Part Of Her World

 This story didn't get announced when it first came out, so I am announcing it now!"Part Of Her World" is available to read for free online at Breath And Shadow!

This story, loosely based on The Little Mermaid, deals with a disabled woman who lives in a gravity free environment that helps her move more easily, trying to hide the fact that she is disabled while helping a pretty astronaut.

There is a lot of internalized ableism to this character. She doesn't mind being disabled, but she has it in her head that no one will treat her with respect, or want to date her, if they know she can't walk.

That's something a lot of us have to deal with. When I first started writing and submitting stories, I never mentioned my disability. I didn't want it to change the way people thought of me.

I always mention it now, because it's important to be honest about yourself and to have good disability representation in the media. But there is still always that little doubt, is this going to change anything?

Welcome Mat, Five Stars

 I am very proud to announce that my new story "Welcome Mat, Five Stars" is now available in the anthology The Monsters Next Door!

It's a humorous but tragic story of a couple who unknowingly move into a community of vampires.

The story is told through online product reviews left by the main character, Lucy Morris (named after my two favorite Dracula characters who deserved better).

I think that format gave me a unique opportunity to build suspense because I have so much control over what information the readers have. There's no dialogue, there's no descriptions of the neighborhood, the story is pieced together just with the details Lucy inadvertently gives in her reviews.

I had a lot of fun writing it, because I didn't know where it was going at first. I only knew there was a welcome mat at the beginning and a mirror at the end, and I had to work out how to get from one to the other, and then go back and fill in the foreshadowing to make it make sense.

I hope you enjoy it.

And Let It Go

 My story "And Let It Go" is now available in Yay! They're Here!

It's the story of the woman who accidentally started the end of the world when aliens landed on her birthday.

The title is a reference to 99 Red Balloons, which also inspired most of the plot (and the name of the alien species).

I also took inspiration from The Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man." I grew up watching marathons of that show every major holiday on the Sci-Fi Channel, and that was always one of my favorite episodes.

For maximum enjoyment, I recommend imagining the main character as Kat Dennings's MCU character Darcy Lewis. 100% I wrote it with her in mind. Actually, writing it as if she was going to play my character is what took this story from just a vague idea to a finished piece.