prison

Breaking the Pattern 1-3

By the author of Tattooed Teardrops, winner of the Top Fiction Award, In the Margins Committee, 2016, this poignant account of the lives of Henry, Sandy, and Bobby as they struggle to break free from the cycles of abuse, poverty, and mental illness that plague their families will touch your heart and challenge you to look at youth crime in another light.

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Tortured Teardrops

(Book 3) Tamara French is back in juvenile detention, and things are not going well. Have her experiences on the outside affected her so much? The staff canโ€™t figure out what is wrong, and Tamara herself canโ€™t explain what is going on with her.

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Two Teardrops

(Book 2) Returning to juvie after breaching her parole, Tamara finds that everything is the same as when she left, and yet everything is different. She fights to reestablish her rep while increasingly troubled by emerging memories.

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Dark is Deepest

Get four of my stand-alone booksย with a female main character together in one ebook package. This set, titled Dark is Deepest, includes Tattooed Teardrops, whichย won the Top Fiction Prize inย the 2016ย In the Margins Top Ten Books for Teens literary award. Buying them all together and save.

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By-Pass, Breaking the Pattern #3

(Book #3) It’s better when she’s happy.

Bobby is a geeky teen who is convinced that his new foster home is everything he has ever hoped for.

His foster mom Katya is so different than any he has ever had; but as her behavior becomes more and more unpredictable and disturbing, he comes to realize that both he and Katyaโ€™s daughter Zane are in trouble.

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Don’t Forget Steven

Things never have been easy for Steven. He accepts that, and just makes the best of things. He might not have parents or a happy home. Or enough to eat most days. But at least he has a couple of loyal friends who stand by him and help out when they can. At least he has school, someplace he can go to escape the abuse.

But just when he thought things couldn’t get much worse, they did.

Steven is accused of murder. But that isn’t the worst part. The really bad part is not even knowing if he did it.

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Tattooed Teardrops

(Book 1) Tamara had thought that when she got out of juvie, things would be easier. But before long, it seems like her life is spiraling into chaos.

If she canโ€™t prove to her probation officer that she is innocent of the allegations against her, sheโ€™s going back to prison, and Tamara just canโ€™t let that happen.

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Tattooed Teardrops

I just finished the first draft of a new YA novel, “Tattooed Teardrops” tonight. This is a book that I started on a while ago, seat of the pants, no plot or outline. Unfortunately, I got stuck writing backstory and didn’t know where the main book was going. So I sat down in December and worked through the Snowflake Method to get a basic plot outlined, set up a beat sheet with the main action, and dove back into it, much more excited! I aimed to get it done by the end of January, at a casual pace, but it came together a bit more quickly than that!

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