I am actively seeking representation for these novels and the many more I can't wait to write in upcoming years.


          My short stories have been published in RipRap Literary Journal and Literary House Review. I earned my M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Cal State, Long Beach, where I taught creative writing and was head editor of the campus literary journal. I currently teach middle-school English and review young adult books for TeenReads.com.

Bummin' It
pitch: PAPER TOWNS meets
          homeless signs

status: novel in progress
length: 65,000 words

Eli can hear his parents now: “Summer's coming. Found a job yet?”

Soon-to-be seniors like he and his two best friends are supposed to be saving for college, but they don't want to be fast-food cowboys. Instead, they create an arsenal of cardboard signs to see if the rumor is true:

ASB project ...
How much $$$ do bums make???
Results next month.

Each afternoon they divvy the money three ways, and things are going great until one day Eli goes missing.

My in-progress 65,000-word young adult novel, BUMMIN' IT, plunges three friends into the gritty underbelly of the Southern California homeless where the results are beyond what anyone expected.

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Image credit to www.atpm.com

Eyes Like Gods
pitch: APOCALYPTO meets
          Easter Island

status: novel completed,
          
currently shopping for
          
agents
length: 85,000 words

1795 A.D.

Armies of hundred-ton Moai guard the volcanic shores of Easter Island. Each time the statues thunder to life with their glowing indigo eyes, sixteen-year-old Akolo remembers how much he hates the men who awaken them. The Ariki and his Birdman. Those royal rats who murdered his brother, sister-in-law, and nephew before the whole village.

Revenge becomes Akolo's obsession. He offers to fill his brother's spot in the Uprising and approaches the leadership with a reckless plan: kill the Ariki and all his Birdmen on the same night. Akolo's never killed anyone before, but he demands the honor of knocking off the most crucial target—the Birdman.

When Akolo's plot falls short, the Ariki lashes back, murdering Akolo's father. During the burial, Akolo stumbles into an argument with the only family he's got left, and his sister Lani abandons him. No amount of planning could prepare Akolo for the spirits who come to haunt his grieving sister. Nor could he expect the Ariki's youngest son Keoni to risk everything to save Akolo's life. But how far will Akolo go to make the most of this gift from the gods? A son of royalty could prove a powerful prisoner. Blackmail? Torture? Murder?

To avenge his brother and free his people, Akolo might have to forsake all that he calls good.

EYES LIKE GODS is an 85,000-word young adult fantasy that cliff-dives boldly into the shark-infested waters of identity, belonging, and forbidden love.

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Image credit to http://www.odins-gift.com

Runes of Evenight
pitch: The dark side of
          PERCY JACKSON

status: 20% completed, shelved
         
until the right time
length: 120,000 words

The biggest problem with fate is you can't change it. Odin and the rest of the Norse pantheon realize their futures are sealed, but only The Great Wise One, Odin himself, dares to imagine how he can escape his fate. He remembers what it was like to be human. Sure, he'll die one day, but at least he'll get to choose his fate.

His hope lies in the life of an orphan boy who's been adopted by a priest. If Odin can convince the youth to switch places with him, freedom will be Odin's once again.

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Normal for Once
status: novel completed,
          
awaiting its moment

length: 65,000 words

Once a class clown, always a clown.

Even if you want out.

Because they wouldn't know what to do without you.

And neither would she.

My 65,000 -word young adult novel, NORMAL FOR ONCE, is about the masks they wear and what happens when others see what they're hiding behind them.

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I'll Show You Everything
status: novel completed,
          
awaiting its moment

length: 60,000 words

Take his 8th grade brother out of the picture and 6th grader Nolan Trimble is a middle school nobody.

For a whole year, the back seat of his brother’s Colson Imperial Flyer tandem bicycle has been the best seat at school. Choice friends. Choice activities. Choice girls.

But school is almost out, and Nolan Trimble’s brother Michael is moving on to high school without him. Which will be tough for the kid who carries bookmarks of his favorite authors in his back pocket for secret advice. Who’s never locked lips with a girl, not counting his kissing game victims back in the fifth grade. And who’s never stood up to his personal bully.

From now on, if he wants anything, he’s gotta earn it for himself.

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