Adders

In Revision

Mara dreams of a happy future with her chosen life-partner, Evelyn, but an ill omen seems to suggest their life together will be anything but wonderful. Evelyn dreams of becoming a powerful witch, but when her power mysteriously vanishes after her coming of age, she turns on the woman closest to her.

At the heart of Red Hollow, Tennessee, ancestral clans live in relative harmony cut off from the Outside. Mara and Evelyn’s clans are uneasy neighbors, each practicing slightly different husbandry of their land and caring for their beloved dead. At 18, many undergo The Cutting, a ceremony where their hair will be shorn to signify their transition to adulthood. Only after this ceremony, in pairs and quartets, can women join a sector of the clans known as The Womenfolk to practice witchcraft.

Yet when Evelyn’s hair is sliced to the nape of her neck by Mara’s mother, the older woman’s hands falter as a black adder slithers into her water house, resulting in an improper cutting. Mara sees the disaster: the adder is an ill omen she keeps to herself, despite the repercussions. She harbors a secret hope that Evelyn’s magical ability will develop properly, but the likelihood is that it will be forever stunted, bringing shame to Evelyn's clan and family.

After a hurt and furious Evelyn confronts Mara about her lack of powers, she retreats to her home. There family convinces her Mara is possessed by spirits of ill-intention. If Evelyn fails to destroy Mara, her clan will carry the shame of her ineptitude for the rest of time, and their bloodline will die. If Mara cannot bring herself to kill Evelyn, rumors will spread that she destroyed her lover on the behest of the spirit world’s evils, and she will be cast out of Red Hollow. Both women must destroy who they love most, or pull off the greatest escape from their community in a hundred years—if they can learn to trust one another again.

One Liner

YA Gothic, Sapphic Romeo and Juliet

A dual-POV YA gothic horror-dark fantasy set in an imagined contemporary Tennessee with echoes of Victorian spirituality and English folklore. Two young women on the cusp of becoming witches grapple with a dark omen that threatens to tear their relationship apart.

Comps

“The VVitch” by Robert Eggers, THE BOATMAN’S DAUGHTER by Andy Davidson

Audience

People 15-45 with interest in Southern Gothics, dark fantasy, black magic, and witches

Word Count

~87,000 words