THE BONE SPINDLE

An #ownvoices LGBTQ YA fantasy pitched as a gender-flipped Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones, in which a cursed treasure hunter and an axe-wielding huntswoman must team up to rescue the prince sleeping in the Forest of Thorns.

The prince sleeping in the Forest of Thorns has waited a hundred years for the one who will break his curse and awaken his kingdom. Or so the fairytales go...Those old witches' tales are nothing but ancient history to Fiore, a treasure hunter with a knack for ruins and riddles. Fi's too busy running from her own deadly curse. But if she's going to save herself, she can't keep hunting for answers alone. She needs a partner.

A warrior huntsman with an ax to grind (literally), Shinobu could care less about curses and ancient texts. She likes her treasure glittering, and Fi might be just the sharp mind she needs to help her track down a lost ruin and its gold. But instead of riches, the two girls find trouble: Fi pricks her finger on a bone spindle and conjures the quick-witted spirit of Prince Briar Rose.

Bound to Briar with the spindle's magic---and chosen as the only person who can wake him---Fi is stuck with the prince's ghost until she and Shinobu can break his ancient curse and save his kingdom. Dark magic, witch hunters, nightmarish beasts---and of course, curses---all stand in their way as Fi and Shinobu, haunted by the spirit of Briar Rose, undertake the dangerous journey into a forgotten kingdom where the sleeping prince's body waits.

Leslie Vedder is a YA writer who writes fantasy books with girl heroes and adventurers. Her passion is crafting stories set in kingdoms without prejudice against LGBTQ characters or women, where anyone can be a hero. She and her girlfriend, who is her first reader, both work at the nonprofit and independent press Dzanc Books. Leslie has a BA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and now lives in Colorado. A huge sci-fi and fantasy fan, she named her spoiled cats Fox Mulder and Duncan MacLeod.