WIPs and Chains

Office Politics

2008-08-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

This is my second completed novel, in a completely different genre than The Wyckham House. This synopsis is the one I sent to the agent, only severely truncated to keep from giving away all secrets--I've deleted eight paragraphs at the end.

CURRENT STATUS:
*Being shopped to agents
*Have been asked for a partial

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OFFICE POLITICS presents the business world of Harper & Lyttle, Inc., a software development company in Los Angeles, California, as told by FRANNIE FREEMAN, a training specialist with a penchant for public mishaps and unfortunate misspeaks.

In love with her boss SAM, who married the vile MALIA after indulging in too many martinis at a company Christmas party in Las Vegas, Frannie navigates the pitfalls of life inside the cubicle with humor and sarcasm…and tequila.

When Sam admits his continued interest in her, Frannie’s infatuation springs to life. But there’s one small problem: Sam is still married. After a disastrous date with a smarmy coworker ERIC EDWARDS from Sales (whose idea of a good time involves buttercream frosting and a third party named Conchita), Frannie decides it’s time to take back what she’s always considered hers: Sam.

The Wyckham House

2008-08-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

My first completed novel, but not the one I'm currently shopping to agents. This chubby baby is chock full of word cellulite; I need to trim about 50,000 words from it to make it marketable. Luckily I have a fantastic editor, and she charges me nothing as long as I edit her work in return. Works for me.

This is a very rough synopsis and is written for readers, not for an agent or editor.

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The Wyckham House is the story of Kimberly Garrett Owens, author of children’s books and daughter of famous horror novelist, Todd Garrett. While at her father’s California cabin, she begins having perplexing dreams in which she runs through the forest with a man she has never met, and her computer begins booting up an internet map all of its own accord--a map of the small Pennsylvania town, Mills, where her father is conducting research for his next novel. Convinced her father is in dire straits, Kimberly assumes her best friend’s identity and makes the fateful decision to travel to Mills.

Known for witchcraft activity, strange disappearances, and wild animal attacks, Mills proves to be more than she anticipates. Todd nowhere in sight, Kimberly instead finds the man of her dreams--literally. The key to her father’s survival may very well lie with Aaron Schaefer--the living proof that her dreams are clairvoyant--a man whose sanity seems to be in question. Battle-scarred and wounded by his own war eleven years ago with the town’s darker elements, Aaron cautions her away from the town’s buried secrets and from himself, even while he is uncontrollably drawn to her. Kimberly instead delves deeper into Aaron’s past, alarming both him and the Circle, a coven of modern witches involved in experimental witchcraft. The Circle, led by Aaron’s disturbingly soulless father Caleb, is hell-bent on perfecting a lycanthropy curse that will allow the cursed to retain his humanity while granting immortality. The added bonus, for Caleb at least, is another chance to strike a crippling blow at his estranged brother Cody, who raised Aaron, and at Aaron himself.

Bound to Kimberly by a strange, soul-melding phenomenon--made stronger each time they kiss--Aaron begins to remember the events of eleven years ago, which he had sealed behind a self-imposed memory block. Attacked in the woods by a strange animal, had he become a werewolf while interred at a psychiatric facility? And do his suppressed memories hold the key to Todd Garrett’s freedom? Bent on saving her father and winning Aaron’s lifelong devotion, Kimberly launches a daring rescue mission, and she only has until the full moon rises.

amused by the muse of musings...

2008-07-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

Over the long course of my my writing life (since age 11, back in the 70's), I've come to the conclusion that not only is my muse a fickle beyotch, she also keeps me in chains. I thought it was the other way around, but I rather suspect she keeps me bridled and puts me through my paces without regard to any inconvenience to me. After all, what is a good night's uninterrupted sleep compared to a flowing, profound passage or a heated love scene?

I sleep with a notepad beside my bed and I frequently use it in the wee hours of the morning. My ball-and-chain is my laptop, and my sentence the words that call to me in poetic, passionate prose.

These Works-In-Progress keep me in chains, slaving to capture the moment in worthy words. I am humbled. I am inadequate. I am driven.

I hope people enjoy what I write. I would say I've done it for my readers, but really my writing is far from altruistic; it's all about giving the voices in my head an outlet so I can retain my sanity. Thanks for reading anyway. ;-)

In this blog, I've listed the (brief) synopses of my current projects, along with their status.