Bethany Caleb (2002)

Bethany's got issues. On top of being harassed by her teachers and classmates on a daily basis, her ex-boyfriend is now dating her former best friend. So, on a random Tuesday in October, Bethany Caleb brings a gun to school...

The Horizontal Ladder (2003)

Ever know anyone in high school who desperately wanted to be popular? This is the case with Mandy McDowell. Mandy dreams to be exactly like her mother: cheerleader and prom queen, at the top of the high school social ladder, and she'll do anything to get there. There's only one problem she can't do anything about: her father is the school janitor.

Sam McDowell wants to give his daughter a good life. He spends as much money as he can afford to give her the clothes she wants, the gymnastics classes, the new car. But he can't buy her a spot on the cheerleading team, and he can't erase the car accident that changed his and Mandy's lives forever. The pressure is driving him down a familiar path, towards drinking, self-destruction...and eventually, murder. The Horizontal Ladder is about the lengths a father will go for the love of his daughter.

I don't have a separate page for this novel, because it's such a mess. Back when I wrote it, I thought it was great, and then I sent it out to some publishers. The feedback I got made it clear that it would take a lot of work to make this work. There were some indications that this was too dark for a YA novel, and also that it was too similar to made-for-tv movies like "Willing to Kill: The Texas Cheerleader Story" and "The Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Killing Mom." I probably won't go back to work on this one, although some of the characters made it into other novels I wrote...

The Promise (2003)

When Kate Roberts was ten years old, she made a promise to herself: that one day she would own the horse of her dreams, a dapple gray mare named Promise Me This. Now, Kate is nineteen years old and on the fateful night that her dream will come true, she remembers all her adventures and friendships over the past nine years of riding horses, the rocky path that led to the fulfillment of her promise.

The Art Kids (2004-2005)

"The new girl has scars on her arms, like mine..."

Sophie knows there's something different about the new girl. Something that seems to be tearing her group of friends apart.

When Sophie's best friend Evan starts dating Laney, it looks like the end of the Art Kids. But maybe Sophie isn't seeing the whole picture...

The Wolven: Animal Nature (Nanowrimo 2006)

Shyanne and David are dedicated animal lovers and vegans... until David goes missing on a camping trip. His friends describe a huge beast that attacked their campsite, and Shyanne worries that David might have been killed. Then David shows up out of the blue, much changed...

The Abandoned (Nanowrimo 2007)

Back when Tyler was ten, he got caught setting a dumpster fire. He feels like his parents have given up on him, and he’s spent the years since trying to convince his parents that he’s a Good Kid—taking honors classes, running to release his anger instead of setting fires. But on his first day of high school, a run-in with the new kid Danny lands Tyler in detention. All of Tyler’s hard work is ruined. Tyler slams out of his house and runs harder and faster than ever… and finds himself standing outside of an abandoned house.

For a while Tyler is able to resist the temptation to set fire to the house. He imagines that a girl his age, a girl whose grave he found in the cemetery, used to live there. He thinks the house is somehow helping him, until one day when Tyler sets a small fire in the house and awakens the spirits trapped inside. Now he must deal with ghosts and a possessed girlfriend, as well as with his behavioral issues.

Seven Minutes to Midnight (Nanowrimo 2008)

Amy and her friends like playing their vampire games, until Lane comes along. Lane makes new rules and the games change, until Amy's not sure anyone thinks they are games anymore. Soon Amy is afraid... and she's not sure anyone will believe why.

The Nostradamus Project (Nanowrimo 2009)

Cassandra Nostrand just had a nightmare... the worst nightmare she's ever had. This wouldn't be a problem, except Cassandra's dreams have a tendency to come true. No one seems to believe her when she tells them a disaster is on the way, no one except her brother Damius, who has uncovered a dangerous secret: all of the Nostrand children were genetically engineered with DNA from the world's most famous psychics.

I have never hated a novel so much. It was almost torture to get to the 50,000 word requirement to win Nanowrimo with it. It showed a lot of promise and I really liked the premise, but it devolved into some kind of H.P. Lovecraft rip-off, and all I could think about was working on Hitchhikers. I didn't even really write the ending - I think I skipped to an epilogue and called it a day. Yikes!

More to Tell (1998-2002, aka "More to Tell: the story of a repression)

"She hasn't been the same since she came home..."

Kate Roberts is trapped in a nightmare world, where everything makes her afraid. Reality left sometime during her year at St. Joseph's. Her grandmother has given up on her, and her estranged father doesn't quite know how to help her... somehow she save herself...

Gifted (1999-2002, aka "Gifted: confessions of a serial killer)

This is not a confession. It's more of an apology. I'm sorry for what I did, but it had to happen. Sometimes life follows a plan, and if I hadn't made it happen, someone else would have.

Joseph Jenkins is a certified genius, but that doesn't stop him from killing...