Beautiful Students

Writing Fantasy...

Every year, on Social Media, I post about my students who write novels and memoirs, but this past spring, with 60 creative writing students, my brain broke, and I haven’t been able to get around to it until today.

So around a year ago, I also had three students write to me about directing their thesis projects - all three YA fantasy novels. My heart sank because fantasy is not my strength. Two of my three children LOVED reading fantasy novels, and the other, who preferred literary fiction and memoir, worried that she wouldn’t fit in at Sarah Lawrence when she saw a kid in a T-shirt that said, “Dumbledore dies on page…”

She called and said, “Mom, they’re going to know everything about Harry Potter here!”

I told her she would find other things to talk about with new friends besides Harry Potter.

Anyway, I’ve recently racked up about 25 rejections for my own middle-grade novel, “Millie G & Vulan,” which has some magical realism/fantasy elements that didn’t impress.

Here are a few of the rejections without naming names.

I can see why you love this novel; Millie is likeable and it is hard not to root for her. Even so, I’m afraid I need to respectfully pass, as the fit isn’t quite right…

Thanks for sending it, and I’m sorry to say that I don’t feel it’s a fit for me. I hope you’ll find a wonderful home for the book…

I had a chance to dip into MILLIE G AND VULCAN and the story didn’t pull me in as much as I’d hoped, so I’ll bow out. Hope you find the perfect home for it!

Thanks so much for sharing this with me. I’m afraid this one isn’t a must-have for my list so I’ll pass on it with all my best wishes…

After reading, I found the manuscript was not as character-driven as I had hoped, so it is not a fit for me, but I wish you and Kerry the best of luck finding it the right publishing home…

Thanks again for sharing Kerry Madden-Lunsford’s MILLIE G AND VULCAN. I agree with you that this is a special story—Millie truly has an irresistible voice, and I do think her story is one that will resonate with kids going through similar periods of struggle. I found the entire family to be so delightful. But ultimately, I’m afraid I won’t be able to pursue this. Middle grade is just too tough right now, and I’m afraid it would get lost at______I’m sorry about this as I do think Kerry is a very talented writer, and I hope the market changes soon. I appreciate you sending her work my way, and I wish you all the best in finding a home for Millie elsewhere…

I could go on and on, but it’s just more of the same. I began to write “Millie G & Vulcan” for our youngest child, Bo, around 2012, who asked me to write something other than “historical fiction.” I gave it a shot and worked on it off and on for over a decade, inspired by the statue of Vulcan here in Birmingham, which stands atop Red Mountain, looking over the city. Millie G needs a giant in her life to fix things, so she makes a wish for Vulcan to wake up. I was thinking of THE BFG and THE IRON GIANT, and who knows what else? Some days, I felt like I was wearing oven mitts, typing clumsily over the keys, trying to breathe life into the story.

Here is Vulcan, the largest cast-iron statue in the world.

Anyway, my dear agent gave me great notes, and it’s still making the rounds, so who knows? I’ve been told middle-grade is in a terrible slump for myriad reasons, as Vicky Weber wrote on another Substack.

***
Back to my three wonderful students - Audre, Jayden, and Micki.

So honestly, I mentally gnashed and thrashed about mentoring three fantasy novels, but I needn’t have worried. These three students wrote such beautiful novels and cheered each other along the way. I learned so much from each of them. In addition to their weekly chapters, I encouraged them to write jacket flaps, glossaries, and maps. The four of us met weekly over Zoom (and even once on the bus) to read chapters and share notes.

It was an honor to get to work with Audre Elliot, Jayden Foster, and Micki Ravizee. Audre and Jayden graduated with MA degrees, and Micki was my undergraduate honors’ thesis student; they all worked together with such generosity, sensitivity, and love for one another and the work. They all also worked full-time jobs and showed up every week without fail.

Here are pictures and excerpts of their novels.

THERE BE A DRAGON by Audre Elliot

THERE BE A DRAGON by Audre Elliot

For my thesis, I will be writing a young adult fantasy novel titled There Be a Dragon. It’s a fictionalized account of my rediscovery of myself after a four-year-long depressive state during my senior year of high school and after. I plan to translate that mental and emotional journey into a physical one for the novel's protagonist, Evren. It will be told almost exclusively through a third-person omniscient perspective that focuses on Evren, with brief shifts to supporting characters. I expect the novel to be fairly long in the end, and I currently have the Prologue and the beginning of the first chapter completed, and I have included the Prologue at the end. Below, I’ve laid out an outline of the world being created, as well as information about a few characters who will be heavily involved.

“Evren remembered that day vividly. The old woman stood over her gnarled wooden staff, weaving violet light through the air, her rough voice chanting. She was a tiny, stupid thing then, didn’t know what she was giving up, only knew she wanted it gone and the witch could do it. Ma Cray had warned her against it, said she’d regret what she'd done and would be back, begging her to undo it, like all who visit her, but Evren was young and stubborn, a combination that made most world lessons difficult to stick.

What did she know? Evren had thought. She wasn’t the one struggling to hold her head above water. She wasn’t the one feeling like an outsider.”

The YA fantasy novel, There Be a Dragon, takes the grinding and grueling task of people-pleasing to a whole new art form in the story of Evren, an Embodied, who gives up everything in the hopes of belonging again to a group of beloved friends who have suddenly found her lacking. One impulsive, heartbreaking, and hard-headed decision to turn to Ma Cray to become Bound sends Evren on a journey to reclaim herself and the dragon she was always meant to be. Meeting a syren, Kylori, who is at once her foe at every turn, the two of them find a way to venture forth together through this land that Audre has created with such skill, beauty, and a tremendous love for her characters. I think this is such an important book that so many teens, stuck in the loop of anxiety and fitting in, will find hope and possibility again to reclaim their own dragon selves in Audre Elliot’s beautiful work of fantasy.

***

THE GUARDIAN ORDER by Jayden Foster

THE GUARDIAN ORDER by Jayden Foster

The Guardian Order is a young adult fantasy novel set in the sacred land of Enyimel, a sanctuary sustained by magic and ancestral guardianship. The narrative follows siblings Kairos and Verena Sepher as they confront both an ecological catastrophe and a deeply personal rupture within their family. When a blight corrupts the land and destabilizes its magic, they are forced into a reluctant alliance to save their people. However, the external crisis mirrors an internal one: a lifetime of unequal parental expectations has shaped them into ideological opposites. Kairos embraces the heroic destiny prepared for him, while Verena resists a role she never chose.

As their journey carries them beyond Enyimel’s borders, they confront the cost of heroism and the limits of sacrifice, realizing that saving their world depends on repairing their broken relationship. Ultimately, the novel argues that destiny is not a fixed inheritance but a negotiation between self and family, power and responsibility, destruction and renewal. By placing intimate family conflict within an epic fantasy framework, this project engages young adult literature’s ongoing exploration of ecological anxiety, identity formation, and the reimagining of traditional heroism.

Keywords: Young Adult, Fantasy, Ecology, Coming of Age, Siblings, Family Relationships

“Their family’s duty to protect Enyimel and all that existed within it was not a simple task. The land was a holy place for all creatures of light, a sanctuary for the spirits that guided them.”

OPENING CHAPTER

“The air on nights as these felt more like a punishment than a gift from the spirits of their land. As often as Kairos complained about the stifling heat and the sweat slipping down his back, Father paid no mind. He barely looked up from his work as warm air drifted through the open window of the office. The breeze, if it could even be called such a thing, swept over stacks of papers and ruffled the pages of open books.

A whispered curse flew from Father’s mouth, and Kairos raised a brow. The aged Liásaavar flipped anxiously through a hefty tome, a boring, ancient text he forced Kairos to read half a dozen times. He could see the looping symbols in his mind as his father returned to the section on the ritual sacrifices of southern Tsyld tribes. Elaborate drawings decorated the margins, curling in and out of ancient words. Of course, Father could probably quote the entire chapter, a skill Kairos had yet to develop.

“Father,” Kairos said, his voice low. He waited for his father to glance away from the book. When he didn’t, Kairos cleared his throat. “Do you feel the—”

“One moment.” His father raised his hand, holding it up as though it were physically stopping Kairos from speaking.

Kairos frowned. “It’s just the trees are—”

Father did look at him this time, his gaze sharp. Karios quieted, not saying a word, though there was a churning in his gut that was difficult to ignore.

For as long as Kairos could remember, which, at sixteen seasons, wasn’t very long for a Liásaavar, the purpose of their family was to protect Enyimel.”

Jayden Foster’s gentle and determined spirit has brought this Young Adult Fantasy novel, THE GUARDIAN ORDER, to fruition, breathing life into a family set on saving their world and protecting each other. The sibling relationship between Kairos and Verena is one of authenticity in its fiercely competitive nature. The journey they embark on together will leave both changed forever, and it’s a journey I have loved taking with Jayden this year, watching this novel take shape over our weekly sessions. Jayden is so deeply committed to these characters and to honoring their story that it will one day go into the world and find many readers of this first book in a series set in the land of Enyimel.

THE CO-AL RIVER by Micki Ravizee

THE CO-AL RIVER by Micki

For this creative thesis, I propose a science fiction novella set in a distant future. The Co-Al River is a dual narrative story that follows twenty-year-old Jace Harpman as he works to save his dying mother on his home planet, Seitari, and Jace Harpman six years later, as he struggles with substance abuse on the prison planet, Kalune, while war broods in the background, where he serves a sentence for murder. In this 30,000-word thesis, I will tell the story of a young, innocent factory worker, eroded by a cascade of tragedy and broken systems.

OPENING CHAPTER

“Two long cries rose up in the distance. Voices bellowed in the scaffolds shortly after, orders barked in harsh voices.

The novelty of it had been lost on Jace long ago. He’d gotten used to the noise long before he ever arrived on Kalune. It couldn’t rattle him now.

His hands were set to the task. Veins of white mineral danced out from the wall, breaking the beams of the overhead lights into splinters of rainbow. Axes dropped around him. Voices mumbled quiet thanks.

Or complained just as loud as the alarm. Jace stayed where he was, gripping the handle of his pickaxe. Sweat pooled against his upper lip. Ordinarily, he’d have been more annoyed than anything. Telling time inside the mine was impossible, but his internal clock had been honed well enough over the years to know when lunch was close. Maybe half an hour or so, and they’d be marching into the mess hall for break. The food wasn’t anything special, but breathing in fresh air would’ve been nice after spending hours inside the cave.”

Micki is an incredibly talented student with whom I’ve had the privilege of working as her thesis director. She truly is exceptional as a writer, artist, and person. We have met online weekly for the past year, as she worked on her dystopian novel, “The Co-Al River.” I was astonished by her level of expertise, focus, and talent at such a young age. I encouraged her to read Octavia Butler, a novelist whose work and vision are very much akin to Micki’s vision in writing fiction with fantasy and dystopian elements. Micki has composed a brilliant science fiction novella. Entitled, “The Co-Al River,” which she describes as “a dual narrative story that follows twenty-year-old Jace as he works to save his dying mother on his home planet, Seitari, and Jace six years later, as he struggles with substance abuse on the prison planet Kalune, where he serves a sentence for murder.” Micki writes with such empathy, grace, and terrific tension and plot, and has tenderly rendered Jace into a three-dimensional character that we grow to love and care about in this world, in her words, of “tragedy and broken systems.” I know it’s a book that readers will connect to on so many levels because Micki is on the verge of a beautiful career as a novelist and storyteller. It’s been an honor to serve as her thesis director and to learn from her.

***
And my two traveling companions attended all the workshop sessions on Zoom and on the bus, and here is a picture from a walk to Vulcan.

Now summer can really begin.