Lakewonder Stories

It's March in Lake Wonder, and something is in the water. It's not Bill Gates or fluoride, though. It's something else. It's something more dead-- and much more deadly. Tiff is a high school senior who is dealing with everything from her Bigfoot obsession to her best friend moving to the Fae World. If there's one thing she needs, it's a distraction from her impending graduation and the opening night of a school musical she's doing light work for. Denny also needs a distraction-- mostly from an anniversary she doesn't want to think about. Working as a janitor and sometime-assistant coach, spending time with her friends, and involuntarily turning into a wolf in the woods can really only do so much to keep her mind off of it. It's good for the both of them, then (and bad for the rest of the town) when something enters the water supply and a rash of illnesses, accidents, and weird deaths takes over the town. Who is Despina Worth and what happened to her? Why is there blue ectoplasm in the sinks at the high school? Why is slightly-renowned podcaster Suzette Sweet interviewing Tiff's aunt? What's with Denny's friend Jessie's cousins? And, most importantly, will the Mop Wizard ever make an appearance before the author inevitably gives up? Something's in the water. Maybe it's someone. (Quick note from the author: There's going to be a lot of weird and potentially bad stuff in this. At the time of writing this note, there's a lot of mentions and depictions of drownings, teen deaths, vomit, abuse and neglect, gore and violent deaths, and probably a few other things that are slipping my mind. Just keep that in mind, going into this.)

A collection of short stories, flash fiction, and journal entries set in the Lake Wonder universe.

This isn't Tiff Sheridan's best day. Not only is it a muggy and humid July, but her rat stole a golf cart, her least-favorite Black Robes Division agent showed up at the police station, and now she absolutely has to go to a tiny town across the Canadian border to track down a necromancer and serial killer named Boris Covington. Plus, Kepler ate poison and she can't stop botching social situations. It's par for the course, but that doesn't mean she likes it. Neither does Elton Castle, a local from Beaverdell, Canada. Reeling from a botched social endeavor of his own and-- relatedly-- pining for his American best friend, Elton is looking for a paranormal distraction from his current romantic woes, a fun way to spend his day off, and an eventual escape from his mother's house. If that involves ghosts, then so be it. He and his trusty right-hand-dog, Dingus, have definitely seen weirder things. With Elton determined to figure out who this freaky American girl Dale Cooper-ing his town really is and what she's up to and Tiff frantically trying to find Boris Covington, defend Elton, and keep her cool in the face of a returning foe, the slow burn of the murderous necromancer's sticky, papayous influence eats the wick toward the wax and begs the question: do they sell pancakes at Canadian diners? Why do you think they wouldn't? Can you survive your own death and still call yourself human? What's inside the most haunted house in Beaverdell?

A collection of flash fiction, vignettes, and scenes from the end of 2021 to 2022.