Endless Deep (Working Title)
Chapter One: Amaya
The first thing she notices upon falling is how freeing it feels, like flying. It feels like that for the minute it takes for her to crash into the ground at the bottom of the seemingly endless pit. Bones shatter on the cave floor. Muscles are bruised and battered, undefined. It’s as if her body becomes viscous, shapeless, a mere puddle on the floor. She breathes once and then stops breathing. For a moment, it seems she is dead. Until a light as brilliant as the sun envelops the cave, spilling onto her broken body and levitating her into the air. Her bruises disappear, broken bones click back into place, her body begins to take a familiar shape. The second she is whole again the light vanishes and she drops to the floor. Unconscious but very much alive. And, eventually, awake.
The second thing she notices is the absence of pain. The third, the absence of memory. She sits up, immediately thrown into a state of terror. Who? Where? How? There is no one near her, no more light following the healing miracle of moments before. No sight, barely a sound beyond her own labored breathing. Labored from fear, not exhaustion. She tries to speak, to call out, but she is so winded it comes out as a whisper. “Help me”. Too quiet to solicit help even if someone could hear her. She reaches out her fingers, sweeping the hard stone floor, feeling nothing but a smooth, flat surface. Almost icy in texture. Amaya. The cave seems to whisper back to her, letting in brief glimpses of memory.
She sees herself climbing a mountain, smiling. Another person behind her. A man with light skin. He calls out to her to slow down, but she just laughs and continues faster. It’s chilly, but not unbearable. Her jacket is warm against her bare arms, but the wind glances her face and she shivers. The darkness of the cave makes it easy to take herself out of it and she is invested in this memory now. They continue to climb the mountain together with her as a leader. She has a recollection of the feeling of reaching mountain tops and looking down at the valley at the conclusion, completely breathless and satisfied; there is a sense that she has had that feeling many times before. She misses it.
She turns her head to look back at the man behind her. He’s wearing similar climbing gear to her own and carrying a backpack. For some reason, it feels like there is a connection between them, but she can’t even remember his name. He’s blonde and blue-eyed, lean and attractive, but there’s nothing beyond his looks. She barely remembers her own name. Amaya. Given to her by this strange environment.
All at once she snaps out of it, transported immediately back to her new reality. In some ways, this reality is difficult to comprehend. Human beings so heavily rely on their senses of sight, smell, hearing. Now all she has is her sense of touch and nearly palpable blackness. It’s everywhere. Her voice is still not working. Instead of calling out, she stands, now determined to use the magic of her long fall and resurrection to her advantage. With her hands out in front of her she shuffles forward, waiting to hit a wall, willing herself forward to survive. There must be something within this cave, and if there is something, she will find it.
Title: Endless Deep
Genre: Magical Realism
Age range: Probably 16-30
Word count: Plan is ~75,000 words (currently at about 7,000 words - it’s on hold because I’m taking a lot of classes right now)
Author name: L. Kershaw
Why your project is a good fit: Trident Media seems to have a diverse portfolio and I’m open to working closely with an editor to make something that fits into that portfolio. I’m very easy to work with and write extremely quickly so meeting deadlines is never a problem.
The Hook: Amaya falls into a hole and seemingly disappears during a hike, the reality is much darker than she could imagine.
Synopsis: There’s a lot still in progress, but essentially the first half of the book is exploring the cave that she’s fallen into (a high degree of fantasy in this section, but trying to keep it relatable to the reader) and the second half is after she leads people out of the cave and what happens after that. I have a full outline that I can provide, but it needs work for sure.
Target Audience: I’m open to advice from an editor on who to target, I can market myself to pretty much everyone, but am not an expert in target markets for novels
Your bio: Currently I live in Ann Arbor, MI with my fiance and my adorable cattle dog mix, Jester. We spend our time (outside of the 9 to 5 drag) rock climing, cooking, and running amatuer Instagram blogs.
Platform
Education: B.S. in Engineering and Psychology, MBA in Marketing (In Progress)
Experience: No official experience beyond creative writing courses in high school, not sure AP English classes count for much in the literary world
Personality: I love to talk to different people and my friends would describe me as someone who gets things done. I’m definitely the type of person who has an idea and goes after it. I’m also an observer in social situations larger than a couple people.
Writing style: Exposition heavy, light dialouge
Likes/hobbies: Food, Cooking, Rock Climbing, Reading, Traveling (pre-COVID obviously), Playing with my dog, Being entirely too honest about everything
Hometown: Small Town, NJ
Age: 22