QK Agent Round: Sister Witches Who Kick Butt

Title: Destiny's Sister
Entry Nickname: Sister Witches Who Kick Butt
Word Count: 62,000
Genre: YA Urban Fantasy (#OwnVoices)

Query:

Sixteen-year-old Draya has always been ‘one of the triplets’, which is weird because she and her sisters don’t get along at all. But Draya hopes that will change when they join the Ukatha, a society of African-American witches skilled in combat, weaponry, and spell-casting.

Draya is excited to learn magic, even if there are some drawbacks to using it for personal gain (who knew conjuring up a Louis Vuitton purse could get her arrested for shoplifting?). And it might not be a good idea to use her magic to get back at one of her haters at school, although she’s tempted. Besides, she can’t let anyone know she’s a witch, not even her boyfriend, if she wants to keep her people from being exposed to the world.

As Draya struggles to keep her magical and social lives separate, she tries to develop a closer bond with her sisters, but it’s not easy when they’re all so different—her sisters care about lame stuff like vegetarianism and cosplaying, whereas Draya is into fashion and going to the hottest teen parties. However, the triplets will need each other more than ever with the African male witch hunters—called kegali—coming after the Ukatha. When one kegali clan attempts to kidnap the triplets in order to use their magic to kill other witches, the girls train harder than ever to become strong enough to stop them. And Draya learns that working together with her sisters to fight against their enemies is just as important as keeping her individuality.

DESTINY’S SISTER is a YA African-inspired urban fantasy novel complete at 62,000 words. Filled with humor, magic, and sisterly bonding, this novel is like the TV show CHARMED with a mix of Zulu witch culture.

First 250:

Whoever thinks triplets have an instant bond when they’re born should meet the Zennelle sisters, which I am one-third a part of, and which has driven me one-third crazy. No, maybe one-half.

“Draya, I thought you said I could wear the silver hoop earrings!” yelled my sister, Alaya, stomping across the carpet to where I sat at our vanity mirror. In the reflection, the crease between her eyebrows told me she was massively pissed.

Yep, definitely one-half.

I finished clipping the first earring onto my ear. “It’s whoever got to them first. And I got to them first.” I gave her reflection a smug smile as I put on the last earring.

“Mama! I told you I needed my own pair of silver hoop earrings! Why do we have to share everything?”

Ah, disadvantage #1 of being triplets. Mama thinks she has to buy only one of everything and we can all share it. Even a car. Like, who wants to share a car when we all have separate social lives?

“You can wear my gold ones, Alaya!” Mama hollered from her bedroom.

I spun away from the vanity mirror. “What? You know, I’ve changed my mind, Alaya. You can have these earrings.”

“No, I’m fine now.” She rushed out of our room, her dress fluttering behind her.

I sucked my teeth in annoyance. I swear, after this ceremony, I might consider using a spell to zap my sisters to another country for a week. I’d try to have them back by next Friday. Keyword: try.