My debut novel, LACUNA, is Part One of the CHIMERA series, published in 2024 via Elsewhen Press.
CHIMERA is speculative fiction for the senses, a gritty urban fantasy in an alternate present, with rain-laden streets and neon lit bars. A cozy narrative behind fogged over windows, the scent of verdant herbs and earth and petrichor. A sci-fi mystery layered beneath mist shrouded skyscrapers, in a modern society juxtaposed with tradition and alchemy. An emotional tale of loss, betrayal, and the unbreakable bonds that carry us through, CHIMERA is a love story with ties thicker than blood, holding secrets that are more than skin deep.
LACUNA reader review:
“An evocative debut that rewards the time you spend with its characters and the atmospheric spaces they occupy. There's conflict, yes, and there are elements of the supernatural, but the book isn't really about either of them. Instead, it's a story of found family and rebuilding your life--not only when you have to, but also when you choose to.”
-Mark Smeltz
Author of The Wreck of the Melville
LACUNA (n.) A blank space; A missing piece.
As a tattooist, it’s easy keeping people at arm’s length. Distract them with questions, and when they inevitably ask their own, reply vaguely. Lie. When the lies pile up, disappear.
It’s a cycle Lynna’s all too familiar with. Staying guarded is a necessity, but what keeps her safe is also what keeps her lonely. It’s an empty existence, hiding behind lies, and she wishes she was someone else. Someone not burdened with a secret.
A year into her most recent move, the loneliness bleeds into her work, and she admits a few truths. At the insistence of a client, she explores the city’s night scene, where she meets the enigmatic Rhys. As the months progress, so do her feelings for him, despite the risks of getting too close. When a dangerous encounter leads her straight into his arms, she abandons her past in exchange for a new beginning, only her secret refuses to be abandoned. With her life hanging by a thread, she’s forced to confess, but the secret that will change everything isn’t hers.
Set in an alternate present, LACUNA opens with Lynna’s transition to an atmospheric northwestern city. Derailed from what she’s built, she finds herself immersed in the lush world of medicinal horticulture, enveloped in the kind of close-knit relationships she always craved. Her fantasy has become reality, but not without caveat. As she plunges further into this new life, she begins to expose the conflicting threads holding it together, and what she discovers will bring more questions than answers.
This collection of fiction, nonfiction and poetry brings together a diverse group of writers who delve into tattoos in terms of class, body image, history, empowerment, and transformations. It’s an investigation into why people get tattoos and how they transform a person’s life.
I’m excited for my short memoir to be included in this anthology alongside a list of talented writers. Click the link below to purchase!
Special thanks to Julianne Ingles, my wonderful publishing coach and backbone of Guts Publishing.