Dear Mr. President

Scarlett Smith was the average suburban California mother with a loving home, family, and friends. Her life was finally starting to fall into place as she started her full-time job, counseling others, but things took a turn for the worst after the shooting at Pandora High. Scarlett has taken it upon herself to help the parents who lost a child during the awful event that took place on June 8, 2018. She is spending her Tuesday evenings at the Pandora High's gymnasium, working with the adults who have decided to reach out for her expertise. Ultimately, Scarlett has come to realize and accept what has happened over the past year, and what she must do to grieve for her loss.

Beyond the Midnight Shadows

Julie drops the flashlight and it rolls around on the floor, casting odd shadows on the walls. As she turns to pick it up, there is a smoky image of a man's face in the shadow next to her. Startled, she starts to fall backwards down the stairs... With a sudden jolt, she awakes in her chair. She lets out a long sigh and looks around the room. The morning sun is already shining through the windows of the big house. Not everything is always as it seems, and for someone like Julie, there is a blurry line that connects her dreams and reality. As the two begin to merge, what will she discover? Beyond the Midnight Shadows is a collection of stories that will take you on a path of discovery, challenging what the characters (and you) think they know. After all, fate has a different vantage point.

Attachment Patterns

Is the artist, Robert Boone, crazy? As his daughter, aspiring novelist, Isolde tells us, he sure doesn’t think so. Okay, yes, he recently found himself in the hospital loudly declaring he wanted to die, but that was a moment of unexplained weakness, of post-pandemic exhaustion. He’s fine now, calm, and self-possessed as always. Only the doctors don’t believe him. They’ve insisted he enroll in a three week, out-patient, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy program. Which is? “Psychotherapy in which patterns of thought are challenged in order to address unwanted behaviour patterns.” With no choice now, Robert Boone will reluctantly look at his life. In lectures and group sessions, he will examine his past, his unspoken fears and grief and his relationships both old and new. As his daughter, Holdie says: “Anything I tell you from this moment on was disclosed to me, remembered by me, surmised by me and in some cases (okay, more than some) was totally and completely made up. (By me.) Still, all of it is the God’s honest truth.” Is Robert Boone crazy? Isn’t everybody? We’ll find out.

Anything but Ordinary

Two members from a small circle of friends set off for a fun trip, split into half business and half pleasure. The whole town of Calhoun is excited for them, especially the art group. On their way to the airport, the pair of friends vanish.

The police are baffled and the case is moving too slow to satisfy the art ladies. Just a few months later, while one member of the group is participating in an art show at a shopping mall, a college student goes on a shooting rampage. The art ladies think this will happen again and again until the root of the problem is addressed, and they decide to take matters into their own hands. Tragic and complicated situations do not discourage this little band of feisty middle-aged artists. They are church-going, family-oriented, and strong-willed. Plus, they have a talent and passion for art. The same critical and analytical eye they use for detail in their paintings is applied to the cases they are determined to solve. The art ladies bring a wide spectrum of life experiences to the group, and their personalities are as different as light and dark. But the things they all have in common are a zest for life and loyalty to one another. Love, humor, suspense, integrity, and snappy dialogue play a large part in this story. Despite what they think, their little painting group and daily activities are not commonplace. In fact, everything about them is quite the opposite. Their lives, all the way around, are anything but ordinary.