Sasha Soren
Random MagicLogline: Darkly comic (The Addams Family) literary tale for intelligent, weird little children. When absent-minded Professor Random misplaces the main character from Alice in Wonderland, young Henry Witherspoon must book-jump to fetch Alice before chaos theory kicks in and the world vanishes. Along the way he meets Winnie Flapjack, a wit-cracking doodle witch with nothing to her name but a magic feather and a plan. Such as it is. Henry and Winnie brave the Dark Queen, whatwolves, pirates, obnoxiously cheerful vampires, a nine-dimensional cat, and one perpetually inebriated Muse to rescue Alice and save the world by tea time. Reader reviews: “Brilliant! Roald Dahl meets Hayao Miyazaki”, “inventive and fun”, “zany, off-the-wall laugh riot”, “phenomenal concept, outstanding dialogue”, “more engaging story than Harry Potter", ”it’s Lewis Carroll and Roald Dahl and Monty Python and...it all works!”, “lots of fun”, “extremely creative”, “the right director could have a field day with this”, “LOVED it”, “tomorrow’s classic, today”, “thoroughly enchanting”, and “madly in love w/ Writing sample (dialogue): © Random Magic EXT.--TOWN COURTYARD--NIGHT The town square is crammed with people, holding pitchforks and torches. They look surly. A small girl is secured tightly to a huge stake, bound and gagged. She’s nearly surrounded by a towering pile of wood. And a wooden rocking horse. This is WINNIE FLAPJACK. She mumbles loudly, and struggles. WINNIE Mmmm-MM-mm-MMMF! A collective mutter goes through the crowd. THE CROWD Burn the witch! Burn the witch! They close in on her. Suddenly--a whizzbang of a shock as a small figure tumbles headfirst out of the sky. He lands with a thump, right at Winnie’s feet. It’s Henry. He shakes his head to clear it. He has the hourglass--but no compass. HENRY Ah bullocks, I’ve forgotten the compass! Henry stamps his feet in aggravation, and yells his head off. The crowd pauses, then scatters in every direction. Henry turns around. The town square is completely empty. WINNIE Mmmm-mmm-mm-mmmf! Henry turns around. It’s a girl. Rather an interesting girl, with big green eyes and hair standing up in pigtails on either side of her head. She’s saying something. Or, would be, if she didn’t have the gag over her mouth. Winnie wags her head about in frantic sign language. Her eyes say ‘untie me!’ HENRY Sorry, what? WINNIE MMM-MMM-MM-MMMF! HENRY Oh. Henry pauses, then rips the gag off. Winnie sputters. WINNIE God, you’re not very quick, are you? Henry stands there. WINNIE (conversationally) Lovely weather we’re having. HENRY Oh, I guess so. WINNIE (still more calmly) Very balmy. Bit of wind. Just nippy enough for a blazing good bonfire. Henry stares politely. Winnie loses her patience. WINNIE Untie me, globhead! Think I wanna stick around for the main course? Henry looks at the ropes uncertainly. HENRY Looks a bit difficult, that. WINNIE Should be. It’s a Gordian knot. Henry hesitates. Winnie rolls her eyes. WINNIE Stand back. Henry steps back--and tumbles snickety-snack right down the pile of wood. Winnie closes her eyes. WINNIE Harum-scarum-fidgety-stymie-Them folks got fire so go untie me! There’s a flash of light. The ropes slither loose and Winnie is free. Henry, from the bottom of the woodpile, gapes. HENRY Are you a real witch? WINNIE Not as such. I’m more what you’d call a doodle witch. HENRY A doodle witch? WINNIE Whatcha do when you’re in the most boring class you can think of? HENRY I doodle on paper. WINNIE Well, there you are. I’m a doodle witch, practice witchery ‘til I find out what I’m really good at. She picks some straw out of her hair, kicks the ropes away. WINNIE Little too good at it in the meantime, though, ‘ccording to some. She looks Henry up and down. WINNIE People also call me a green witch.Like I’m an acorn. ‘Course, they’ve got no manners. Not like me. Winnie glides off the woodpile and lands on the cobblestones. WINNIE Suppose I should thank you for saving my life-- Henry looks pleased. WINNIE But since your big contribution was sliding headfirst down a stack of firewood while I saved my own hide, maybe we’ll skip that part. Winnie heads off. HENRY Wait--where are you going? WINNIE Far away. Random Magic is available through the William Morris Agency (CA). |
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