Brief

Claire, a down-on-herself grandmother and recent divorceé, is gifted a peculiar pendant by her grandson on her 60th birthday, which seems to give way to a series of peculiar happenings. The pendant leads her to a forlorn road outside of town, where she encounters a snarky female gargoyle, Keven, and a hulking, chiseled wolf-shifter, Lucan, who clue her into the fact that she is a “Crone,” a kind of witch and guardian of her realm with magical powers. While Keven and Lucan help verse Claire in her powers, potential, and the expansive magical world around her, they find themselves hunted by a series of dark creatures and forces hellbent on recovering Claire’s highly powerful pendant.

What We Liked

There is a lot to like about BECOMING CRONE. For one thing, consider its unique and well-developed lead— Claire is a protagonist valuable not only for how intelligent, reasoned, capable, and objective she is, but her flaws—her self-doubt, occasional pettiness, indecisiveness—make her wholly human and relatable. Where so many authors, especially in works of fantasy, present heroes who are uncomplicated, sure-of-themselves, and plastic, the author here delivers a lead who is on our level— relatable, honest, human, real. Moreover, this work succeeds in that it balances its character drama and important themes of potential and purpose with the kind of exciting, consequential, and highly visually stimulating fantasy elements and action that audience know and love. This dichotomy of character and action is uplifted by the author’s decisiveness and courage to kill her darlings— There are ample stakes and consequences in this work, hallmarks of a mature and seasoned writer. All in all, this work checks a number of boxes that audiences look for when choosing what story and/or saga to invest in. This all bodes exceptionally well for this work’s potential for adaptation to screen.

Film: Kind of echoing on the above, this work’s many strengths qualify it for adaptation to screen.
While it contains ample avenues to expansion and development, what is certain is that this first chapter in the Crone saga is lean, efficient, and featuring a number of different set-pieces that would assuredly play well on the big screen. Not only that, but it features a number of different roles that seem to have promise as far as enticing top talent goes— Especially considering the inexcusably low number of roles for women over 50, much less 60. All in all, while the small screen would lend itself well to this story’s multiple chapters across several books, the silver screen would surely be a fitting canvas for this work’s visual treats and high stakes.

TV: This seems like it would be a highly viable candidate for adaptation to the small screen in that this very much feels like a first chapter is a broader saga. Not only does the denouement leave us with countless story threads that warrant further cultivation, but there seem to be numerous side characters and concepts that warrant building out as well. For example, Gilbert’s entanglement with the Mages, and Officer Kate’s network of mid witches could very well become side plots in an inaugural season alongside Claire’s coming into her own.
What also will prove to be enticing to audience and hopefully to network decision makers is the author’s spins on fantastical creatures. The shades and the garden gnomes are considerable thrilling and memorable— They are evidence of this work’s commitment to keeping the audience on the edge of their seat.
Last, this work is unique and meaningful for its featuring of a 60-year-old grandmother as the protagonist— It is sadly a criminally under-explored and underrepresented demographic as far as screen heroes go, and this story offers a sure-fire star vehicle for a performer—or rather, performers—in the autumn of their careers.

Key points:
1. The Protagonist — Claire is sharp, sympathetic, well-grounded, and, ultimately honest. She is easy to root for, and she feels real and relatable for her complexity and flaws. Moreover, it is profound and refreshing in that this burgeoning fantasy epic is centered around a woman of Claire’s demographic as opposed to an early teenager.
2. The Creatures— This story is awash with memorable and intimidating foes in the form of the shades and the animate, razor-toothed garden gnomes. Particularly with the garden gnomes, it feels like the author is taking advantage of fertile, under-utilized creatures and making them her own.
3. The Setting — The story is baked into a small town with ample detail and personality. You can feel the author’s affections through the prose, and the color and ambience of the world adds to the story and drama substantially.
4. The Stakes — A highlight in this work is when the author takes it upon herself to kill Edie, a bright light in Claire’s life. It’s the kind of gut-punch that many author’s refrain from throwing, but here, the author is brave enough to kill a darling (even if there is more to come with Edie’s life after death).
5. The Themes — Last but not certainly not least, the themes in this work strike as uncommon, profound, and much-needed all at once. Sights are set firmly on a single particular quadrant of the audience, but this work will be sure to appeal to the masses just the same.

Synopsis

We meet Claire Emerson on the day of her 60th birthday. It’s been a year since her long-time husband left her for a younger woman, and Claire has been down on herself ever since. Hitting the big 6-0 has not lifted her spirits. As her friends and neighbors join her for a birthday party, Claire realizes it is going to be more of a nuisance than a distraction. Luckily, her kind, warm friend Edie is there to offset the negative presence of Gilbert, the smarmy, slimy, estate salesman husband of one of the neighbors. Soon, Claire’s son Paul and his family arrives, and her grandson Braden gifts her a peculiar pendant, one purchased from Gilbert’s antiquity shop.
Soon, the guests filter out, and before he departs, Gilbert makes an effort to buy the pendant back from Claire, but Claire just won’t have it. Later, the pendant vibrates and effectively guides Claire— She uses it to find a strange letter hidden in a book, and looking through the pendant reveals a hidden address. Claire walks to the edge of town, seeking out the address, only to find an abandoned gate post with a gargoyle on top of it. Before long, though, the gargoyle comes to life, introducing herself as Keven. Keven reveals a massive, ornate estate and leads Claire inside, where she meets her protector, Lucan, a mountain of a man who can shapeshift into a wolf.
Lucan and Keven clue Claire into the fact that she is “Crone”— A witch figure of varied supernatural abilities—and, Claire will soon learn—responsibilities.

Suddenly, black, bird-like creatures attack, maiming Claire, and Lucan transforms and takes them out. While tending to Claire, Lucan and Keven debate on whether Claire is truly meant to be Crone, while Claire debates her destiny as well. However, Keven is resolved and insists on beginning training with Claire immediately. However, Claire insists on returning to her home to save face and gather her things. Back at home, the neighbors are in a fuss, concerned about where Claire has been. Claire wards off her nosy neighbor saying she has been camping with Lucan, who becomes much an object of fascination by Claire’s peers. Claire soon becomes perturbed to learn that Gilbert was in her home, with Claire suspecting he was after the pendant. She shares her wariness of Gilbert to Lucan, who suspects that Gilbert is working with Mages, foot soldiers of a shadowy dark lord arch-villain. Later, yet another bird-like creature, a shade, comes on the attack, smashing through Claire’s window. With that, Lucan insists that they return the mansion in the woods. Claire begins training with Keven, a teacher with very high expectations, with Keven coloring in the history of the world of magic—or magick—to Claire as they train. Claire learns how the battle between good and evil stretches back to the time of King Arthur and Merlin, how Merlin was corrupted by and merged with a sinister force, and how Lucan’s wife and child were slain as part of the conflict.
Soon, Claire and Lucan return to town once more, but when they do, they see that Claire’s home is ablaze! Claire is devastated, but her family is relieved when she shows up fine and well.
However, tragedy strikes when Claire learns that her dearest friend Edie was in the house when it caught fire— EMTs soon bring out her corpse in a black body bag. Before taking off with Lucan, Gilbert approaches, warning Claire of the unsavory characters that were hellbent on recovering the pendant— Mages. Lucan and Claire soon return to the property in the woods, but they soon find themselves besieged by animate garden gnomes with razor sharp teeth— a horde of them. Claire narrowly escapes, but not before sustaining a bite from one of the creatures. She sinks into a fever dream, encountering The Morrigan, the mystical female leader of the the Crone cause. The Morrigan forces Claire to drink a mysterious concoction, and Claire eventually wakes and rejoins Keven and Lucan. Claire gives them a harrowing message, received from The Morrigan— Morok is rising.
While Claire gradually recovers from the toxic gnome bite, Lucan shares more about the origins of the magical conflict— Telling how Morok manipulated, empowered, and ultimately took over Merlin’s body, filling out the story where Keven left it thin. He tells how The Morrigan merged with Morgana in the effort to defeat Merlin/Morok. He tells how the pendants are keys to opening portals between worlds. Claire has a fire lit in her— She is hellbent on warning her son Paul and family, but Lucan insists upon restraint— He promises to escort her so long as they train together first. Claire get worn down quickly, but at the end of a long training session, she explodes with promise, even getting the best of the highly skilled Lucan. With that, she is ready. Donning a medieval cloak and armed with a magical staff, she heads outside with Lucan at her side. She is a peculiar in sight in town, as a result, especially given Lucan’s wolf form at her side.
A local Constable, Kate Abraham, approaches about the wolf, and she soon identifies herself as part of a local coven of witches— She is an ally, watching out for Claire and ready to assist her as needed. Kate is astonished to learn that Claire is, in fact, Crone.

Soon, Claire gets a harrowing phone call from her daughter-in-law— Something has taken Claire’s grandson Braden. Claire is horrified and augurs a showdown to come. Soon, chanting is heard in the woods outside of the mansion as a small troop of Mages encroaches. Suddenly,
Claire finds herself under attack from fire spells, and in her desperate moment, she finds it within herself to summon water, which rushes about and puts out the flames. However, the success is short lived, as a gargantuan gargoyle figure appears, and so do Constable Kate along with Claire’s son Paul and his family. A standoff ensues— Claire wants no trouble and pleads for her family to be spared. However, when Keven attacks, all hell breaks loose— Kate and Keven battle the giant, while Claire uses her newfound elemental magic prowess to relinquish the slew of Mages in a blaze of magic fire, killing them. All parties recover after the conflict has subsides, with Claire grappling with having killed for the first time. Kate, Keven, and Lucan all offer their support. As it is decided that Claire’s family should have their memory wiped, Claire realizes she can hear and engage with Edie’s voice in her head— Edie is not dead after all! Not entirely, anyway. Also, another pivotal truth becomes clear— Claire is not just any Crone, but in that she demonstrated ability in all four magical elements—air, fire, water, earth—it is clear that she is the Fifth Crone. With that, her destiny is to seek out the other four Crone and to unite them in the face of an active and looming threat in the name of Morok and his acolytes...

About The Author

Lydia M. Hawke is a writer of supernatural thrillers and paranormal women's fiction. When she’s not plotting the world’s downfall or next great love story, Hawke is a coffee snob, a keeper of many pets, and an avid gardener and food preserver (you know, just in case that whole Zombie Apocalypse thing really happens). She lives in Canada with her beloved husband, children, and grandchildren.