"I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us."
"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do."
I have written everything from book proposals to flash fiction to press releases to journalism articles. Mind you, I am horrible at poetry, because my poetry makes people cry for all the wrong reasons.
In the fiction department, I'm currently working on my novel Camo, Hoof, Bone, the story of two young women who meet on a Lufthansa flight from JFK to Germany. One is 16 years old, whose mother has just given up on her and sent her to Germany to live with her father and younger brother, whom she hasn't seen in four years. The other young woman is an 18-year-old vet tech on her way to Kuwait before the outbreak of the second Gulf War.
I've been working on this novel for over a year now. That is to say, very, very slowly. I want to do the life of a military brat justice. I hope to finish the YA novel in early 2008.
In the nonfiction department, I'm co-writing a book with Georgetown professor, award-winning author, and simply amazing person Jennifer Fink. It's a nonfiction YA how-to book for teen writers who want to learn about the craft of writing, publication, and online media. It's currently being represented by Caren Johnson Literary.
Projects on the horizon include a dark YA fantasy novel set in 1989 Europe and The American Teen's Guide to the Rest of the World.
The green letters glowed against Annabelle's cheek, but she only woke up when the alarm clock's temperature readout ticked up one degree. She opened one eye, and tried to stop from sighing. Three-thirteen Baghdad time, 93 degrees Fahrenheit.
She didn't have the energy to turn in her cot, but she saw eddies of dust lazily circle the plywood floor out of the corner of her eye. Fingertips touched the rough wood, curling to catch the sweet draft in the dark.