Writing Young Adult Fiction

Bianca Monroe knows one thing: her idea for a Sisterhood of Protectors is going to survive whatever the Central Network Council throws against it. She's determined. Ready. And totally lost. When an unexpected letter threatens High Priestess Scarlett, the responsibility to keep their leader safe falls to Bianca. A shocking predator, the fight for legitimacy, and the struggle for Bianca's own safety conspire to hold the fate of the Sisterhood from becoming a reality.

In the quiet halls of a small-town community college, five ordinary students find their lives forever altered. When a mysterious system event thrusts them into a galaxy-wide tournament, they must rise to the challenge.

New enemies, allies, powers, and realizations drive Salem, Juniper, and Zee to their extreme limits. In the fastest-paced adventure they've undertaken yet, they will ascend into the sacred Himalayan mountains in search of a lost creature, speak with ghosts as real as living people, and rally a global army of diversity against the forces seeking to destroy them. All as the Fringe and Commons grow ever closer towards either colliding or separating from each other forever.

Set in 14th-century Germany under the crushing weight of the Holy Roman Empire, the story reveals the brutal toll exacted on the lower classes. While nobles and corrupt clergy hoard power and wealth—often enforced by mercenaries and violent knights—families like the Symons must fight to survive. The story picks up after Yakov’s Run, where the three Symon siblings—Yakov, Anna, and Dieter—were torn apart. Yakov, once a soldier under the ruthless Petres the Chain, begins to see through the lies of power and longs to return to the life he lost.

After a chance encounter with an Abolitionist, Rebekah is obsessed by a desire to end slavery. But as a young Amish Girl living on a farm near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, she feels hopeless to do anything about it. Although she feels loved by her Amish family, she believes she has a higher purpose. But her protective father commands that she not interact with the non-Amish world. In his view, what happens outside their tight-knit farming community is none of her concern. But her life, and the outcome of the battle of Gettysburg, changes when the Confederate Army suddenly descends on her farm.

When seventeen-year-old Willow Carter and her parents head to their annual camping trip at a small Pacific Northwest beach town, the last thing they expect is to have their vacation upended and their safety threatened. Twin Harbors State Park is all too familiar to the Carters, who have been camping there for years alongside their longtime family friends. As the two families settle into their neighboring campsites, they are greeted unexpectedly by a stranger who has no problem inserting himself into their daily activities.

A Bold Rebellion is the tenth book in the thrilling YA fantasy collection The Network Series.

Imagine coming of age surrounded by terror and militancy. Tamar, Nour, and Rivki all live in Jerusalem, and all are on the cusp of adulthood, but in a city of tribal culture and an intractable conflict, it is almost inconceivable they will ever meet, let alone become friends. Then, one night, during yet another cycle of violence, their paths cross just as a terrorist decides to carry out an attack on the light rail train.

In an empire ruled by the honored dead, seraphs are the ultimate weapons. Fueled by the pilot's very soul, these colossal humanoid war machines are unstoppable in battle. Only a few possess the gift to control such craft, and those men and women are prized above all others. Seth Elexen and a small group of elite pilots have tracked the renegade Veketon to the far side of the galaxy. With only one ship and a single squadron of seraphs, they alone must face the tyrant within the heart of his growing power. But Veketon is no easy mark.

When a comet streaks near Earth, its reverberation tears Croy Justice out of bed. The reverberation causes an onset of earthquakes which mark utter ruin on Earth, especially on the small island where Croy Justice lives. With a gang of boys who want to scour her of dignity, Croy must outrun the gang or risk a gruesome death at their hands. Will she survive these end times? Or, will Croy be snapped up into satan’s grip?

Interest in the social life of humankind shows that, across time, people are driven by the same needs: food, shelter, safety, and connection. In The Fletcher’s Gambit, Book 2 of The Der Flechtemann Chronicle, Michael and James uncover secrets of 14th-century Germany. Like in Yakov’s Run, injustices and family separations drive the story. These tales reflect our past and present, told to uplift, inspire, and reveal timeless human truths.

Aurora, a recent arrival, quickly becomes entwined with three teenagers: Harriet, whose father owns a local bookstore rich with history of the town; Silas, whose grandmother operates a quirky kite shop known as Cloud Writers; and Ashby, a boy reeling from the recent death of his father.

Meet Braelin, a young woman in the year 2056, whose life is soon to be changed forever by a virus known as C47 - a virus that wipes out much of the world, including her parents and her twin.

Amanda Lester wouldn't be caught dead going into the family business. Her ancestor, Sherlock Holmes's colleague Inspector G. Lestrade, is a twit. Nevertheless her parents refuse to see his flaws, and she's going to a secret English school for the descendants of famous detectives whether she likes it or not. When Amanda arrives at the dreaded school, she considers running away - until she and her new friends discover blood and weird pink substances in odd places.

Bianca Monroe should be celebrating—she’s just handfasted the love of her life, Merrick. But fate has other plans. A summons from High Priestess Alina pulls Bianca to the Southern Network, where magicless witches are vanishing without a trace. To accept Alina’s plea for help means defying the Central Network Council. To refuse could cost innocent lives.

Fourteen-year-old Kirby Renton is a gifted theatre kid who wants to fix things: his dads’ marriage, his younger brother’s epilepsy. When ten-year-old Baxter’s seizures start involving visits from “the lightning people,” who descend from the sky and show him strange symbols, Kirby knows he needs to protect his brother, but how? He thinks he’s found the answer when the neurologist advises his family to consider a seizure-alert dog, but the cost is too much for his family to afford.

The tyranny of the Vollen Empire is written in the scars on Tove's face. But a chance encounter with Brie, a Desulti assassin, awakens a hunger in Tove. She'd seen Brie fight. The Desulti was a small woman, like Tove, but Tove doubted Brie ever felt small. Not like Tove did.

"Where is my son?" Asher's mother screamed as they loaded her husband's body into the ambulance. Five miles up the trail, Asher was going deeper into the wilderness. His compulsive need for routine, hike to the lake at the same time on the same trail with the same gear, is now amplified by his father's last wish, to find their friend and deliver supplies. In Lincoln, Wyoming, fourteen-year-old Caleb is stunned when the sheriff asks him to urgently bring search dog "Boo" to find Asher. When they find Asher near the lake, the adventure is just beginning.

Fifteen-year-old Natalie Ryba reluctantly moves from the Illinois suburbs to Rapid City, South Dakota, when her mom accepts a new job in the Black Hills. More than anything, Natalie wants to find the same peace and sense of belonging she had in Illinois with her friends and track team. But moving across the country, living minutes from her estranged, eccentric grandmother, and developing a crush on her next-door neighbor put that dream out of reach.

Here's some good news for everyone who's ever been bullied into believing they can't speak their own language: The grammar snobs are bluffing. Half the "rules" they use to humiliate others are really just judgment calls and the rest they don't even understand themselves. Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies is a laugh-out-loud funny collection of anecdotes and essays on grammar and punctuation, as well as hilarious critiques of the self-appointed language experts.