An eleven-year old girl is trying to find and save her baby brother from the Chinese Zodiac Dragon in an ever-changing maze of heavens
I am a creative writing student with a Master’s degree (already) in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. As much as I love teaching and tutoring ESL, I’m looking to fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a published author. I’m a passionate and avid reader. I also play the drums.
I love contemporary, realistic fiction and/or contemporary, realistic fiction with some fantasy/magical elements. My favorite age group is middle grade. I love seeing well done similes and metaphors!
I’m a re-reader.
Some of my favorite re-reads are: THE OUTSIDERS by S.E Hinton, THE TIGER RISING by Kate DeCamillio, GREGOR THE OVERLANDER (series) by Suzanne Collins, HARRY POTTER (series) by J.K Rowling, PERCY JACKSON (series) by Rick Riordan, CHARLOTTE’S WEB by E.B White, THE LITTLE PRINCE by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, A WRINKLE IN TIME by Madeleine L’Engle… etc.
Some recent reads that I want to re-read:
I AM DRUMS by Mike Grosso, AMAL UNBOUND by Aiesha Saeed, THE THING ABOUT JELLYFISH by Ali Benjamin, and THE THREE RULES OF EVERY DAY MAGIC by Amanda Rawson Hill
No zombies. No paranormal romances. No heavy fantasy unless the MC is ages 9-12 and is extremely likable. No memoirs or biographies. No adult fiction.
I’m not against swearing, in general, as long as it isn’t just there for shock value and truly fits the story and/or MC’s voice.
Eleven-year old Kimi is surrounded by death. She’s convinced that it’s only a matter of time when her sick grandmother will die, too, even though losing another loved one is the last thing she wants. When a talking cat comes poking around her house, looking for a portal to heaven, it isn’t her grandmother that gets taken through the portal. It’s her baby brother, and the zodiac dragon tells her that she has until sunset to find her way through the maze of chinatown heaven to the Jade Emperor’s palace before her and her baby brother become ghosts forever.
The stillness of the house pulsed like a headache. Even though Daddy said it was good when Grandma slept, I preferred the coughing. At least, then, I knew she was alive.
I set my book on the coffee table in the living room and tiptoed down the hall to her room. I paused at the open doorway and watched the mound of blankets on her bed inhale and exhale.
“Whew!” I said aloud, leaning against the doorframe.
I gripped the door handle and pulled it toward me. Daddy always said to let her rest, to never wake her up.
“Love you,” I whispered.
Grandma didn’t like the door closed all the way, though, so I left it just open enough for a thin line of hall light to leak in. I twisted in my socked feet and crept into the bedroom across from Grandma’s. It was mine and Toby’s room. We started sharing when Grandma moved in eight months ago. You know, when Mom…
Anyway, I usually played with Toby until Daddy got home from the library, where he worked. But I sometimes could get Toby to take an afternoon nap. Today, it took me twenty minutes of singing, “Twinkle, twinkle, little star…” before Toby lay down, close his eyes, and suck his thumb, his breathing steady and slow. Singing was the best way to quiet him. Daddy taught me.
My current WIP is, obviously, a middle grade realistic-fantasy. I hope to write more in that same genre. I’d really like to write meaningful contemporary middle grade fiction, especially stories involving culture shock.
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