My Books

An author without books? 

I’ve written several books. They just haven’t been published yet. 

I wrote my first book when I was sixteen or seventeen years old. It was called A Time to Seek and had five POV characters. I started the first chapter with the main character waking up from a coma—a cardinal sin of book openings.

I didn’t write another full manuscript until I was twenty-seven. I finished the draft of my second book, Shards of Clay, in the spring of 2024. This was my first foray back into writing fiction after a decade of academic papers, journalistic articles, curriculum development, and marketing writing. I had no idea how to plot a story, so I “pantsed” it — I flew by the seat of my pants throughout the entire drafting process. 

I had a character in mind and a mild idea of a character arc, but I had no plot built out before I started writing. I would just sit down and write. Somehow, I cranked out 73,000 words that kind of resembled a novel. Here’s the blurb I wrote during a workshop at a writers’ conference last summer: 

What do you do when you have everything you never wanted? 

When small-town journalist Leah Tucker learns she’s going to be an aunt, she finds herself caught between her ultra-conservative mother and headstrong younger brother—a position she’s played since childhood. But she didn’t expect the ordeal to dredge up so many insecurities. She’s successful… yet single — a shameful combination in the Bible Belt.  

Leah makes up for lost time by jumping into a relationship with a much older divorcee, despite being drawn to a broody artist who keeps crossing her path. But newfound flirtations can’t keep her natural curiosity at bay. When she finds an invitation to a mysterious supper club on a community bulletin board, she pursues it as a story lead but ends up uncovering her own story instead. 

Shards of Clay is a contemplative, coming-of-age story about faith, found family, and forging a future of hope.

I had several people beta read the book, and they all provided helpful feedback. They actually seemed to like the story, and I queried a few agents with the manuscript without much success. After several months of revisions, queries, and rejections, I decided to start working on something new. I will likely come back to this story in the future—maybe I'll release it as an ebook—but for now, it's resting in my archives.

Called From Darkness, my current work in progress, is a story I’ve been working on for a long time. The concept came to me one summer when I was staying with my grandma and step-grandpa at their house in rural North Dakota. I’d always lived in the suburbs — neighbors on all sides, constant car noise, and light pollution.

Grandma K and Grandpa Gene lived in the middle of nowhere. And it was unsettling. The nearest gas station was more than six miles away, and there were only a handful of people living between them at the nearest town. I had strange dreams, scary ones — so I wrote about them. 

I’m not going to share anything about the plot to Called From Darkness with you, but I will share my Pinterest inspiration board. Here are some of the things you can expect to see from the novel: 

• Dystopian paranormal romance

• Gothic elements

• A haunting, rural Midwest setting

• A cloistered religious community

• Unkillable wolflike monsters

• Found family

• Strong friendships

• Dark secrets

• Betrayal

• Themes of guilt, shame, and forgiveness

I’m not sure when Called From Darkness will be ready for you. I’m polishing the sixth draft right now and getting ready to share it with a developmental editor. Then I’ll start on the querying process again, which is basically like applying for a job without any experience or selling an untested, unreviewed product.

There’s still a long way to go, but I’m motivated and am already planning two more books. A sequel to Called From Darkness and a stand-alone Southern Gothic novel.

As always, thanks for being here for the ride and for being interested in my work. I hope to have more updates for you soon!