced to become an Eris.

A sad day occurs when Viola and her sister, Ellie, are thrown out of school and sent to live out with the Lower class. They are not accustomed to the ruthless environment and put themselves in danger. Viola comes to Ellie's recuse and reveals her ability. She is caught by an Eris who immediately asks her to become an Eris for his Vates. Viola agrees, but only in order to bring Ellie off the streets.

Withering and Wakening follows Viola in her life as an Eris. This is the first part of a series of three books. It used to be one giant novel, but it was over 260,000 words. Yeah, how many pages would that be? Around Atlas Shrugged length maybe? That would not sell to teenagers. After splitting it, this first part became 86,000 words, which is much less scary for agents to see in a query letter.

So far, this book remains on my laptop, unpublished and unloved by readers. But one day, one beautiful shining golden day, I will hold my book in print. I shall laugh at the people who said someone so young could not write a book!