Swordwhale Walking: illustration, stories, photojourneys, videos

Val (Valerie Swartz, rhymes with wartz) desperately wants her own horse (after all, she's a Saggitarius). Instead she is stuck as a peon superdooperpooperscooper at Stonewall Stables under the watchful eye of Tiffany the Terrible. A late night encounter in the woods, a terrifying ride in the dark on the back of a black horse, leads her on a quest to save an endangered world, even though she is more like Moose: Dorkier Princess than Xena: Warrior Princess.  Will she survive training in the Dragon's Den? A week without pizza (double pepperoni with anchovies)? Or the Wild Black Mare who seems to think she's a total dork?

This is the existing draft (2012.01.22) of a Middle Reader contemporary fantasy novel I'm working on. It is complete, but always subject to editing. It is copyrighted to me Teanna L. Byerts (other people have pre-existing copies). Read, be amused or not, send feedback.

I have not yet done illustrations specifically for this tale, but here are some pieces that fit  iit (and some of the regular characters who are in it).