ALICE IN WONDERLAND HIGH

An 80k non-fantasy retelling of “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland” reimagined in a real world setting.

Sixteen-year-old Alice suppresses her need for rebellion after a petition to start a farmer’s market receives more snickers than signatures. That is until Whitney Lapin, a girl who speaks in cryptic riddles and spends her free time turning abandoned warehouses into beautiful gardens, leads her on a rabbit trail into the underground–aka secret society–of Wonderland High. Curiouser and curiouser.

Even though Whitney’s group of teenage environmental vigilantes operates on the wrong side of the law, Alice has never felt more free to be herself. Soon she stomps on her good girl image by completing a series of environmental pranks to impress them: flooding the school and disguising a pig as a baby in order to smuggle it out of a testing facility. But the group refuses to help with the farmer’s market or reveal their hidden agenda. She wants to trust them, and she especially wants to trust (or maybe kiss) Chester Katz, a boy with a killer smile, a penchant for disappearing, and a secret that will really turn Alice’s word backwards. When one group member tries to frame Alice for all the pranks, she must figure out their secret before she ends up in front of a jury that’s screaming, “Off with her head!”

THE ART OF SELLING MY SISTER

Contemporary Young Adult 80k

Kasey Fishbein, sixteen, ruins her older sister’s life by destroying her chances at a college dance scholarship. Now, she has to fix things for Lara before their parents find out. Lara, who once brimmed with talent, chooses to forgo college altogether if she can’t dance. Their parents grow disappointed in her and instead latch onto shy Kasey, deeming her the star of the family. But Kasey doesn’t want to fill the role Lara abandoned, so she quits the swim team without telling her parents – yet another secret.

A school marketing assignment offers Kasey a chance to confess her shameful actions while simultaneously giving Lara the one thing she longs for: the chance to be a star again. With the help of a popular blog, a synchronized swimming performance, and a boy who has everything to do with the secret the sisters are hiding, Kasey might just be able to sell her sister, and in the process find the confidence she needs to stand in the spotlight herself.

PREMATURE EVACUATION

75k contemporary college-set

A girl lies her way into an elite sorority and just when she’s fitting in, her lies catch up to her and result in the sorority getting shut down. My intention for writing it was to show the darker side of Greek life because it only seems to be portrayed as ditzy party kids in pop culture.

PUBLISHED SHORT STORIES

ALL THE WRONG NOTES

Published in the fall 2007 issue of ShatterColors Literary Review.

My stepbrother shuts me out of his life. Again. As the door slams, I scrunch up my nose, hoping that squeezing my face will somehow lessen the impact. Pausing in the hallway outside his room, I savor the one moment of silence before it all begins. I imagine Cody unzipping the guitar case, polishing the wood with his sleeve to remove any dust that built up from yesterday’s session, bending his head forward as he puts on the strap, messing up his spiky hair.
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CONTINGENCY

Published in the Spring 2007 issue of The Hiss Quarterly

James

People always say love is blind. Why limit love to only one handicap?

I love Susan. The way her laugh exudes from her body as an extension of herself, as if she’s Athena springing from Zeus’ skull. The way she always knows what I’m thinking, and never lets me forget it. I’ve always loved her. From the moment I met her. But I never gave her my all, myself. I admit I’m ashamed of my meanderings. Susan doesn’t deserve this. She’s given me nothing but love. I’ve given her love back, just not in equal proportion. I’ve split my devotion between Susan and my secret lovers.
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THE ARRANGEMENT

Published in the August 2007 issue of Shine Journal
When I arrived at Tonya’s dorm, her wet hair dripped onto the linoleum floor. She smelled like vanilla soap and wore her lavender terry cloth robe, the one that matched her sheets. My first thought was, easy access, but now I think she probably just wanted to get it over with. She nodded at me, and I smiled.
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APATHY

Published in he January 2007 issue of The Deepending (now defunct)

The sun shines down on the lawn and the leaves rustle in an energetic show of enthusiasm.

There are footprints left in the matted-down grass. Five minutes ago those blades stood strong. This is the evidence I’m leaving. These are my marks.
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