Projects

VEILED

Genre: YA Fantasy/Steampunk

Word Count: 89,000

Status: On Submission

In Eskafalia women control nothing, not even their own minds.  When a woman’s skin is exposed to the touch of a man, biology dictates that she’s forced to take on the personality he desires.

A thin veil stands between fifteen-year-old Aveza and having her mind enslaved by the despicable man her father has chosen for her.  Her sister burned herself alive to avoid the same fate, but Aveza has a different plan.

Seventeen-year-old Taran is willing to help, but only because it means an escape from the role he plays in the cruel experiments in the palace lab.  The genetic alterations performed on women are meant to ensure men will always maintain control, but so far they’ve only resulted in the painful deaths of multiple subjects.

When Aveza and Taran meet up with a pair of outlaw twins and a subversive underground society, it seems they’ve finally found a safe haven. But for Aveza, no place is safe from the danger of exposing her gloved skin or the face she hides behind her veil.

VEILED is an Ottoman-inspired Young Adult Sci-Fi where Steampunk adds flavor but is not the story.  It’s Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone meets Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Complete at 89,000 words, it’s the first book in a proposed series.