My Writing

 

Irons in the Fire

The City of Talis is a fragile beacon of civilization on the edge of the Faërie Lands. Beyond lies a wilder world of dark enchantments and terrible wonders, but behind the city walls humans and faëries live together in uneasy peace—until an explosion rocks the city and long-smoldering tensions threaten to ignite.

As the Commandant of Police, Baron Hessing has maintained stability for decades. But with a murderer on the loose, an anarchist bombing the city, and rumors of a faërie uprising, he is starting to lose control. Hessing finds himself caught in a web of interlocking conspiracies and he may need to choose between saving his city and saving his family.

Into this maelstrom appears the Countess. Trained from birth for a single purpose—vengeance—suddenly she appears everywhere from secret catacombs to the halls of power. Beset by enemies on all sides, it will take all her training to succeed in a city on the brink of revolution. Plans are in motion, centuries in the making, that will change the fate of Talis forever.

Irons in the Fire is the first novel in the Chronicles of Talis and is currently available at Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

The Alchemist in the Attic

San Francisco 1899.

As the city prepares to welcome the new century, a twisted killer enacts his final, grisly legacy.

Theodore Atwood is a disgraced reporter desperate to find a story can save his career. No one knows San Francisco’s seedy underbelly better, but the deeper he digs the more grotesque and bizarre the case becomes.

Haunted by dreams and phantoms, Atwood follows the killer’s trail from the den of thieves and bodysnatchers to a secret society of spiritualists and occultists. Meanwhile, hidden in the shadows the alchemist readies for his enemies. Disgraced and dying, he will sacrifice countless lives to complete his terrible work.

As the city descends into a fevered nightmare around him, Atwood is caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse. He will have to fight to the brink of madness and beyond in order to survive. For he has entered a world of dark science and alchemy and there is no turning back.

The Alchemist in the Attic is a historical mystery with occult undertones—a tale of rival newspapermen, murder, and alchemy in turn-of-the-century San Francisco. It is now available on Amazon.

The Nightmare Man: A Ghost Story

Uncle Josiah collects dreams. That’s all Molly knows about him; all anyone seems to know. The family would rather forget he even existed. But when her mother dies and she and her brother are orphaned, Uncle Josiah is the only one who offers to take them in.

Molly finds living in her uncle’s house difficult at first. It is not a place for children—strangers come and go at odd hours and his amanuensis watches the children with secrets in his eyes. Uncle Josiah remains awkward and distant. Part Jungian, part mystic, he is determined to find the primordial nightmare at the root of the collective unconscious. His obsession has made him a laughingstock, but Molly is fascinated. In her uncle’s work she can escape her grief, if only for a little while.

Then the dreams begin, harmless at first, and Molly slowly realizes that she may be the only one who can save what’s left of her family.

The Nightmare Man is a short, psychological ghost story with a sprinkling of Lovecraft. It is currently available for $0.99 at Amazon, iBooks,  Barnes & Noble and Kobo.

The Painletter: A Horror Story

Arthur Bettleheim is a man in pain.

Every moment is spent in unending, inexplicable agony. Every limb aches. Every nerve is on fire. Through pain-filled eyes he glimpses a hidden world of secret knowledge and monstrous shapes. The monsters stalk his days and haunt his nights, bringing him to the brink of madness. There is no escape. No respite.

Bettleheim consulted doctors and psychotherapists, witch doctors and quacks. He visited hospitals and sanatoriums. No one could help him.

Then he hears rumors of a man who can take away the pain.

For a price…

The Painletter is a short, psychological horror story about illness, pain, and Lovecraftian horrors. It is currently available for $0.99 at Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble.