DEEMEE DURAWGA
I recently finished a middle grade science fiction novel. Originally worked into a graphic novel concept, I knew I could tell so much more by switching over to straight prose.
Synopsis:
"Monster? We don't have that word in our language. The closest translation would be Deemee Durawga or, one who is restless.
So begins the story of the very restless Tanner, a self-serving egotistical teenager always trying to do things his way. After being raised on an alien spacecraft for ten years by beings who have no idea how to properly educate or nurture him, he decides to jump ship while stealing a time machine in the process. Traveling millions of years in the future, he brings an alien civilization out of the stone age, only to be eventually banished because of his "methods". Returning to the ship and causing even greater havoc to an attacking enemy ship and losing family members in the process, he vows to go back in time to that first night when he was "abducted" by aliens and rescue his young self from a future that seems to be nothing short of a interstellar catastrophe.
HEROES, VILLAINS, AND VINCENT
This is my second picture book especially made for kids who live in blended families. I acted as project manager, roughed out the storyboard and did the graphic design while working with an illustrator to make the story come alive.
Synopsis:
Vincent has problems. The good news is he's got two separate sets of parents that love him very much. It just so happens that half of them are super heroes and the other half are super villains. Yikes. So what does Vincent want to be when he grows up? Well, it doesn't involve flying at the speed of light or robbing banks. His parents aren't amused. They want him to choose sides. So what does Vincent do? He goes looking for advice from a mysterious uncle who lives halfway across the globe. Good thing the family jet is fueled!
THE PANCAKE TREE
My first picture book supports the step parent as a positive role model in a child's life. It's much more fantasy based and has lots of spooky critters.
Synopsis:
Tanner is a 6 year old with an attitude. He doesn't trust his step mother Kat. When the whole family decides to go to breakfast in a mysterious café, our hero learns that ordering a pancake from the Pancake Tree means the waitress will have to retrieve said breakfast from a magical tree found on the other side of Black Tongue Forest. Tanner and Kat accidentally tag along with their waitress on a mysterious adventure to find the elusive pancakes, which means being shot out of a canon with only one parachute!