Books
INHERITANCE is about a fourteen-year-old girl named Tonya who loves her civilized little city, her friends, and her cell phone. But her mother inherits a piece of property in the north country of Michigan and decides to move the family away. This is exactly what her family needs to start over, only Tonya is not happy. She refuses to give up the mall and internet connection only to live in the woods with all its animals and twigs. Not to mention she will never be able to see her best friends again. Once the family gets a chance to really check out the new place, Tonya discovers an inheritance she could never have imagined...one more valuable than any property.
The story begins in Portage, Michigan, a lively little city in the southwest corner of the state. Having two Class A high schools, several middle schools, and a dozen or so elementary schools, the population here is made up largely of young people. And there are plenty of malls, yogurt shops, skating rinks, parks, movie theaters, and libraries to accommodate them. Imagine having a smoothie and a movie at your fingertips one minute, and then suddenly not being within a hundred miles of such things the next. I LOVE when that happens! It is what makes life what it is. It's what makes us have to push out the sides of our comfort zones and explore new territory! We can't know what is out there if we aren't willing to let ourselves be exposed to new experiences.
Tonya and her family have adjusted well to their new town and now Tonya feels like she is losing her mind over the tremendous secret she has been keeping. To add to her stress, she has been questioning how solid her relationship is with her best friend from back in Portage. But some good things are happening for her, too. A cute boy catches her eye, and she and Autumn think they may have made a connection between Tonya’s grandmother and the cabin Autumn lives in back in the woods. Now, it is just a matter of time before Tonya either gives in and tells her secret, even if just to let her mom have a connection to her otherwise long lost family, or she continues to go crazy over keeping it to herself. Where does her loyalty lie? And without her hometown bff to back her up, she is lost in her own mind. Something has to give!
To Weed a Garden is an adult fiction novel about several people from various walks of life in Kalamazoo, Michigan. They are all going about their daily lives. Some are bad. Some are good. Then all their lives collide and peoples' lives change.
Abbey is a pregnant teenager from an abusive, poor family. She has to escape her home life in order to protect herself and her baby. A social worker places her in a safe home of a prominent matriarch in the community. Abbey develops a passion for life through gardening, her new friendships, and her growing baby. The boy who got Abbey pregnant disappears and starts dating a girl he knew from the high school he dropped out of. Abbey finds out that getting girls pregnant is actually a paid position for him.
His new girlfriend, though, who is supposed to be his next pay day, is a good girl, saving herself for marriage, and truly inspires the boy to change his ways.
Horror Authors United, Issues I and II, are compilations of short horror stories. My story, Gypsy, under the name Tiffany Raynes, appears in them. It was something I had written as a young adult and contributed to the anthology as a response to an invitation. It was a lot of fun and a good way to get in touch with other writers, whose work you will find terrifying!
Gypsy is about a young girl, Jentina, who likes to explore her city in the nighttime. She meets a dark, mysterious man who reminds her of the frighteningly colorful gypsies who roamed her black and white childhood neighborhood. Her grandparents always warned her about the gypsies. This night, this man walks along with Jentina back to her apartment for a midnight coffee...and a nightcap of blood...