YA Fantasy: The Fall of Troy

35 Word Pitch: When Helen of Troy enters the afterlife, she must face all the heroes who died in the war she caused. She doesn't remember the past, but they do—and they aren't ready to forgive her.

Genre: YA Fantasy

Title: THE FALL OF TROY

Word Count: 76,000

Special Question: She'd want to be Rey, who is capable, independent, brave—and a very good fighter.

First 250 Words:

The flowers were as insubstantial as we were. They were gray, too, as gray as the rest of the landscape, and they whispered among themselves, the petals fluttering without wind, as if sharing secrets. But there were no secrets in the Asphodel Meadows, just as there was no color. 

Only, sometimes—there was. 

Time had little meaning here, but I marked it by his arrival. I saw the distant glow of him, the light of the living as he moved through the throngs of the dead. Other shades clamored around him, drawn like I was to the way he shone, the gold of his hair and the sword by his side. It was better and worse when he came, for my mind was clearer at the sight of him but the sharpness of it cut me in a way the numbness could not.  Still, I felt myself move toward him, close enough that I could hear his voice. It sounded like music. 

“I’m sorry,” he was saying, over and over, until the words began to blur together. 

I pushed closer, through the other shades that blocked my path, until I was by his side, looking at him for the first time. He was more beautiful up close, all sharp planes and light and so much life it hurt to look at.