Meredith Mansfield, Author

First an update:  I just finished the revision/rewrite of THE IGNORED PROPHECY!  And . . . drumroll . . . it came in at 99,000 words.  So I don’t have to get that big pair of scissors out after all.  I’m still going to want to go back and tune a few things up a bit, but it’s just about ready for readers.

I started this revision when I set my then work in process, SEVEN STARS aside.  Supposedly, I’ve been waiting for new inspiration and I’ve had some.  But, lately, the inspiration that’s been coming to me has been for a different story.  So, it looks like my next novel-length project will be MAGE STORM, not SEVEN STARS.  A first attempt at the one-sentence pitch for MAGE STORM:

Magic is supposedly dead in Rell’s world, but when he finds himself ‘gifted’ with magic he doesn’t know how to control, he’s ostracized from his family and runs away to find someone who can help him learn to use his magic safely.

MAGE STORM is actually based on one of my short stories.  And this one is going to be something of a departure for me because I see this story as a young adult fantasy.  THE SHAMAN’S CURSE and THE IGNORED PROPHECY are both written to be acceptable reading for young adults, but they are not specifically aimed at that target audience.  This will be.  That means, among other things, that I’m really going to have to pay attention to my pacing.  YA has to move faster than adult fiction.  That should be a useful exercise for me whatever happens.