Personal essays about life : identity, women, widowhood, families, relationships, love, money and much more

Ariel Fontansia is ten pounds away from total relapse. Since the previous summer, she has been stuck in a vicious cycle of calories, pounds, and inches. Redemption, Maine, isn't another escape -- it's a dead end. With no one to keep her disorder in check and hallucinations of a dead cousin driving her insane, she falls into an isolation that could prove detrimental. Standing in her way is a black-eyed boy with an anger complex: Price Olsen, who wants her to see more than the bad side of his grief. With an absentee father and a mute little sister, he recognizes the signs of someone on the edge. He wants to save Ariel, but up until this point, he's had a nasty penchant for ruining relationships. When her best friend overdoses, Ariel is forced to face the deterioration of her own mind and body. Price, frustrated by his inability to help her, fights the anger that threatens to take an ugly twist. As their fragile friendship teeters, another bruised, broken teenager chasing reconciliation stumbles through their lives. Yet she isn't just another damsel; this girl has a history in Redemption that involves the death of Ariel's cousin. Peaceful lives unraveling, all three discover that Redemption is harboring a secret with dangerous consequences. Now, they will be forced to face their past - and their present - to determine the course of their future. But how far are they willing to go for redemption?

Naomi Jacobs never thought she'd get caught in the middle of the most ridiculous prank of the year: a rat infestation in her school. Left with no other choice but to complete thirty six hours of mandatory volunteer activities with Carlos Moralez, the least she expects is to enjoy his company. But the more time she spends with him, the more she realizes he's not the arrogant rockstar she thought he was. Carlos understands her and she can't help but feel drawn to him. Then something terrible happens, forcing Naomi to make a choice between her family and the boy she has come to love. Where We Stand [SPIN-OFF. IN PROGRESS] ~ ♢ ~ Lost in You ✓ [SHORT STORY. PREQUEL. COMPLETE] Megan Carter has been harboring a crush on her best friend Aiden Rowe ever since she turned seventeen. So when the lights go out on New Year's Eve just before the final countdown, Megan does the unthinkable. She kisses him in the dark. Assured that Aiden will never find out, Megan decides to keep it a secret. Admitting her feelings could just be the end of their friendship. But is Aiden as clueless as he seems?

Thirty-seven-year-old John Morgan's personal life is already in disarray when he receives a phone call that his brother and niece are dead. His relationship with his father is nearly nonexistent, he barely speaks to his sister, and he has no real friends to lean on. As the tragic news slowly begins to sink in, John realizes he is floating aimlessly in the middle of an unpredictable sea of emotions with no one to rescue him. In this compelling tale that movingly illustrates the devastating effects of a dysfunctional family, John must learn to change what he can, accept what he cannot, and make the difficult decision to leave some things behind. I'm excitedly working on a second novel. Thanks for checking out my work. PS: for those that wish to own my book it can be purchased in multiple formats and found on various major online distribution channels. Thank you!

They live on the same floor. They attend the same luxurious school. They have the same friends. They couldn't stand each other. And just when she thought she could get away from him, they end up being on the same band. Could life get any more worse? Oh, that's right. He, the coldest arrogant jerk, is also the most handsome guy she had ever set eyes on. That's definitely saying something, living on the Upper East Side. Now, she faces her biggest problem of all. Differentiating LOVE from HATE. __________ Realize is copyrighted. **I guess you could say this is Gossip Girl in rainbow land, without all the drama and scandal. Only humorous and fun.**

Ever since photographer Lacy Maguire caught her ex playing Pin the Secretary to the Elevator Wall, she's been content with her dog Fabio, her three cats, and a vow of chastity. But all of that changes when the reindeer-antlered Fabio drags in a very desperate, on-the-run detective who decides to take refuge in her house -- a house filled with twinkling lights and a decorated tree. (Okay, so it's February, but she has a broken heart to mend, a Christmas-card shoot to do, and a six-times divorced, match-making mother to appease.) For the first time in a looooong while, Lacy reconsiders her vow. Because sexy Chase Kelly, wounded soul that he may be, would be an oh-so-delicious way of breaking her fast. Now, if she can just keep them both alive and him out of jail....

An alien invasion in the Old Midwest forces a retired 'spellslinger' to pick up his guns and fight to save his family.

Do you know anyone with a crippling, morbid fear of flying? Well, you do now. I have a theory: An event one spring day in the town cemetery at the dawn of my existence had everything to do with planting a stark view of life and death which led, eventually, to a profound mistrust of infernal contraptions that carried you up into the sky. Because of that profound mistrust, vast portions of my prime were spent (and misspent) on long journeys aboard trains. A trip that would have been a blip in time by plane was an entirely different deal on the train—days and nights, not hours. Veritable miniature eternities. This led to encounters, adventures, dilemmas and situations that could only happen on a train—and not merely because of the train’s comparative slowness, but because train people are an entirely different breed of human from airplane people (or bus people, for that matter, and that’s another story). Trains are so....well....so existential. This stark view of life and death, which also had plenty to do with me lobbying my mother (in vain) to get busy on building a fallout shelter in our basement, had some stiff opposition. To be an American child in the 50s was to open one’s innocent eyes on the post-WW2 decade, an era jumping with progress,plenitude, dazzling crazed optimism and fun. Nightmare glimpses of atrocities from that big bad war we missed by the skin of our teeth bobbed to the surface occasionally, sobering us and reminding us of our aberrant good luck, and in my case, whispering that innocence was but a thin, thin membrane, that this world I’d been born into was a seething, infinitely complicated place, and I’d better pay attention. But let’s have some fun! Here we go, with Bad Boys. What’s rock ‘n’ roll but the shot heard ‘round the world?

SNAP, a multinational celeb TV show and magazine, is the holy grail for Maxie Gwenoch. When she snags the job as managing editor, she’s looking for fame, fortune and Jimmy Choos. What she finds is a media empire owned by Baron Kandesky and his family. A family of vampires. They’re European, urbane, wealthy and mesmerizing. And when she meets Jean-Louis, vampire and co-worker, she’s a goner. The Kandesky vampire family rose in Hungary centuries ago. They gave up violence and killing to make a killing on the world’s commodities markets and with that beginning they built SNAP, an international celebrity multimedia empire. Now cultured…and having found food substitutes for killing…they’ve cornered the world market for celebrity and gossip journalism. They haven’t fully left the past behind. Their Hungarian neighbors and rival vampire clan, the Huszars are starting to ramp up attacks, maybe looking to start a war to take over all the Kandeskys have built. Maxie believes she’s found her ultimate career. She doesn’t realize that she’s found a family feud like none other, a centuries-old rivalry between vampire families, with her as the linchpin. Bells ring with Jean-Louis, but she doesn’t realize they’re alarm sirens until she learns that Jean-Louis is second in command of the Kandeskys…but by then it’s too late.

With his pride and her prejudice, what could possibly go wrong? When the arrogant Blake Hansen steals Addie Preston's promotion at the library, he pretty much rubs her nose in it. But Addie, who dreams of being a full-fledged librarian, decides to stick it out. She loves surrounding herself with books and keeping her father's memory alive in the building where they spent so much time together. Soon, Addie learns that her beloved library will be torn down to make room for a larger facility, and she has to make a choice. Fight, or let go? To complicate things, she finds herself attracted to Blake, who is engaged to someone else. Will Blake and Addie ever resolve their differences? This is a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, with hints of the other Jane Austen books as well.