BOOKS

My middle grade novels are standalone contemporary fantasies set in a similar universe (the Myrtleverse, as one of my critique partners dubbed it). Some things you can expect to find in my books are: lived experience disability representation, creative kids, unlikely friendships, vivid settings, an occasional talking animal, and puns (sorry not sorry).

WE ARE NOT ANIMALS, with original illustrations by me, is now available as an e-book!

Book cover illustrated with a collage of a brown bear using a compass in front of a mosaic.

Brown bear Cara Dyson has always been drawn to Homo sapiens: dangerous creatures who roamed the planet long ago. Cara inherited this dark, unusual fascination from her father, who set out on a secret mission two years ago. When Cara finds a clue to her father’s last known whereabouts, she runs away to find him. But the sheltered young bear isn’t prepared for life outside the gates of her highly regulated, vegetarian society. Standing between Cara and the truth about her father is a herd of zealots trying to bring back a more natural, animalistic way of life. If Cara can’t expose the shocking secret her father uncovered about humanity’s extinction and the rise of the animals, history will repeat itself.

READ IT NOW for just $3!

Book aesthetic with images of the beach, a small motel, and characters from the book

Watch for my print debut SERENITY AND THE SOUL IN THE WALL, coming to shelves in 2027! Here’s an aesthetic, featuring some character art by lovely and talented artist Sally Gerke (who also happens to be the world’s best mom).

Twelve-year-old Ren has been looking forward to spending the summer at the cozy beachside motel her Nana owns. But in the year since Ren last saw it, the Sea Mystic Motel has been falling apart. Ren always thought the place had “character,” but now it’s the sort of character you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley. And it comes as a bit of a shock when that character starts speaking to her through a crack in the wall. 

Worried the motel is haunted, Ren, her gothy sister, and the ghost-hunting boy who lives across the street go digging for answers. The secret they uncover shakes them to their foundations: buildings have souls, and Ren is one of the rare humans who can communicate with them. 

Mister, the spirit of the motel, is heart-broken over the loss of neighborhood friends who were demolished to make way for soulless new high-rises. If Ren can’t figure out how to heal Mister before he checks out for good, Nana’s beloved motel will crumble to the ground…and when the Sea Mystic goes, it just might take her family with it.

PROOF OF HUMANITY

Case you’re wondering, I am generally opposed to generative AI and VEHEMENTLY opposed to its use in the creative arts. I have no need or desire to use it in my writing or art (and have even gone to great lengths to disable it from my software, apps, and searches).

First drafts of my novels are sloppy things scrawled inside pretty notebooks, as you can see in this pic. Further evidence I’m not a robot: a notebook I used as my book bible for We Are Not Animals, full of brainstorming, side writing, possible character names, and elevator pitch drafts. Also pictured are a reverse outline, character tracker, and editing punch list I used during one of its many revisions.

My collages are physically cut and pasted and/or taped together, not made digitally. When I first began drafting We Are Not Animals in 2017, I made roughly 60 collages to illustrate it.

A dozen or so rewrites later, many of the collages no longer fit the text. This image shows me reworking an illustration to include Bud and Smuckers, two hyenas who didn’t exist in early drafts of the book.

My aesthetics and marketing materials are also AI-free, using only human-made art with the artist’s permission and the occasional royalty free stock photo.