Middle Grade Book & Graphic Novel Pitches
THE WILDER - Fantasy Adventure
An idealistic young girl named Sage adventures through the fantastical wild frontier of endless pine forests known as the Wilder. Here she encounters the Wilder's amazing wildlife - jackalopes, wampus cats, timber apes, woofs and ridgeback dargs - among other things. She befriends some of these strange critters, while defending herself against others.
But the critter Sage longs to find more than any other, is the elusive bush dragon. Said to be wise forest guardians that protect people (especially kids), Sage has always been fascinated by them. But more than that, Sage believes they are the key to finding her long lost father. After all, he was the one who had filled her head with the amazing tales about bush dragons when she was younger. The two had even planned to leave their settlement homestead on the edge of the Wilder someday and take an adventure to find one - together.
However, that day never came. Her father had left suddenly and with little explanation or warning. Only something vague about “going alone” and “danger”. He’d promised to return, but days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. Slowly, Sage’s faith began to waver.
Then she began to notice the whispers and gossip that others in the settlement let slip. They believed her eccentric father had abandoned her, never to return.
But she couldn’t…she wouldn’t allow herself to believe it!
With her journal filled with dragon stories as a guide, Sage mapped out all the places in the Wilder her father had once said bush dragons could be. Suiting up in her poncho, backpack and grabbing her stick blade, she determined to travel to each location herself. If there was a bush dragon to be found, she would find it! And with any luck, this would lead her to her father.
However finding such elusive critters could prove difficult. Luckily, Sage met a helpful friend along the way.
Since she had been a child, Sage had always had a strange ability to befriend critters, even seemingly being able to communicate with them. So when she stumbled upon and rescued a fearsome woof from a huntsman’s snare, the two quickly became loyal companions. Woofs can track anything. With the woof named “Woof” now at her side, the two continued onward.
But the mysterious Huntsman who had set the snare soon discovered his trap empty, and Sage’s footprints alongside. With his motives still unclear, he begins tracking the two, following close behind. And as the sun sets and darkness slowly grows, darker things deep within the Wilder begin to stir. Shadowy predators known as gloom stealthily move upon the land. They too follow Sage and the woof named Woof, but for a more sinister purpose.
Soon Sage’s journey to find herself a bush dragon would become much more serious and the stakes much more deadly…
*More available upon request.
Pages and concept art from older pitches and short stories of The Wilder…
SAMURAI SQUATCH - Humor/Adventure (Work in Progress)
“Sasquatches always fight with HONOR!”
Rejected by his own for turning his back on the ancient ways of the sasquatch, and feared by humanity for being seen as a monster, Samurai Squatch walks a lonely road. A beast caught between two worlds! He now walks the path of both the legendary samurai and the infamous Sasquatch.
Unlike others of his kind, he had always found himself drawn to the fascinating world of people and things. There was just too much fun stuff going on! Unfortunately, for some strange reason, any and all attempts to befriend a human had never gone as planned. But that’s how it went being a misunderstood beast of the forest. So yearning for connection, he had found solace in the only place he could - television.
Exposed from a young age to a steady stream of old samurai flicks, he soon learned all the ways of the noble warriors. He learned their skills with a katana, and their values of honor, and right and wrong. It was a pretty cool origin story and training montage. Most importantly, he learned about their unwavering code to protect the innocent at all costs…but also pacifism…with exceptions…
It was a tricky code to follow.
Now a great warrior himself, Samurai Squatch wanders the countryside, protecting humanity from dangerous cryptids, AI killer robots and mysterious alien forces. Also sometimes ninjas too.
Still, even with his all heroic acts, he remains a monster to be feared. Will Samurai Squatch ever find acceptance among mankind?
Probably not.
After all, humans are far too quick to fear that which they don’t understand. However, for the sake of this tale, we’ll say he at least has a slim chance, otherwise there wouldn’t be a story, right? Maybe he just needs to find one friend that can show him the ropes and teach him a thing or two about social skills and showering.
Only by reading the Middle Grade novel (with illustrations by the author), will we at last know!
