It's early summer, and in a small community on the central Jersey Shore, a black car screeches to a halt outside the Wright Bros grocery. Danny looks up from where he's working at the carwash to see the driver rifle out of the car and chase a girl rushing into the store. For some reason-fate perhaps or intuition-he decides to cross the lot and investigate. When he meets Mary, there is a great deal Danny doesn't know, but he certainly knows that he's been struck. For it's like the keys to an old car had been dropped into his hands and is about to start the engine that will forever alter the outcome of their lives. Some Place Better Than Here is a gritty, unflinching look at how we define family and come to grips with loss. It's about growing up in a small town, following your dreams, and mapping out the uneven ground that often lays between love, friendship, and sexual awakening.

It's the real world, but it isn't. Secrets and dangers lurk below the surface - as well as slavers, strange creatures and a shifting wasteland where humans were once gods. You just need to open your eyes to see past the illusion. You just need to wake up. Meet Anna - a 21 year old cardigan-wearing English major - whose world falls apart when she stumbles home slightly drunk and sees a man dissolve into thin air. From there, hijinks ensue - as hot baristas, Hierarchs, slavers and acid rain make sure to severely disrupt the last year of her degree. She's uncovered a dangerous new world - but soon realises that the truest danger is inside her own skin. *** Jake gazed at me with his pale green eyes and reclined backwards onto his elbows. I realised that the metal on his hands continued up his forearms under his long-sleeved shirt. It was as if his skin had been stripped away, revealing nothing but a machine underneath. “You are a Waker. So am I. And we’re in the unworld right now. Welcome.” He grinned at me without any humour. “We’re in the middle of a war, and you and me are the soldiers on the front line.” For a few long moments I couldn’t speak. Then I cleared my throat and said, “You and I.” *** Follow her journals, music and thoughts as she realises that it isn't real. Anna's Music : http://8tracks.com/users/annawakes Annawakes on Tumblr : http://annawakes.tumblr.com *** Updated weekly! *** (One thousand thank yous to Minnah - an amazing designer and friend - who made this glorious cover (http://winklevines.tumblr.com/) and another thousand thank yous to another bestie, Georgia (http://whatthehellisawinchester.tumblr.com/), a social media goddess and marketing grad who has inspired and directed the various multi-media aspects of Awake.) xx

am i what the kids call "woke" yet ? twitter ; @sickfat

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION In 1955, mixed-race Ethan Harper leaves his progressive hometown for a summer in Alabama where he's not welcome, except by resident free spirit, Juniper Jones. ***** After getting himself into a bout of trouble, 16-year-old Ethan Harper's parents send him to Ellison, Alabama, to live with his aunt and uncle for the summer. But the year is 1955, and Alabama is a far cry from his beloved home of Arcadia, Washington. As much as it's hotter in temperature, it's colder in every other way, and Ethan learns the hard way that people see his mere existence as a threat. Amidst all the mayhem, a fiery, free-spirited, oddball walks into Ethan's life. Her name is Juniper Jones. She is the first person in Ellison who seems unfazed by their racial differences, and she promises to give Ethan a summer he will always remember, filled with endless adventure and discovery. With Juniper, Ethan can breathe, he can be, despite the incessant attention and bullying their newly formed friendship attracts. Can the two survive the summer, run in the light and block out the noise of the outside world? [Published version comes out June 16, 2020 with Wattpad Books!] [[word count: 70,000-80,000 words]]