[FULL KELS SERIES] When Ande wakes up on the bottom of the ocean with a fish's tail, she's not sure what she did wrong. Getting sacrificed by her island is a likely bet, but why---and why her---is a mystery. Out of her depth in an unfamiliar world, she soon finds herself wrapped up in the society of the Kels, the people who live under the sea. Desperate to get back to her island, she strikes an agreement with a squid-tailed boy whose sunny smile and knowledge of her language are a welcome assistance at first. Soon, though, she begins to sense that he's hiding something. Things take a turn for the worse when her way home gets complicated by the Kels' wars and several eerie myths about her people that may not be myths at all. The history of the Kels goes back farther than her own culture, and the harder she struggles to get back to land, the more the question arises: Does she belong in the water after all? ❖❖❖ Marked mature for darker themes and scenes, not spicy content. Compiled Kels Series: Book 1: Listen to the Water (COMPLETE) Wattys 2022 Shortlister Book 2: Song of the Deep (COMPLETE) Book 3: City of Coral (COMPLETE) Book 4: Sing to the Moon (COMPLETE) Book 5: Water Will Rise (COMPLETE) Comments and critiques are both welcome and appreciated. I write characters from many different backgrounds, with many different experiences. If you share those traits and find that I have misrepresented anything, please let me know! I am feedback-friendly and here to learn :)

Destiny is calling... A young sharpshooter with an icy ability. A blacksmith with electrifying power. A young girl with the earth at her fingertips. A general with fire in his heart. These four must answer the call when a great fire breathing dragon comes and threatens the peace of their beloved land of Layrucia. Little do they know, however, that something bigger is coming, something stronger. Their destiny does not end with the defeat of the beast; rather, it is just beginning... The four heroes will stop at nothing to restore peace to their land once and for all. Destiny is calling... EVA PARDUE TRAVIS PARDUE DUSTIN LEHMAN

Do you remember the last time the sun shone? The sky was the color of bluebirds, and the clouds were white as lilies. You could see colors all the way to the horizon. Then it all turned red, then violet, then dark. This is a story of eternal night, the clockwork city, the petrified woods, and the precious resource of sunlight. While the empress prepares to break a centuries-old contract with the monsters of the dark, children are disappearing one by one. Rebellion explodes in the streets. The forest swarms with yellow eyes. Three lead the way toward the end of everything, though they don't know it: Alexis, the loyal warrior with misplaced trust and a poisonous secret; Briony, the miscreant who stands defiant in the belly of the devouring forest; and Runa, whose faith in the human heart may finally break the masks of the ones who were lost. Contests: #TheBookerAwards

I'm terrified. My fingers tremble as they fly across my laptop's worn keyboard. MAGIC IN THE FAMILY [completed]: An alcoholic mother and a twin sister transforming into something mythical defined Moray's childhood. Now, as an expecting mother married to a werewolf, Moray dedicates this memoir to her baby. CURSE IN THE FAMILY [Starts at chapter 9]: Growing up as a freak in a werewolf pack becomes the least of Soren's worries when they come across an avian trying to kill her teenage son. After saving the teen (with help from the pack), Soren crushes hard on the shy and witty boy. But when a curse on the young avian brings danger, Soren must decide if their "puppy-love" for an emotionally broken teen is worth risking the lives of pack and family.