I'm Back
kind of...
With finishing All That We Burn, work, holidays, wifing, momming- I’ve been neglecting Substack.
Add to that the recent political events, and I’ve really not had the motivation to write a blog/newsletter post.
But… I’m going to try.
All That We Burn is officially available for preorder!
Honestly, it was, in the end, one of the most enjoyable writing experiences. I really enjoyed bringing Parker, Calypso, and Macy to life and destroying their hopes and dreams. This is the most unhinged, twisty story I’ve told yet.
That being said, I’m also looking for ARC readers.
Here’s the blurb:
Should the world try to take you from me,
Detective Macy Quinn is a rising star in her department. Until she faces off against Parker Harrington, the most sought after defense attorney in the area. After Parker obliterates Macy on the witness stand and hands her her first loss, Macy finds herself lusting after Parker, only to get friendzoned.
I would burn the world to bring you back.
Calypso Boudreaux is a mercurial and mysterious tattoo artist, an unwilling witness for a client in a high profile case for Parker’s client. Parker and Calypso find themselves embarking on a whirlwind romance, despite being very different women from vastly different backgrounds.
My heart is yours, now and always,
Macy is forced to stifle her jealousy and eventually fade into the background of Parker’s life. That is, until Parker is given information about Calypso that causes Parker to end the relationship.
in this life and whatever waits beyond.
When Parker ends up brutally attacked and on the brink of death, and Calypso is nowhere to be found, Macy finds herself back in Parker’s life- leading Parker to question everything.
As Parker ends up uncovering the truth behind her attack and who each of these women in her life are, she is left questioning everything. Is it worth finding the truth, or better to be left in the dark in matters of the heart?
If you are reading this and you were a beta reader for this book, please make sure you leave reviews when you can! Thank you!!
With All That We Burn complete, I have begun a new work. I’m extremely excited about this. It’s very different from anything else I’ve ever written. I thought I would try my hand at doing a romance, but, being who I am, it quickly took a left turn. It is a contemporary gothic, psychological… I can’t call it a romance, but it’s relationship and character-driven. The working title for this one is Willow.
A little bit about this one: After inheriting her grandmother’s isolated Olympic Peninsula house, Rowan Flynn retreats there after a humiliating divorce, only to be haunted by dreams of a woman she loved as a girl.
Then the woman arrives for real: bruised, beautiful, and impossible.
As Rowan’s sanity frays and the house begins to answer in gifts, omens, and broken time, the romance turns obsessive, consuming… and dangerous.
Because in Willow, love doesn’t just heal.
It possesses.
Two things have come together to inspire this piece so far. As always, there’s an evolving soundtrack (I will post that another time) and this painting: Vanitas by Johannes Borman (1655). It’s one of my favorite pieces at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
The concept of vanitas paintings is one that has always fascinated me. There is a theme to this style of still life; they almost always have the same or similar symbols in them in some combination: Flowers (or food), usually dead/rotted/wilted, skulls, books, clocks/hourglasses. The overarching meaning of these paintings is not to confuse enjoyment with meaning. Remember what you worship will destroy or betray you. It's about loving the wrong things too much and realizing it too late.