An Unexpected Kingdom

An Unexpected Kingdom is my first completed full-length manuscript and the first novel in a planned young adult trilogy (note to self- must think of catchy name for series) featuring Ava Knight.  It is the story of an almost-normal sixteen year old whose life is turned upside down when she finds out she is a princess from a distant land.  I have worked so hard on revising and improving this story over the past few years.  I am in love with it.  Starting in January 2012, I have begun to rewrite the entire manuscript in the first person (it is currently in third person).  Clearly I am holding off on any querying during this process.

This is the summary of the story had been using in my query letter:

When a stranger appears with a story of a poisoned king, a missing princess, and a far-off kingdom in dire need of saving, Ava Knight’s biggest fear - that there is something not quite right about her - is realized.  She finds herself forced to choose between keeping the life she loves and fulfilling a vague feeling of duty to a people she has never known.  With her burgeoning sense of destiny forcing her to grow up much too fast, Ava leaves everything she knows behind and is thrust into life as Avanyarra, the returned Princess of Leel.  She is lonely, heartbroken, and out of place.  As Ava struggles with her new life, a battle is brewing over the fate of Leel and a race against time begins to see if Ava will be able to discover the power necessary to save her people.  An Unexpected Kingdom is a novel of high school, hard choices, a reluctant heroine, swords, and love.