“The Valley of Shattered Glass”
Fiction
Genre: YA Fantasy
Word Count: 91,000
Status: Completed manuscript, seeking publication
Teenage orphan Delaney Marshall knows what it means to be strong. Stay alone. Protect your siblings. Tears are only weakness. But when she is transported by a song from the dark alley she lives into a fantasy world of her mother’s youth, those ‘truths’ she believes turn upside down.
She and four other New York teens from different walks of life take up the charge of saving the fragile creatures of the mystical land from both a tyrannical king and a lethal darkness, and in the process, grow friendships to last a lifetime.
As their journey continues, they are each forced to question whether being strong in the face of adversity means something different than they’ve been taught. Can trust be restored? Can vulnerability bring healing… rather than more hurt? Is there more to thriving than simply surviving?
Follow Delaney and the others as they embark on an adventurous journey from darkness into light… and as hope comes from the place that nobody anticipated.
“In the Blink of an Eye”
Fiction
Genre: YA Fantasy
Word Count: Will be approx. 60,000
Status: First draft in progress
Teagan Holcomb, 16-years-old, has lived free of suffering her whole life. But reality pounds on her door one day when she wakes up with The Blink – a curse perpetuated by her family line long ago. While dooming her to skip through time whenever her emotions arise, The Blink further complicates the divide between her and her best friend, Kyla Webber.
Kyla, who feels misunderstood and alone in her recently quaking world, follows Teagan on her journey, wondering if this can possibly bridge the chasm festering between them.
The two travel to In-Between – the place where tears go after release – to let Teagan face her origin, meet her family and fulfill her destiny. Will Teagan be able to walk the line necessary to defeat The Blink and save her people, or will she fail? Will Kyla step out of her misconceptions, or fall victim to a tragic fate?
Follow both Teagan and Kyla through a fantastical world of alternate realities as Teagan steps up to bring peace to her world, and Kyla reckons with the deepening complexity of her suffering… and the role she plays in their rift. Will they learn how to bridge the gap between them… or will their friendship vanish in the blink of an eye?
Graceful Authenticity 