Manuscript Status: Finished 

Mentor Name: Wade Albert White
Mentee Name: Timanda J. Wertz
Title: THE SPY OF LIRON
Category: MG
Genre: Fantasy
Word Count: 64,000

Pitch:

Twelve-year-old Leila is used to being underestimated. Nobody sees a kitchen slave who walks with a crutch as a threat. But when the Guardstone protecting her kingdom goes missing, she infiltrates the enemy commander’s camp as a serving girl. If she finds the stone she’ll claim a reward large enough to free her family. If she fails, her whole kingdom will be enslaved.

Excerpt:

Lord Jarib could beat me just for being in his house. If he discovers the real reason I snuck in, he’ll do a lot more than that.

At the first glimpse of a shadow in the corridor I lunge through the nearest open door into a storage room filled with baskets and shelves. As I limp farther in to where the light disappears in a tangle of winter robes, it occurs to me trapping myself with no escape route might not be my best idea ever. I wiggle between the robes and shrink into the corner where the air is so still I hear nothing but my own heart pounding quick as a sunbird’s wings. Inhaling a breath choked with cedar and valerian, I try not to think about what will happen if I’m caught.

A scuffling from the door alerts me I’m not alone in here. The way whoever it is moves, as if the act of lifting a foot fully off the ground would use too much energy, tells me it’s an older slave. Sandals shuffle along the stone floor until he’s so close I could poke him with my crutch. If he gets any nearer he’ll hear my heart thrashing like a crocodile caught in a net. When the robes around me quiver, I flatten myself tighter against the wall.