Books
I am currently seeking representation for the following novels.

Planet of Souls – Young Adult science-fiction, 101,000 words, crossover and series potential

Children of Blood and Bone meets Firefly when a dying energy healer enlists a charming galactic medic to transport her to a distant planet where the dead don’t pass on.

Ione is dying.

She doesn’t want her soul to be trapped like her brother’s in the frightening Mists of the dead on their homeworld or “lost to the cosmos,” which is what she believes will happen if she dies offworld. When she learns about a third option– a special planet a galaxy away where ghosts and living people co-exist– everything changes. Ione’s plan: rescue her brother’s soul from the Mists and get them both to the Planet of Souls. The healing ore in her mourning tattoos should keep her alive long enough. She just needs transport.

Mikej is a broke and lonely ex-cowboy/galactic medic running jobs for the Coalition. He’s happy enough to offer a girl and her bottled-up brother passage on his about-to-be-repossessed space ambulance, but there’s one big distraction: he recognizes valuable Coatze ore when he sees it, and, hordes, this girl is covered in it. He also knows heart failure when he sees it. Swindling the quirky energy healer out of her ore wouldn’t be the gentlemanly thing to do, even if she wasn’t sick, but it might be necessary. After all, if the repo men catch up with them, they won’t make it to the Planet of Souls anyway. Mikej’s plan: secure Ione’s ore in a way that he can live with. Try not to fall too hard for her in the meantime.

Electrons fly between the two travelers as they make their way across the galaxy dodging asteroid-dwelling terrorists and playing hide-and-seek with the two goons tailing Mikej for his outstanding debt. Unfortunately, Ione is getting sicker with each passing day, and although Mikej suggests a surgery that could cure her (and free up all that ore), she’s afraid of risking death in a place with no safety net. Not to mention she doesn’t trust anyone but herself to get her brother to the Planet of Souls. As their destination draws closer, each will have to make a choice. Ione: a perfect death or a chance at life and love. Mikej: his ship or his integrity.

And all paths eventually lead to the Planet of Souls, which has plans of its own.

#CelebrityCrush – a romantic comedy for science fiction fans, 90,000 words, series potential

Emmy’s gone viral and has her sights set on Hollywood via a sexy promo tour with her celebrity crush. Jason’s trying to shake a bad boy image, but her attention is making it hard. He can’t afford to have another scandal… she can’t afford not to.

When author and sci-fi lover Emmy’s social media campaign puts her in the orbit of her celebrity crush, she’s tempted to stifle her real-ish feelings and leverage Jason’s “bad boy” image for publicity and fame. After all, she missed out on her Hollywood dream when she got pregnant at 19, and the universe has given her a second chance. Plus, anyone who stars in Lost Star Dance Troupe Saves the Universe is light years out of her league anyway.

Fun-loving, charming Jason drowned his grief over his father’s death in alcohol-fueled partying, and, years later, the talking heads won’t let anyone forget it. Emmy, his so-called “celebrity crusher,” is easygoing and fun and makes him feel good about himself for the first time in forever. He’s falling for her, but in order to keep his job, he’s got to prove to the network that he’s a steady Mr. Spock, not a seductive Captain Kirk.

What starts out as glamor and glitz quickly grows into something deeper when the cameras aren’t rolling. Emmy can use her social media expertise to either help Jason clean up his image or she can exploit his past for her own gain. That elusive thing called “success” is just a few clicks away, but is her dream worth having if it’s at the expense of the man who is becoming much more to her than just a #CelebrityCrush?

Short Stories

1st place in its heat: NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge 2020
Trust Fall: an agoraphobic board game designer falls for the girl in charge of his booth at a convention.

https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/mexican-town-scenery-gm1143071276-306841431

1st place in its heat: NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge 2020
The Lost Children of Tres Pérdidas: Years ago, a witch lured all the children away from Tres Pérdidas except Pedro, but he tries to recover them with the help of an unusual visitor.