Honorable Mentions in RYS Contest
I’m very excited to have my YA novel THE DREAMS OF TREES and my short story THE SHED selected as honorables mentions in the RYS contest. Thank you, judges!
The Dreams of Trees
YA Novel
The heaviness of Artie’s life—her dad died three years ago; her mom’s an alcoholic; her gramma’s suffering from dementia; and her grampa, the only stable adult in her life, is overly critical of Artie’s weight—has her stuffing donuts, licorice, and even microwaved marshmallows down her throat. Her binge eating habits are punctuated by her daily drawing of a card from the hand-painted tarot deck her gramma made. Before leaving for the nursing home, her gramma told her the tarot would help Artie hear her inner voice, but everyday she draws the exact same card—the Tree. When Sara, a girl from school, asks for a reading, it starts an intimate relationship that makes Artie feel anything but heavy. Even so, Artie continues to draw the Tree card again and again, which makes her wonder if the cards are trying to tell her something important or if they’re just broken like her family. The Dreams of Trees follows Artie’s spiritual and romantic explorations as she tries to find footing in a world that’s never truly grounded.
The Shed
Short Story
Lucia is a magical girl who was born from a feather that burrowed into the earth. She spends the spring days toiling in the garden—planting seeds for the next harvest. Her mother Hazel, a sturdy and rooted woman, leaves Lucia alone every night in their log cabin and escapes out to the shed—a mysterious place that Lucia is not allowed. It’s here that Hazel meets-up with Avi—Lucia’s father, a small-statured spirit with periwinkle feathers covering his body. Each night Avi and Hazel connect with each other through sight and sound, but never touch (except for the one night of Lucia’s birth), and Hazel struggles to create a working portal that will bring Avi back into her physical dimension. In this multi-perspective story, Hazel and Avi grow passionately towards a common ground. But in their attempts to be together, something goes very wrong, and their mistake leaves space for Lucia to discover the secrets of the shed.