Chasing the Angels – Novella

For those who might be wondering what I’ve been up to – redoing this old story – Chasing the Angels.  The whole thing will be published as part of an anthology later, but, as a teaser, you can find the first part of  the original Chapter One on Wattpad. Please keep in mind this is writing at it’s most embryonic state. The full, finished novella will be available later on this spring.

Fiction Review: Mannequin – Short Story

Every little girl dreams that their Dad is larger than life, bigger than who they are, but for Lynne, whose father is your work-a-day geek who wants to be more than what he is, the department store mannequin (nicknamed “Ken” ) becomes her dream Dad until a certain musician makes an appearance and drives home that it’s not always the clothes that make the man, it’s who he is on the inside that makes him.

Lynne, who goes with her father to shop for clothes at Elite Threads, spends her time there daydreaming about the mannequin in the window being her father – and being everything he isn’t while he’s trying to earn a living for her and her family.

Trying on one hideous combination that should stay on the mannequin, her reverie is interrupted by a charismatic stranger and his purple shirt. A purple shirt that changes everything.

Mannequin really stirs the heart in bringing you into Lynne’s world. Susan does a wonderful job of intelligently bringing across that spark of childhood that most of us have left behind, and the dreams that maybe our Dads were what we dreamed that they were.  Mannequin was a story that came into my life at the right point  – I was very down when I nabbed it during @westofmars’ sale, and a few minutes later I was smiling. Any story that can do that, well, is magic.

Grab it now at Smashwords!

Sex In YA Lit

There has been a debate that I think has been going on since time immemorial about how much sex is too much in the young adult (YA) market, and I’ve been letting the various opinions I’ve read roll around my skull for a while before deciding to weigh in.