Alexis is currently querying:
THE RELUCTANT MENTOR
Genre: Comedic Fantasy – Adult
Length: 72,000 words
Short Pitch: A satire on the heroes’ journey from the perspective of a failed wizard mentor.
Comparative Titles: Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer and Darkwood by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch
Themes: Cozy Fantasy, Hero Tropes, Aging Gracefully, Friendship, Queer Romance, Adventure
Synopsis:
Athragast is a wizard of average standing, and after years of drudgery, all he wants is to retire on a beach – preferably somewhere off the magical grid. The Wizard Academy selects Athragast (everyone else was busy) for a straight-cut mission with a large enough payout to fund his retirement. Determined to have a fate different from most other wizards (who tended to fall off towers or get kidnapped by large birds), Athragast agrees to go on one last quest to defeat an old nemesis who, incidentally, can turn into a dragon. All Athragast needs is a hero to facilitate his success.
Armed with his most magical possession (a ballpoint pen) and an unlikely animal companion (with an unhealthy cigar-eating habit), Athragast travels to the Kingdom’s capital to inform their Prince that it’s his destiny to save the world. The Prince, being rather wealthy and having better things to do, refuses the job. But the world needs saving! And Athragast needs retirement like an ogre needs a bath. So, really, what does it matter to destiny whether he gets the Prince to do it, or some random bloke off the street? Besides, it’s not a lie if no one finds out.
Athragast recruits Jon, a busboy who seems a semi-capable stand-in hero (even if he is irritatingly optimistic). Along their journey, Athragast finds himself accidentally becoming a father figure to Jon. The old wizard learns a bit about making friends, a lot about how to keep them, and what it means to be a hero and fall in love – at any age.
GAP YEAR
Genre: YA Queer Rom-Com
Length: 54,000 words
Short Pitch: Geeky 18-year-old Eli leaves his rural home town after high school and falls in love with a boy on his trip across Europe.
Comparative Titles: Heartstopper by Alice Oseman and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Themes: Travel, Coming-of-Age, Faith Deconstruction
Synopsis:
Eli has just graduated high school and his parents pressure him to go to college like his older siblings. But Eli isn’t sure he wants to. In fact, he’s not sure what he wants to do with his life. Everyone goes to college. Even his best friend Josh has been accepted to one. But Eli feels trapped in his rural town. It’s time he does something big and figure out who he is away from everything and everyone he knows. He books a one-way ticket to Europe and tells his parents he’s going to spend the summer – possibly the year – travelling until his savings run out. Despite their objections, Eli boards a plane to Amsterdam. He meets a group of rowdy British people and their friend, a cute Dutch guy named Casper. The two immediately click, bonding over their love of video games, Avatar the Last Airbender, and folksy music. A few days later, Eli takes a train to Germany while he and Casper text constantly. Casper surprises him in Berlin and on a whim, the two decide to go on a road trip together. Eli tries things he never thought he would – paragliding, for one – and thanks to Casper, he discovers a lot about himself amidst their budding romance. But Casper is hiding something about his family, and that’s not the only trouble testing their new relationship. Eli’s family and friends back home don’t know he’s gay.
TIDE OF SANDS
Genre: Adult Epic Fantasy
Length: 115,000 words
Short Pitch: Ros sails across a vast ocean in search of missing memories when her crew shipwrecks on a hidden continent, where a red desert threatens the source of magic, and the magic-wielding natives think Ros is to blame.
Comparative Titles: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner meets The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington
Themes: Epic Worldbuilding, Slow-Burn Romance, Morally Grey Characters, Found Family, Queer Love, Adventure
Synopsis:
Ros grew up thinking her parents were dead and that magic didn’t exist – until her father contacts her, saying she needs to sail across the ocean to find him. Armed with a new ship and crew, Ros drags Ardon, her best friend and fellow orphan, on this death-defying voyage. An unusual storm at sea shipwrecks their crew, wounding Ardon and leaving them to survive on what they think is an undiscovered land until the crew encounters the Drui, a race of people with the power to manipulate nature.
Motivated to save Ardon, Ros abandons her crew to find her father. While she’s away, Ardon forms a romantic bond with one of the Drui and discovers Ros’s father may not have the best intentions. Hoping to make peace with the Drui, Ardon races to stop Ros before she can call on a powerful entity worse than the magic-leaching desert. Meanwhile, a member of Ros’s crew has contacted a powerful group who are desperate to control the Vein and put an end to the Drui.
THE ELEPHANT HANDBAG
Genre: Literary Fiction
Length: 23,000-word Novella
Short Pitch: Jess defines herself as a dull, experience-adverse person. But when a traumatic experience sends her spiralling deeper than her boyfriend or her absentee adoptive aunt can get her out of, Jess contemplates if life is worth living whilst coping with memories of her estranged, deceased mother.
Comparative Titles: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Themes: Trauma, Strained Relationships, Therapy, Suicide, Sexual Assault
Synopsis:
Ever since her hoarder mother died when she was ten, Haley has carried around the tattered handbag she left behind. A decade-and-a-half later, this handbag contains Haley’s entire life – following her move from Canada to the UK and being adopted by her narcissistic Aunt, to settling into a dingy one-bedroom flat with her boyfriend Tom in the middle of Cardiff. The handbag becomes an integral piece of Haley’s life, and soon, inexorably tied to her trauma.
In recent years, Haley has been retreating into social isolation, fearing she’ll become like her Mother and Aunt. But with her outgoing boyfriend’s encouragement and a determination to shake off her past, Haley agrees to join Tom and his friends at the pub down the street.
On her short walk there, Haley is attacked, and her life is forever changed. Hours later, Haley awakes in the hospital and endures the humiliating and numbing aftermath of sexual assault, including the unending personal questions, the painful examinations, the all-too-gentle voices, the brochures – and Tom’s reaction when he finds out what has happened.
In the following weeks and months, Haley suffers through the various stages of reconciling with her trauma, from anger and suicidal thoughts to feeling nothing at all. Tom urges Haley to seek help and she agrees to meet with a therapist. Through her interactions with people in her life, including her hated Aunt, and her therapy sessions, Haley learns about how she links her Mother’s handbag with her past, how it’s tied to her trauma, and that leaving it behind may bring some peace.
Alexis is working on:
THE CHEERFUL NECROMANCER
Genre: Comedic Fantasy
Length: WIP / Goal 80,000 words
Short Pitch: Britt the Necromancer loves resurrecting dead people so they can fulfil their lifelong dreams; she has very little interest in her fellow Necromancers’ goals to bring about the Great End, where the Mother of Mayhem rules over the mortal plane of the undead. The Mother of Mayhem’s daughter Esther travels down to the mortal world to start the End when she meets the overly optimistic Britt and begins to learn the value of life, un-life, and what are all these feelings she has started feeling for this blasting adorable Necromancer girl with the electric blue hair?
Themes: Cozy Fantasy, Hero Tropes, Friendship, Queer Romance, Adventure
Later projects:
IN WINTER’S SPRING
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Length: WIP / Goal 90,000 words
Short Pitch: After her 32-year-old husband dies in a biking accident, Winter grapples with her grief whilst living as an expat in Wales. Winter discovers a trip itinerary her husband was planning for their anniversary. In the hopes of rekindling her relationship with her sister Vera and overcoming her grief, Winter and Vera travel through Norway and learn about each other as adults.
Themes: Family, Sisterhood, Grief, Travel
SEA OF SHADOWS
*Completed*
(Book 2 following TIDE OF SANDS in the “Peacemaker Chronicles” duology)
Genre: Adult Epic Fantasy
Length: 182,000 words
Short Pitch: Shakhri and his legion of shadows have taken over Tal’or and put an end to magic. Ros remains Shakhri’s prisoner, and the shores are overrun by the Guild. Now, Ardon and Ti’ree must find a way to stop the desert from spreading — without the drui powers.
Comparative Titles: Godkiller by Hannah Kaner meets The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington
Themes: Epic Worldbuilding, Slow-Burn Romance, Morally Grey Characters, Found Family, Queer Love, Adventure
Synopsis:
A continuation and conclusion of Book 1, TIDE OF SANDS.
