I have completed four YA novels and always have a new one in the hopper. 'Cause I'm a writer like that.
BANISH the BRAVE - YA Fantasy 80,000 words. This novel was accepted by blind-juried selection into the prestigious Nevada SCBWI's Mentor Program where I was fortunate enough to work with bestselling author, Ellen Hopkins (Crank, Burned, Impulse and more) over a six month period. The Nevada Arts Council awarded the Jackpot Grant in support of this novel and it was also a finalist in the San Francisco Writer's Conference Writing Contest in the children's fiction category.
Four teens, from four corners of the earth must unite the human and magical worlds for the survival of both despite the evil forces opposing them. From Ireland, Los Angeles, South Africa, and Australia they come together discovering that an ancient prophecy links them to each other and to both worlds. They must discover their own powers and work together to survive and prevail. Think Celestine Prophcy in Narnia.
CHALK HOUSES (Previously titled The Circle Journal) Won SCBWI's Work In Progress Grant in 2009! Contemporary YA at 69,000 words. I was selected again for the SCBWI NV Mentor Program with this novel, working with accomplished author, Susan Hart Lindquist. The Circle Journal was my second win as a finalist in the SFWC contest.
Fifteen year-old Talon Alvarado wants to be as different from her loser mom as humanly possible. To win a summer internship at college, AWAY from her mother, she has crafted "The Dereliction of Motherhood", an unflinchingly honest series of essays about how bad her mother has blown it. But Talon's corrosive home life is taking its toll and she's veering off course, causing her to run with an older crowd and make choices that are leading her down that very path. During this time she recieves a mysterious email that may change everything.
LITTLE WEEDS A futuristic YA about fifteen year-old Izzy Barnes, a "Good". His little brother, Beau, just tested "Bad" in the mandatory test that all kids take before fourth grade to determine whether they will be a criminal or not. Izzy must prove his little brother's goodness before Beau is taken away, and he's got to be so bad to do it. Think Nineteen Eighty Four meets Gattica, set in a time eerily like our own.
SCINTILLA Cora Sandoval awakes from a fever with a new ability; she can see auras. But she has no idea why her own aura is different from everyone else's. Cora Sandoval is used to the fevers, but this one just might be the worst. In and out of consciousness, and on the brink of death, she sees a man she believes is an angel. When she finally awakens from her haze, weakened and confused, she’s sure there’s something wrong with her eyes–everyone has a colorful halo around them. Everyone except herself, that is. She sees only a brilliant, sparkling silver around herself. Cora is distracted from her strange vision when she falls for Finn, an Irish exchange student who takes interest in her. Their attraction is magnetic, primal, urgent, but her father disapproves, to say the least, and Finn’s mother orders him home to Ireland upon hearing he’s fallen in love. Cora lies her way to Ireland, both to follow Finn but also to look for her mother, missing since she was a young child. Cora finds out more about her power when she meets another like her, but as people around her start to die, she’s not sure who she can trust. She has no clue who, or what, she really is, and can’t know how she plays into a conspiracy spanning centuries–and that just might be what kills her. Scintilla is the first book in this lush and exciting new trilogy, full of romance, adventure and metaphysical mystery.
Other:
I have a published article in Air Resorts Magazine and am a frequent contributor to The Zephyr - SCBWI Nevada's newsletter as well as doing non-fiction freelance work online. I am a very active member of the SCBWI, have been a speaker at our local conferences, and have recently taken on the position of Co-Coordinator of our Nevada chapter of SCBWI.
About My Work
