Short Stories, Poems, and Creative Nonfiction
The Fourth Man
Suspense short story. It’s Thanksgiving, and Amanda Patrick is bringing her fiancé home to meet her mother. Her mother, former b-movie actress Victoria Patrick, is a traumatized drama queen with no filter who had a PI investigate Amanda’s last boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong? Won 2nd prize in the 2023 Arizona Mystery Writers short story contest.
Adam Carmona and the Case of the Saguaro Ripper
Suspense short story. When Det. Adam Carmona of the Tucson PD arrives at the scene of the Saguaro Ripper’s latest grisly killing, the details look the same as the last 5 murders–until Carmona recognizes the corpse. Published in Trouble in Tucson, an anthology from the Tucson Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
Mourning Doves
Poem. Won best in category (unpublished poetry) in the 2023 Arizona Authors Association literary contest.
The Fine Print
Horror short story. In the year since his daughter died on Christmas morning, Josh Fogarty has barely held himself together. As he weeps at her grave on Christmas Eve, a stranger offers him a sympathetic ear–and a tantalizing deal. Published in ‘Twas the Fright Before Christmas in Deathlehem: An Anthology of Holiday Horrors for Charity.
Walk Me Home
Suspense short story. Rachel, a nerdy, socially awkward college freshman, wants Robert. And tonight she just might get him. Won first prize in the 2022 Arizona Mystery Writers short story contest.
The Future Held in Store
Poem about memories and aging. Won third prize in the 2022 Arizona Authors Association annual literary contest and published in the 2023 Arizona Literary Magazine.
A Christmas Duet
Creative nonfiction. My mom passed away in 2019 from dementia at the age of 91. I’d been losing her by inches for about 15 years, and by Christmas 2018 there wasn’t much left of her to lose. Yet she still found a way to give me one last gift. This story is written under my real name, Janet Crum, and starts on p. 13.
Woe is Me, Poor Child, for Thee
Horror short story. One foggy Christmas Eve, an ex-con mall Santa seeks camaraderie in a California Delta watering hole—and learns that the spirits of the season don’t always rest easy. Published in The Colour Out of Deathlehem: An Anthology of Holiday Horrors for Charity.
Open House
Horror short story. When very pregnant Kim Idlewood attends an open house with her husband in an expensive Portland suburb, she hates the place. The décor is hideous, the kitchen hasn’t been remodeled since the Iran-Contra scandal, and the Idlewoods can’t afford the house anyway. But Kim’s husband loves it–a little too much. Produced as a full cast audio drama for the Storyteller Series podcast and also available free in print.
Collateral Damage
Postapocalyptic suspense short story. Former army medic turned insurance salesman turned postapocalypic survivor, Walt lives each day alone in his compound, alert for intruders who might try to take the few things he has left. But the next intruder is not like the others. Won first prize in the Arizona Authors Association 2020 literary contest and published in the 2021 Arizona Literary Magazine.
Proof Text
Suspense flash fiction. An exhausted farm wife must finish one essential chore. Won first prize in the Arizona Authors Association 2019 literary contest and published in the 2020 Arizona Literary Magazine.
Novels
Vanishing, Inc.
(time travel romance/romantic suspense)
To stay alive, Alex Collins must vanish.
While her rich and connected ex-husband sits in prison for raping and nearly killing her, Alex flees his posh Connecticut home for the tiny mountain town of Ponderosa, Arizona. Thanks to an expensive lawyer and a generous plea bargain, her ex will be paroled soon, and once he’s out, he’ll hunt her down.
She’s prepared for leave-no-trace living: burner phones, no credit cards or bank accounts, nothing her ex can track. But she’s not prepared for quirky townspeople who stick their noses in her business or for Luke Emmons, who materializes in her living room and claims to be a time traveler from 1910. She’s really not prepared to fall in love with him.
Alex struggles to overcome the century-wide chasm between their worlds and the emotional scars left by her brutal ex, but love isn’t a luxury a woman on the run can afford. Will she keep running and lose Luke and the new life she’s built, or will she stay and face the man who wants her dead?
Vanishing, Inc. was a finalist in the 2019 Arizona Authors Association annual literary contest. Status: in revision.
Delta Dawn
(suspense)
Dawn Douglas reluctantly returns to her hometown in rural Northern California to care for her abusive father, whose deathbed confession sends her on a quest to find out what happened to her best friend from childhood—a quest that may get her killed.
Delta Dawn won first place in the 2021 Arizona Authors Association annual literary contest. Status: in revision.