an experimental attempt to write a poem a day for the month of april spoiler alert: i did it

Just before summer starts, Lee Carter finds out he is not going to be spending the next two months home, pursuing his crush and having a blast with his friends. Instead, his mom and him are heading up to their uncle's beach house for the rest of the summer. Plus the girl next door is back and she's not like how he remembered her. Looks like Lee is going to spend his summer figuring out why she has gotten so hostile towards him as well as trying to enjoy his last high school summer. This is going to be one hell of a summer. [ © billie rose two-thousand-&-fifteen ]

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]]

“My sister passed away over a month ago. The last time I saw her was yesterday.” When eighteen-year-old Reese Washington dies of an undetected heart defect, she leaves a bucket list behind: ten things, all incomplete, detailing the stuff she never got to do. Struggling with her grief, Reese’s twin sister, Callie, sees no other option but to set out to complete what she had planned; she’s determined to finish the list, however slowly, on behalf of the person who made it. The ultimate tribute to her sister. Reaching the end is something Callie’s always been counting on. Finding help in the form of Mitchell Hunt, the candid editor of the school newspaper who's way too keen on sharing, certainly isn’t. Then again, neither is the unexplained psychic connection between her and Reese. Think twin telepathy, and then think again.

[#83 Action] (nanowrimo 2014) Just outside New York City, there is a high school senior with the misfortune of being named after Superman himself. Clark Kent's parents are geeks. His brother is a geek. He is a geek, too. However, opposites don't attract. Because as much as she would like to believe that she is a complete and total badass, Carly Caine is very much a geek herself. Except for the superpower part. That's pretty badass. So maybe opposites don't attract between people, but the magnetic cling of contrasting characteristics certainly aids the transformation between mild-mannered Carly to silver-edged Vertigo. Alter egos make Carly's life complicated. Unrequited love towards a not-so-super-Superman is never fun. But the growing possibility of apocalypse? Carly slips on her mask and pulls on her combat boots: Bring it on.

Lexi Callaghan is broken. From a traumatic childhood that still haunts her, to her slowly deteriorating mental health, things are pretty bleak. The only source of light in her otherwise dark universe is her best friend and soulmate, Jasper Reynolds, who is constantly striving to make her smile and see her self-worth. The problem is that Jasper is moving to a different continent at the end of August, leaving Lexi on her own to fend for herself in a world where everything feels like it's collapsing inward. ▶▷▶A long, honest one month journey about friendship and finding solace from your inner demons. There are fun, lighthearted moments; there are emotional, heartbreaking moments; and there are moments in-between. Just like how real life works. ◀◁◀ ❝As I stare up at the creaky old Ferris wheel cycling around and around, I think about how everything that spins does so on an axis. And really, I guess that's the best way to describe what Jasper is for me: he's the axis that keeps me from spiraling out of control. But what'll happen when August runs out of days and I lose the only person who keeps me rotating in this life that I've been given?❞

for short stories, poems, or other ideas that have gotten away from me. [#127 poetry, #258 short story]

Princess Estelle Behn had the perfect childhood, that was until her parents were assassinated when she was only eleven years old. After isolating herself for seven years, Estelle learns that she has an unimaginable power, but learning such a secret comes with a hefty price. She accidentally murders her younger sister. After fleeing her home country of Rostov and teaming up with a farm boy, her secret comes loose. But she discovers something even greater. She is the final member of The Giya, an illusive group of ten magical beings in Kavakaza. The Giya seem to have their life made, but Estelle quickly discovers how deep the group's corruption lies and how easy it is to get tangled up in it.

A reluctant study in adulthood. Featuring: quiet kite-lover Jürgen Lilienthal, reckless and self-defeating optimist Leena Mathew, handsome pre-med Omar Madane, and of course, Mr. Brandolini himself. {spiritual #57}