My Novel

Did you know that I recently completed a science-fiction novel for the young adult market? It is the first book of an intended series (but stands as a complete novel by itself), and I am outlining the second installment now. A quick summary of the book is below:

SECRETS OF HOPELIGHT, takes place in a future where daytime temperatures can boil your blood and enormous human-devouring insects dominate the night. What is left of the human race survives in technology-driven cave communities known as enclaves. Dozens of enclaves are networked and managed by The Company, an organization that came to power long ago by developing a revolutionary microchip that eliminated disease. Now the chip exists inside the body of every man, woman and child and for the good of mankind, all life sustaining resources are carefully monitored and distributed by The Company.

This is the extraordinary world of self-proclaimed “ordinary” girl, 13-year old Nubbin Beck, who spends her nights in school training to be a productive member of society. Her deadline for choosing a livelihood is fast approaching but nothing interests her, certainly not bug farming. After her family risks their lives to rescue a stranger from the desert: an ex-Company employee thought to be dead, Nubbin struggles to keep the fugitive hiding in her home a secret.

When he regains consciousness he has plenty to say about The Company and their insidious plans for the microchip. If what he says is true, how can she stay silent and not warn her friends and their families? Determined to uncover the truth, thwarted at every turn, Nubbin evolves from reluctant teen into strong-willed heroine, but she finds her particular questions are not only prohibited, they can be deadly and the biggest secret of all—is about her.