Here’s a sample of the earliest stuff:

Open Tryouts: August 1-August 14, 2011[M1]

Mike Merlin looked at the mass of young, hopeful men seated in front of him. They filled an entire side of the bleachers in the gymnasium – every size, every shape, every skin color in the county was represented here, and they all wanted on his team. The past three years had seen a surge in interest in playing football unprecedented in his almost twenty-year career as the head coach of the Camelot County Knights. He credited much of that to the tall, broad-shouldered, confident young man standing to his left: Arthur Penn Draggon, whose leadership as team captain was unparalleled in Coach Merlin’s experience.

“Now, a lot of you boys are going to end up disappointed at the end of tryouts,” he said, letting his eyes fall randomly on first this, then another of the boys in front of him. “We’ve got room for twenty guys. Twenty, out of all of you, will be suiting up and heading out on that field as members of this team. And this year, we’re looking for the best of the best. No one is making this team because he knows the captain, or because he was on the team last year, or because we like him, or because we want to give the underdog a shot. There’s a state record on the line, and the only way to win a state record, is to field the best team in the state. That means everyone, from Arthur, here-“ he clapped Arthur’s shoulder with a huge hand “-to the biggest, strongest guy on the defense team last year-“ here, he let his eye wander to where Paul Mitty was sitting, head and shoulders conspicuously above everyone seated around him –“has to earn his place on the team. If you want to be a knight, you’ve got to demonstrate you have what it takes, every day, twice a day, for the next two weeks. We’ll post the team roster at the end of tryouts. If you want your name on it, you’d better steel yourself now, because it’s going to be a one-on-one competition between you and every other guy out there, for every spot on the team, from here until the end of next week. Arthur, got anything to say?” He added, turning to the team captain standing next to him.

Arthur stepped forward slightly, and a bright beam of early morning sunlight shining through the top register of windows behind the bleachers upon which the boys all sat caught his golden hair and illuminated his face, so it looked for all the world as though he were wearing a crown. “It’s exciting to see so many guys who want to be part of this team,” he said, his voice confident, slightly husky and betraying that it had deepened only recently with the tiniest hint of a crack still at the end of some words. “I’m sorry we can’t take everyone. I’m looking forward to really seeing what you’ve got out there, to practicing with you, to creating a truly great team this year. I’m excited about the challenge of trying to do something no other team has ever done before, about going for a state record no one else has ever broken. But I want to warn you now, that this isn’t a team that goes lightly on guys who bend the rules. We don’t drink, we don’t smoke, we don’t put illegal substances in our bodies, and we don’t break the law. We’re three-time state champions, and for better or worse, that makes us hometown heroes. This is a small county, and everyone’s watching. Younger kids look up to us, and our peers respect us. It’s our responsibility to live up to that and to deserve that respect, both on and off the field. If you fall below a 2.5 GPA at any point in the season, you’re benched. We’ve got tutors if you need them – use them. Everyone who makes the cut will take a drug test prior to being issued a uniform. We will also conduct random drug testing throughout the season. If you test positive, you’re off the team. If you’re seen breaking the law by anyone, at any time, you’re off the team. And your team mates will not cover for you. We are honor-bound to support the best interests of the team, and that means we are honor-bound to tolerate no behavior that could jeopardize our goal.” He put particularly heavy emphasis on the phrase “will not cover for you”. This was his baby, his project; as a freshman he had been shocked to see older team mates blatantly failing classes without penalty, drinking at parties, shoplifting – thinking the rules didn’t apply to them; he’d gone to Coach Merlin midway through his first season and suggested the honor code he had just presented to these hopefuls, and glad to have someone come forward and voice what everyone knew and no one spoke of, Coach Merlin had agreed. To his surprise, implementing the strict rules had proven easier than he had expected; it was as though the team had been waiting for someone to draw a line – but of course, that someone couldn’t be an adult. Arthur had been elected team captain unanimously both years following, and the team had never looked better, never played better, and never been so unified in focus and goal. Camelot County could be justly proud of its Mighty Knights.

Arthur had finished his speech; Coach Merlin stepped forward again. “Still think you want to be part of this? Then get changed and get out on the field. First tryout practice starts in fifteen minutes,” his booming voice filled the room, breaking the still, nearly reverential silence Arthur’s speech had induced. The kid really did have something, he thought, shaking his head.

The Mighty Knights is currently crowned, and will be a fully-birthed draft 0 this weekend. I am then going to be spending next week ironing out the initial kinks.

In other words, Draft 1 is imminent. And therefore, I am ready to start looking for four VIPs (Very Interested People), who will be serving as my beta readers for this project.

If you think you might be interested in beta reading The Mighty Knights, send me an email, subject line Beta Reader TMK and your name, to:

madamemedievalist@gmail.com

In your message, please include the following information:

1. A brief background of your education/ pertinent experience (This is not for the purposes of snobbery, but rather to determine one, very important thing: Are you a Literate Being capable of critically examining a document?) Beta readers for this work MUST be high school aged or older.

2. Representative titles of works you have read and loved/ a list of your reading interests.

3. A brief explanation as to why you are interested in serving as a beta reader for this work.

As a reminder, here is the brief synopsis of this YA novel:

The Camelot County Knights are up for a record: four consecutive state championships.  But team captain Arthur Penn Draggon is having trouble keeping his head in the game thanks to the arrival of Welsh exchange student Gwyneth Greidal. It doesn’t help that Arthur’s sister Morgan has decided (this year, anyway) that she is Wicca, that his father is running for a seat in the state congress, and that both Morgan and their technology-obsessed step-brother Kevin (“K”) resent Arthur’s popularity and success to the point where being at home is a nightmare.

Further complicating the Mighty Knights’ bid for state high school football immortality is the fact that they are so mortal. The stress of classes and (for the seniors on the team) college applications, the whirlwind of homecoming preparations, the desire to impress this – and – that girl, and the basic adolescent need to test their limits, prove their worth, and best the opposition in any situation on or off the field all threaten on a daily basis their drive towards the championship.

Living in a conservative, Christian, rural Virginia county comes with its own set of complications on top of those of the average American teenager. Gossip runs rampant, everyone knows everything that’s going on (or thinks s/he does), and there’s no way to escape from the constant small-town drama, unless your parents let you borrow the car to drive to Richmond or Virginia Beach for the day. It’s also not helpful that football season coincides with hunting season. The people in charge of those signs outside the churches like to embed personal jabs and individually-directed slogans in their weekly messages; trying to figure out who its meant for is a county-wide hobby. The person doing the weekly readings looks right at you on Sundays when he’s reading a passage that he feels is of particular relevance to you or a situation you’re involved in. And when you come from an Important Family – like the Draggons – with a father who was, himself, a hometown hero football star in his time and now is playing a central role in turning the county into an agri-tourist destination, and a mother who was Miss Camelot County and first – runner up in the Miss Virginia pageant and whose family traces back to the Jamestown colony (a fact documented in writing, ostentatiously framed, and hanging on the front hall of the Draggon home) – well, there’s not a lot of wiggle-room for lapses in judgment.

Morgan can’t wait to get the hell out of Camelot County; she’s had her application to New York University filled out for six months. As soon as she gets her diploma, she is out of here, and on her way to Broadway. Despite her talent and dark beauty, she has spent four years under Arthur’s shadow, because the only things that matter in Camelot County are deer season and football. She’s done playing second fiddle to her brother. She’s also sick to death of “safe” musicals like “Godspell” and “Pippin” and “The Sound of Music”. This year, she’s convinced Mrs. Henderson to produce the sensational and provocative “Jekyll and Hyde”. For once, Morgan is confident the fall drama production will be as popular as Friday night’s football game — and nobody, not even Arthur, is going to stop her from stepping into the limelight at last. She’s cast a spell to make sure of it.

K is struggling to come to terms with the death of his parents and with finding his own place in a high school so thoroughly dominated by his older step-brother, cousins Gavin, Gary, Garrett and Andy, and their friends Lance, Mark and Tristan – all members of the football team. Uncoordinated, gangly, and with a bum leg, he’s no athlete; he’s too shy to be on stage, not academically gifted enough to be an honor student, and not as striking in appearance as either golden Arthur or dark Morgan. How does an average guy get a break when everyone in his family is a superstar?

Every generation has its version of the King Arthur story; narrated by the engaging and insightful high Camelot High Chronicle columnist Tal I. E. Singer, this is ours.

I’m excited to reach this milestone and to begin the revision and rewriting process!