Thrilled to announce the release of Echoes in the Glass!

The inception of a novel

A couple of years ago, my agent at the time asked me to come up with a new idea for a novel within a two-day timeframe. Given that the previous project (that she was pitching to the big houses at the time) took me years to fully develop, I thought this an impossible task.

But a tiny idea popped in my head at some point on Day One of the Impossible Task. I was celebrating a milestone in my writing career at the time, and when I celebrate, I go to Cannon Beach, Oregon, one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Years before, I had dreamt up the idea of a short story involving a famous lighthouse off the coast, but I never got around to writing it. I also had the skeleton plot planned out of a sequel to my debut novel, Artemis Rising, half-done and wallowing in no man’s land. I brainstormed like mad as I stared off at Tillamook Head Lighthouse a mile out to sea from Cannon Beach.

And then it hit me, as story ideas often do. Rather, those two story ideas hit each other and exploded in my mind. So the basic story came together literally over the course of the day as I wrote down the ideas at a fever pitch. Echoes in the Glass, my second novel, was born that day.

Today, years later, I come full circle to a story I’ve been working on for about three years. My world changed over the course of those years. I fell so ill I had to take a year off my life to recover, and I’m still recovering. I met, fell in love with, and married my husband. I published my debut novel–a feat I had dreamed of since I was eight years old (but never thought possible). Mainly, I spent a lot of time surviving. But I’m still here and this second novel is another dream that I didn’t think would come true. But in December, this one will be released, and I’ll move on to writing my first trilogy. You just never know how it’s all going to shake out, do you?

I’ve moved heaven and earth to make it this far. And I’m grateful I survived, that I found love, that I found readers who love reading my writing as much as I love writing for them. I’m grateful for so many things, it’s hard to put into words, but I will try.

Thank you to Stephen for giving me time and space to write. It’s hard, I know.

Thank you Lyndsey Shaw, Charity Heller, Auburn Seal, Jaymi Elford, Nancy Kelley, Jessica Samuelson, Andy Bunch, Jeff Blackmer and Adam Copeland for being my local support. I treasure your friendships and advice.

Thank you to the Indelibles, Historical Fiction Authors Cooperative, and Pacific Northwest YA Authors groups for your amazing support and advice. I’m in awe of all of you. Thank you especially to Alice Lynn, M. Louisa Locke, and Megg Jensen for your unwavering support, advice, and editing eyeballs!

Thank you to my dear parents for reading. You know what that means and how grateful I am.

What’s the Story?

Finnian bears the scar of an unspeakable crime.

Tiria hides the pain of a terrible betrayal.

When all their secrets are laid bare, will the truth rip them apart or forever silence the echoes of the past?

Seventeen-year-old Finnian Bell has been on the run for years, but he finally has a chance to rebuild his life while restoring an abandoned lighthouse on the Oregon Coast.

Tiria Lucas, the lightkeeper’s daughter, is still reeling from the pain of an event that has shattered her innocence. Fear and bitterness have turned her heart from Finnian, but he is determined not to let her go.

The lighthouse harbors dark secrets of its own…

When Finnian and Tiria uncover the story of two teens hidden in the tower back in 1934, they discover a shocking connection that bridges time and death.