The Otherworld is a modern fae horror novel set in the Appalachian Mountain Range. The novel follows Laoise (lee-sha) “Lee” Kelly, a hotel housekeeper in her 40's. She lives with her mother Bronagh, who has always been haunted by stories of the fae and has only gotten worse after her recent dementia diagnosis. When Lee's younger sister Harper shows up after going MIA when their mother was diagnosed, promising to help Lee relax during a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods, Lee reluctantly agrees. Once the two women get there, they discover there may be more truth to their mother's demented ramblings than they thought.
I have written a variety of short horror stories, ranging from eerie to downright terrifying. These stories are currently unpublished, but I am always looking for new writing contests and literary magazines to submit to!
Illinois Wesleyan University's student-run literary magazine, Tributaries, published many short stories of mine during my studies there. These stories were in multiple genres, including creative non-fiction, realistic fiction, humor, and more! Copies of these stories are available upon request, so reach out to me if you would like to see them.
“Reflect on That” follows lost soul Brooke Howard. She’s newly single, newly 25, and ready to finally get her life together. After all, it’s been mess after mess for as long as she can remember. She spent her high school years bouncing around from town to town, trying on every classic cliquey identity she could think of, from athlete to basket case, but none of them felt quite right. 3 years of college were spent changing her major at the drop of a hat before she finally decided to drop out and get “valuable life experience”, which, for Brooke, meant working a series of minimum wage jobs until she ended up here. Here being her breaking point, alone and jobless in Carmel, Indiana.
Her new place happens to have a full-length mirror in the living room, which Brooke assumes is left behind from the previous owner, and as she tries to figure out who she really is, the mirror begins haunt her with past versions of herself. They talk to her when she's alone, reminding her of the past she can't escape, and eventually they are able to appear in reflections no matter where Brooke goes.
From righting past wrongs to fighting her inner demons, finding herself has never been harder, and if Brooke spends too much time looking in the mirror, it might just drive her crazy.