Where Echoes Lie will be published by Philomel Books on October 19, 2021! This contemporary young adult thriller is a ghost story about how we tell ghost stories–particularly those involving young women. It features the Cumberland Falls moonbow, a creepy urban legend, and a curious young photographer searching for a way to tell her own story. I heard the first whisper of this story way back in 2005, on my first visit to the moonbow. And sixteen years later, I finally get to share it with all of you!
My debut novel, The Virtue of Sin, is now available in paperback! It’s a contemporary young adult novel about a young woman raised in a patriarchal religious cult who is forced into an arranged marriage and must learn to use her own voice to stand up for what she believes.
My short stories have been published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Toasted Cheese Literary Journal , Big Pulp, The Flash Fiction Offensive, and The Binnacle Ultra-Short Edition, among others.
Random Facts:
- I’ve always been an avid reader. Growing up, I wanted to be Trixie Belden.
- I attended Catholic school through 8th grade, and I have a fascination with religious beliefs, both mainstream and fringe.
- I’ve been married to the same man for over twenty years. We met while working as bartenders at Noah’s Ark, America’s largest water park, in Wisconsin Dells. (For those of you familiar, I can still recite the closing announcement.)
- We have three wonderful children, all young adults who don’t read my books. I still love them.
- I previously worked as a youth services librarian and found being surrounded by books both intimidating and inspiring.
- I love to travel, especially road trips. Show me a kitschy roadside attraction, and I’m there!
- I am a HUGE B-movie fan! My family and I watch at least one a week, usually on Fridays, and always with themed cocktails.
- I have seen Ghostbusters more than a thousand times, and I both fear and long for irrefutable evidence of the paranormal. I do have my own personal ghost story – feel free to ask me about it!
- I will challenge anyone to a game of Clue – any time, anywhere!
- I am gluten-free out of necessity, not because of a diet fad, and I am still in search of the perfect gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Someday I will own and renovate an old house, travel the world, and eat warm rolls at a restaurant again.
Today I will write a novel.