My writing

I began writing mystery stories in the seventh grade.  Since the birth of my son six years ago, I have practiced my craft and taken courses with the Institute of Children’s Literature.  Mysteries have expanded into Fantastical Mysteries, Magical Mysteries, one Adventure of Biblical Proportions, a YA novel set in post-genocide Rwanda, and a work-in-progress set in 19th century Paris.

My current projects include:

The Transparents (middle-grade novel)

Eleven-year-old Daniel is a normal kid in a normal family.  Or so he thinks.  Until the day he sneezes in class and becomes invisible for a couple of minutes.  This new power will help him find his place in his large family and solve a string of burglaries in his town.

Genie in Training  (middle-grade novel)

Layla is fascinated by humans, but the genie world is split between those who enjoy working for humans and those who fear them.  After being punished for leaving the genie world to visit King Solomon’s palace, Layla is accused of theft.  To clear her name and avoid banishment, she must find the real culprit.

The Tzohar Legacy  (middle-grade novel)

What is the tzohar?  That is what twelve-year-old Becky wonders after her grandfather is hospitalized following a strange attack in his home.  She soon finds out that the tzohar means the world.  And she must protect it from Belial and his evil minions.

Kwizera Means Hope  (young-adult novel)

A teenage #1 Ladies’ Detective Agency set in post-genocide Rwanda.  Cecile Kwizera survived four years of war, the genocide, the death of her father and the disappearance of her brother.  Now she must give up her dream to be a nurse to offer her little sisters a future.  In her new job as a housekeeper for a humanitarian agency, she will navigate a screaming American, drunk drivers, her first love, missing food, whispering spirits in the night, machete-wielding rebels and gun-toting teenage soldiers bent on revenge.  Luckily, she discovers a talent for problem-solving.  And her name means hope.

Paris, 1894 (young-adult novel)

This is the new WIP and it doesn’t yet have a synopsis and the title may change.  But it’s the story of Sophie, an average American teenager who loves to dance and doesn’t get along very well with her mother.  Everything changes when she spends the summer in Paris and is magically transported to the year 1894.  Paris at that time is reeling from the scandal of a Jewish army captain, Alfred Dreyfus, accused of treason and sentenced to exile on Devil’s Island in French Guiana.  What Sophie learns that summer will change her relationship with her mother and teach her that independence is relative.