Second draft of Query for A Drive of Dragons.
Here's another stab at it. Is it better, do you think? Any questions, or anything you would change?
At nearly fourteen, Verity is old enough to know that being a princess isn’t all honey and roses and beautiful horses. Princesses and princes must protect their people, too. When fire-breathing dragons invaded the kingdom of Patria generations earlier, only the princess was able to defeat them. But no one knows exactly how, for she never came back.
Now huge, fire-breathing lizards have invaded once more, and Verity knows what she must do. She must confront the dragons. After she escapes from the palace and finds her way to the mountains, she meets a little dragonling who tells her the dragons are starving. A powerful, greedy dragon called Blackstone is hoarding all their food. Verity hopes most sincerely that Blackstone doesn’t enjoy munching on maidens of royal blood, but she’s got to face him even if he would rather eat her. If she can’t persuade Blackstone to change his ways, the other dragons, the people of Patria, and the neighboring kingdom of Halland will all suffer. It’s up to her to rescue everyone from the wicked Blackstone. But, as far as she knows, her only weapons are her sharp mind, her sense of duty, and a pair of embroidery scissors. And - that other princess never came back.
A Drive of Dragons is middle-grade fiction, complete at 35,000 words. Verity and Frank, the young prince of Halland, are the viewpoint characters. I’m a writer and librarian who has loved stories about dragons since I was eight. This story should appeal to readers who like classic dragon tales such as The Reluctant Dragon and Farmer Giles of Ham; it’s something of a tribute to those books. But I hope readers of Cressida Cowell’s wonderful series will enjoy A Drive of Dragons, too. I look forward to hearing from you.
At nearly fourteen, Verity is old enough to know that being a princess isn’t all honey and roses and beautiful horses. Princesses and princes must protect their people, too. When fire-breathing dragons invaded the kingdom of Patria generations earlier, only the princess was able to defeat them. But no one knows exactly how, for she never came back.
Now huge, fire-breathing lizards have invaded once more, and Verity knows what she must do. She must confront the dragons. After she escapes from the palace and finds her way to the mountains, she meets a little dragonling who tells her the dragons are starving. A powerful, greedy dragon called Blackstone is hoarding all their food. Verity hopes most sincerely that Blackstone doesn’t enjoy munching on maidens of royal blood, but she’s got to face him even if he would rather eat her. If she can’t persuade Blackstone to change his ways, the other dragons, the people of Patria, and the neighboring kingdom of Halland will all suffer. It’s up to her to rescue everyone from the wicked Blackstone. But, as far as she knows, her only weapons are her sharp mind, her sense of duty, and a pair of embroidery scissors. And - that other princess never came back.
A Drive of Dragons is middle-grade fiction, complete at 35,000 words. Verity and Frank, the young prince of Halland, are the viewpoint characters. I’m a writer and librarian who has loved stories about dragons since I was eight. This story should appeal to readers who like classic dragon tales such as The Reluctant Dragon and Farmer Giles of Ham; it’s something of a tribute to those books. But I hope readers of Cressida Cowell’s wonderful series will enjoy A Drive of Dragons, too. I look forward to hearing from you.