Fiction
I once said the fateful words, “I’ll never write a novel.” Five years later, I found myself putting the finishing touches on my 87,000 word story. During those years, I spent my spare time writing short stories and took some online workshops to further sharpen my fiction writing skills.To date, I have published one short story and am seeking an agent to represent my novel.
My stories typically focus on young women in search of their personal truth. My characters live on farms or in small towns and often struggle against the narrow views of those communities.
Here is an excerpt from my novel, an 87,000-word mainstream work titled, The Mirage.
There is yelling in the distance. Alysa thinks she should go to the cove, but it suddenly feels like her feet weigh a thousand pounds and have sunk into the sand. She is unable to move. A group has gathered and she can see they are carrying something – or someone. She begins to feel faint. The damp air is suffocating and she bends down to make the dizziness in her head stop. The last thing she remembers feeling is the cold sand against her cheek.
Synopsis of The Mirage:
After Alysa Parker’s twin sister drowns in Lake Michigan, Alysa builds a phony façade of herself to mask her pain and guilt (she believes if she had not been away at college, Melissa would still be alive). Now, almost a year after the drowning, she has convinced everyone she is happy giving up on her career as an artist. But when young musician Nate Santo moves to town, he and Alysa connect at a deeper level and he is able to draw the truth from her. Like the real reason she threw her last painting, of The Mirage Theater, in the trash. Or the truth behind her engagement to Trent Jacobson, a man she doesn’t love.
Note: Talented songwriter Bob Lichty wrote a song summarizing the emotions between Nate and Alysa after reading my manuscript. Check out This must be home on Bob’s site … and listen to his many other moving songs.
