"It is your choice," he said, stepping so close to me that our lips were almost touching. "Either do what I say - or get another job." My heart stood still as I gazed up into his deep, dark, dangerous eyes... In a world where women's only role in life is to sit at home and look pretty, Lilly is determined to fight for her freedom. There's only one problem: a powerful man blocking her way.

Adele knows she witnessed a murder - what she doesn't know is just how personal it is. ***** A girl was brutally murdered in the basement of a sorority house in spring 2011. Adele Theroux thinks she saw the killer - and the killer definitely saw her. What she doesn't know is why this all happened and who this guy is. As she tries to solve the mystery from a distance while in witness protection, the connections keep getting weirder and more personal. Might she be able to relate to the killer in a way that no one else can? And what does that mean about her own psyche? *2019 Watty Award for Mystery/Thriller* [[word count: 50,000-60,000 words]] Cover designed by April Alforque

My story is an extreme example of Parent Alienation: When I was four years old, my father discovered my mother's affair, and in a fit of rage he through her out of our home, barefoot and in the middle of winter. My mother, crushed by the force of my father's control, did not fight for the custody of me and my sister, but rather slipped away quietly. Traumatized, but afraid to upset my volatile father, I submitted to his plan to erase my mother from my life. Midlife finds me ripe for seeking a personal freedom to include forgiveness, and self-love, by making one good choice at a time; to do my best in the present, while simultaneously revealing the story of my past. An excerpt of this story was published in Spirituality & Health magazine and also won an award in the 76th annual Writer's Digest Competition.