Through the Alabama Dirt (Current Work in Progress)
Piper has always been an outsider in Whitmore, Alabama, a town where everyone knows everyone. Outcast and lonely, Piper can’t wait to leave Whitmore, swearing she’ll never look back.
Things start to change for Piper when Benson Bryant, a Whitmore, Alabama staple, defends her against a school bully. The Bryant family steps into Piper’s life in other ways, giving her some semblance of belonging she so longs for. Even so, she still doesn’t quite fit in…
As childhood morphs into adolescence, Piper and Benson find themselves in new and unfamiliar territory, as the lines between platonic friendship and romance become blurred.
Piper and Benson may have found a once-in-a-lifetime connection, but what happens when they each want very different things?
A coming-of-age story about belonging, heartache, the choices we make and ultimately, the power of love.
The Wounds That Shape Us (Completed Manuscript)
Lacey’s life has been shaped by addiction, not her own, but her father’s. When her brother starts to go down a similar path, her mother packs up and moves the two highschoolers to a small town in Pennsylvania, in an attempt to rescue him from the sins of his father.
Silver Meadows is where Lacey meets Dominic, a cold, quiet loner, who carries plenty of baggage of his own. The two strike up an unlikely friendship, and despite Dominic’s attempts to carry on and keep to himself he finds he’s drawn to her.
Their friendship turns into a love Lacey didn’t know existed but there are forces beyond them, jealousies, family traumas and patterns that lead to devastation, tearing Lacey and Dominic apart.
Years later, from the outside Lacey is the picture of success, but inside she’s still reeling and running from heartbreak and loss, when she runs into Dominic and comes face to face with the truth of what really happened all those years ago.
It’s a story about the battle scars we all inevitably incur, the wounds we suffer as human beings navigating life. It’s about rising above our circumstances, our own misshaped views of who we are, our own pain and believing in the power of redemption, even in the most hopeless situations.
Untitled Novel (Completed Manuscript)
Calvin Nutter is a nerd. There’s really no other way to say it. He runs the robotics club, he’s obsessed with Star Wars, he wears thick glasses, has a bad case of teen acne, and he doesn’t have an athletic bone in his body. He’s also been in love with Amanda Ardsley, one of the most popular girls in school, since grade school, but only from afar. In their high school world Amanda is completely out of his league.
As Calvin leaves high school behind, he goes on to be wildly successful and starts his own company. Years later he runs into Amanda, who at 36-years-old, is in the midst of a nasty divorce with her former high school, football star boyfriend. How the tables have turned. Calvin’s grown about two feet, his skin has cleared up and he’s ditched the thick glasses for contacts. Despite old high school wounds, Calvin still feels a spark when he sees Amanda, but will he be able to open up his heart again? And can Amanda face her own demons and the familial pressure that’s weighed her down since childhood?
The story explores the ways in which people evolve, the things we believe about ourselves, and ultimately, the idea that its never too late to change your life.
The Hope Antidote (Other Writing)
Before focusing primarily on fiction, I spent several years writing personal essays and blogging at The Hope Antidote. I shared my experiences with anxiety, mental health, faith, motherhood and finding hope in difficult seasons.
While my current writing time and energy are devoted to novels and my newsletter, these essays and posts remain close to my heart.
Read The Hope Antidote
